Outback Direct Drive vs. V Drive

[Sled491]

oh, Im from Washington-the state, actually very few natives down here

Heck I'm a transplant myself, except where I'm from WI is considered down south

[Sled491]

Oh well, no harm no foul.

[Ian Brantford]

Newb here...was wondering if you all can give me your opinions on a direct drive Outback vs. the V Drive. We are looking for a boat. I found what seems to be a good deal on an 07 Outback. It has a tower, racks, and rear ballast. This will be my and my family's first boat. I mean I have had several PWCs and have been around boats all my life but never have I owned my own boat.

You have two main decisions: DD versus V and new versus used. It is good that you have some experience. The less experience that you have, the more reason to buy used... because you'll suffer less stress when you make some mistake.

Once you own your own boat, boating will cease to be something that you could choose to do among many other things on a given day. It will become something that you will be compelled to do, and any alternative activity will be weighed against it.

I wakeboard a little and when I say a little I mean I'm able to get up and ride but haven't even tried the most basic of tricks but would really like to get into it.

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: N/A. You'll be boating more. You will thus get more practise and acquire skills. You don't want to buy a boat (or gear) that has any limiting factor on your ability to progress. This was also a reason why I went straight from an 18' I/O straight to the Moomba XLV.

I have three young kids so the boat would be used for everything....

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: Old. You want the kids to be within arms reach, with no obstacle course. Kids have a way of doing lots of minor property damage too.

tubing

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: N/A. When adults are tubing, "adult" towing means creating a big wave, possibly two intersecting ones, and dragging them over it. Prepare for water over the bow in the outback.

wakeboarding,

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: N/A. You'll want the better ability to store and balance ballast.

skiing,

DDvsV: DD. NewVsOld: N/A

kneeboarding,

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: N/A. While beginner kneeboarding favours flat water like skiing, more advanced riding will involve jumping, like wakeboarding.

etc, and riding around on the lake.

DDvsV: DD. NewVsOld: N/A. Neither boat is really a cruiser or runabout.

We have a good bit of friends,

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: N/A. Greater numbers of people mean more socialising. You want the one big open area, sundeck, and bow (separate area for the exclusive seating).

none of whom wakeboard,

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: N/A. Unless they are hard-core skiiers, hey'll want to try wakeboarding.

who will go along as well when the kids don't. I think for the price and it being a newer boat that it would be a great entry into this market and then maybe in 5 years or so trade up to a bigger V drive.

DDvsV: V. NewVsOld: old. If you know that you are going with a V in the future, you already know that the DD is unsuited to your needs. For you, there seems to be little point in going for a DD today.

The DD is a specialised configuration that favours people who mostly ski and who don't bring a large contingent on board. The V supports most other sports better and handles a crowd -- it's multipurpose. In your other posting, you said that you would be towing the boat to the marina every time, so this means that you are loading up with all people and gear for the day, so there won't be much rotating of crew. I think that a V-drive is the one for you.

Have you considered the LSV? As of 2006, it has a deeper (and I think slightly larger) hull, giving it more interior comfort, less risk of a small child heading overboard, and better handling in choppy water.

[Laz]

Sounds to me like you would be happier in a V-drive or even maybe an I/O. Both are better general purpose boats.

I have a 2007 Outback DD and couldn't imagine owning anything by a dedicated slalom machine. We have the tower and ballast but hardly ever use it.

The Outback is a world class slalom boat, but it likes its waters to be calm. For general watersports, I think a V-drive is better (just not for me). I/O's are the cheapest option.

Laz

[deerfield]

I have a 2007 Outback DD and couldn't imagine owning anything by a dedicated slalom machine. We have the tower and ballast but hardly ever use it.

On the other hand, we have the same boat (2007 Outback) as does Laz and use both the tower and ballast LOTS. Boat works well for all of our needs: skiing, boarding, and tubing. But, again, it likes calmer water and has been known to take water over the bow.

[Hoopskier]

After reading most comments, it seems most are leaning towards a v-drive. Two things that I learned from my parents about buying expensive items and boats. 1st Buy what you really want the first time it will be cheaper than trying to make another purchase in a few years. 2nd, Buy the most boat you can afford. That what you won't say, I wish I would have.

I wouldn't be shy about looking at a used boat. Lots of good boats to be had. Save your money instead of taking the financial hit of a new one. When it comes to suggesting a boat to fit you style, maybe a Mobius Ls. Still in the moomba family so you know you are getting a good value. Handles like a DD, cause it is and had a better wake for boarding? Just a thought. It just depends on how you want your interior laid out and how much you want to spend.

[iwakeboard]

I owned a 17' I/O as my first boat, I bought it as a repo when I was in college. Floor was rotting and the engine was sketchy at best. With that said, I probably had the most fun of my life on that boat for the 4 years I owned it. When I was at UT we had a waterski/wakeboard team where we'd get a free Mastercraft X7 every year. The X7 is a 19.7' direct drive, and I think it solely turned me off to them. The skiers absolutely loved it and the boarders would just throw as much weight as possible in there and watch the gas gauge tick down like a seconds-clock. It wasn't fun to sit more than 4 or 5 people, and if you wanted to add more weight than the 700lbs factory ballast you would have to put sacks all over the floor.

I have a 24SSV now, couldn't imagine ever going back to a d-drive. I'd think long term when making this decision and go with the outback v.

[phospher]

I have to disagree with a lot of you here. Everyone always thinks they need the hugest wake which is only provided by a V-drive. Now, with the exception of surfing and pro level riding you don't really need that big of a wake. I have a 1982 American Skier that throws a very small wake(relative to v-drives) but because I know how to hit the wake and pop correctly I can still go higher than most people on my lake on their V-drives. Behind my American Skier (18ft Closed Bow DD) I can front roll, back roll, tantrum, 360's, blind side 180's etc.. I also use to wakeboard behind a sea ray IO and was able to do several flips behind that as well. And I'm not talking about head sciming the water.

I recently bought a 2008 Outback DD for a few reasons.

1) A lot more room than my 82 American Skier. I have a 18 month old.
2) An actual stereo on the Outback! This is a huge upgrade for us
3) Tower. The past few years I started wakeskating exclusively and don't do much of anything else. For wakeskating I don't need a huge wake as I can already go as big as I need behind any inboard DD. I used a Skylon on my Skier but a tower is so much better and looks cool too.
4) Fuel injection. This was a big one too, I wanted the reliability and turn key start up of a fuel injection so that my wife can pull the boat off the trailer while I park the truck. It was to much work that she did not know how to do to start and warm up our cold blooded 4 barrel carb on the Skier.
5) Classic Direct Drive looks and handling. Now, I don't think anything beats the looks of a closed bow ski boat but if you want the extra room a Open Bow Direct Drive is second best. For me, half the fun of owning an inboard is driving. I love to pull my friends and family and as part of that I want the sports car handling and speed of a direct drive.
6)Direct drives are easier to work on and the transmissions are a heck of a lot cheaper if I ever need a new one.


No offense to anyone here... but I think a main reason why everyone needs a V-drive is because it's a lot easier for people who are not very good at wakeboarding to launch of a bigger wake then to correctly jump a wake.

I'm planning on wakeskating behind my 08 outback DD with a 460lb fat sac and with that I imagine the wake will be a lot bigger than I had with my American Skier. My Skier only weighs 2200lbs.


Now, as proof you don't need a HUGE wake from a vdrive I highly recommend you all watch this old byerly video of him behind an Outboard barefoot boat. That's right outboard which usually has the smallest wake of them all. With all that said, I will again say that wake size is over rated.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...2377447193948#

[iwakeboard]

I have to disagree with a lot of you here. Everyone always thinks they need the hugest wake which is only provided by a V-drive. Now, with the exception of surfing and pro level riding you don't really need that big of a wake. I have a 1982 American Skier that throws a very small wake(relative to v-drives) but because I know how to hit the wake and pop correctly I can still go higher than most people on my lake on their V-drives.

Sure, proper technique is the most important aspect of going big, but you're drawing a contrapositive. Big wake does not mean you lack the skill, just as a lack of skill doesn't mean you have a big wake. They're independent, you can have skill and have a big wake, just as you can have skill and have a small wake. I remember several years ago with my 17' I/O we were in my cove and a Mastercraft X-45 was there, the guy gets out and is learning how to do w2w while one of my friends was throwing backrolls and tantrums from my little boat. Sure, it felt like a battle-won at the time, but that guy was having fun and eventually he'll be able to progress. As someone who learned behind a hardly-existent wake and now has a big v-drive, I agree with you, I wouldn't be able to do the things I can do now without that little boat, because I HAD to learn how to properly edge if I wanted to clear the wake. But, it's something anyone can do behind any boat, and some people may want to get that advantage of having a v-drive for progressing. They can still learn proper technique that way (and they basically have to if they want to progress into trip-flips and such).

[phospher]

Sure, I agree 100% with everything you said. My only point is that you don't absolutely need a v-drive to go big wakeboarding.