2008 X15 questions

I have been looking for a used boat, but have now moved on to looking at new boats. I found a sweet X15 but have some questions about it. It appears from my research here on WW that the X15 would do very well for my family and friends for boarding and surfing. I do have a couple concerns though. One is this boat has the standard RTP VRS engine, not the upgraded MCX. Will I be unhappy with it? I keep thinking I am getting the boat for a great deal and to just live with the standard engine. Am I way off here? Is this a huge mistake?

The second thing is the overall height of the boat/tower when the tower is collapsed. I have a 7' garage to fit it in. I have been told that if I remove the rear portion of the tower that it will go in my 7' garage. Can anyone confirm this?

I have an appointment this coming weekend to make certain that it will fit dimension wise, but the suspense is killing me. Anyone with an X15 know, or measure the highest point of their tower that doesn't collapse or come off? Your help would be greatly appreciated!

IMO the standard engine is a deal killer. Not only will it struggle when weighted but resale will be greatly affected. There are tons of X15s out there go with the 5.7 or better yet the 6.0.
I looked at the X15 its a great boat for surf and wake board. I went with the 210 SANTE because it will also ski.

I have never actually heard of an X15 with anything in it less than the MCX. If I remember correctly though the X15 is only 50 pounds heavier than the X2 and the RTP is fine in the X2. As has been covered on wakeworld a few times before, the RTP and MCX have a very similar torque curve. I am not sure if have a larger wetted surface though as the X15 has makes a difference in performance though.

As for fitting in a 7' garage. I think that would be pretty hard if it is on the standard tandem trailer. I don't actually know that from experience though.

hey Tim- You E-mailed me earlier today! Unfortunately every trailer is different by a little- Mark ( the guy i mentioned to you who got the x-15 ) had an issue with this. I would HIGHLY recommend measuring it while it's hooked to your tow rig. As far as the motor- i doubt you'll have an issue. Unless you're weighting the crap out of the thing- it will shoot out of the hole no prob. Good luck and make sure to post some pics when you pull the trigger!

The above post makes it sound like the 5.7 is an upgrade over the "standard" engine. On the invoice I have it says the engine is a 5.7 Vortec "RTP VRS" MPI - 310HP. This is the standard engine isn't it? How would the MCX engine be listed?

Tim, i have an 08 with the upgraded fly high ballast and struggle to get out of the hole with the MCX. I think the RTP will work, but it all depends on your need for ballast. Un-weighted or stock the RTP will do great. You start dumping water in, its going to struggle. In regards to the tower. I have a Mastercraft trailer and have to remove the back half of the tower to get in a 7 foot garage. Two people its not a problem, but a pain to deal with. All in all the boat is great and one of my favorite wakes.

The 310 will do the trick if propped right, I'd run a 14.25x14.5 on it with either stock or stock plus ballast. You are correct both the 310 and 350 hp engines are 5.7 liter chevy 350 blocks, the main difference is the intake. Drive the boat and check it out for yourself but I don't think you'll have any issues with it.

Never tried to fit an X-15 under a 7' door but I know an X-Star with the rear hoop removed will fit, it really all depends on the slope of your driveway. Some aftermarket trailers are a little lower than the factory ones as well, I know that Phoenix trailers are typically a couple inches shorter.

Geeez nothing can be easy! I am afraid the small engine is going to be a deal breaker. I am spending a lot of money and I don't want to settle for something I may not be happy with. Finding the right boat for us has turned out to be a major PIA!

Make sure and buy something you are going to like for a few years, because in this market you are going to be stuck with it once you buy it

My friend has an X15, they are very nice boats. But his does has the 350 HP upgraded motor, I have driven it before and it pulls hard. I also like the way MC has made it easy to access the motor and drive train.

I love my Supra, but it is much more difficult to work around the motor, they squeezed it in... pretty tight fit.

Tim, Corey is dead on. The motors are basically the same, but the MCX makes 40 more HP.
I think if you're surfing mostly and wakeboarding without a ton of weight then you will be fine.
I would definitely re-prop it though.
We had the MCX in our X15 last year and we still got way better results with a different prop.

Dan, if you're having trouble out of the hole it's a prop issue. We were running 1800lbs of ballast on top of the stock last year when we were wakeboarding and our boat got up and went quick. I'm not sure what prop we had, but it made all the difference. We had the guys at Acme suggest a prop and went with what they said. They know what they're talking about.

You will not be happy with the 310. The worst thing is having an underpowered boat. Get an MCX with a upgraded prop and you will most likely save in gas what you spent to upgrade to the mcx. It has more power down low and especially with the upgraded prop you will not use as many RPM's to get on plane so you will save a lot of gas over the years.

Eyekahn, the power down low is the exact opposite thing that I have heard. I have heard that you don't notice the extra HP from the MCX till mid to high range. Also I believe the RTP went to Sequential FI in 06 or 07 which helped the power of the 310 quite a bit.

YEs that is where the horsepower reaches higher rates. But I was talking about the low end torque. It has more down low. Either way you want the mcx.

I would not buy an X-15 with an MCX. I hear RTP owners say it's fine with the right prop, blah blah, but when you're spending that much money, why skimp on the motor? An X-15 with RTP will be much harder to sell at re-sale time.

I have had both the motors and currently have an 08 with MCX. To be honest can't tell the difference...

Well I went and told the dealer that the engine in the X15 was a deal breaker. The search continues!

Did you ever drive the boat?

have to agree with corey on this one, i have a 07 x2 with the rtp along with the wake prop. i am running mc ballast along with 2 fly high x2 bags in the back at (400lbs a piece) along with 400 lbs of pop products up in the front and have a great wake, (total around 1900lbs) i have yet to have any issues getting on plane. there is very little weight difference between the x2 and x15 which really suprised me.

from my research before i bought the big difference between the rtp and the mcx is the high end torque.

if it's a good price jump on it.