The biggest difference for us was the useable storage space, as we will occasionally store our boards on the boat. The lockers in the Malibu direct drives didn't seem large enough to handle our equipment. The VLX has a couple large, lockable storage compartments beside the engine. Although not perfect, they will discourage the honest person from taking anything. The second thing was layout. Personally, we much preferred the layout compared to the XTI. Other differences we liked (when comparing the VLX to the direct drives) included: the Monsoon was the standard engine which helps justify the higher cost, resale value and marketability of a V drive is better, the VLX comes with an acrylic wind screen that fits below the window, 3 built in ballasts are standard, cockpit table is standard and we really liked the massive cooler behind the driver seat.
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