MC PS 190 v. 205 D-Drive

Would it be worth the extra cash to invest in a 205 over the 190. I have heard it takes a lot of Lbs. to get a good wake on a 190. Any comments from people who have ridden behind any of these boats would be great. Any year is fine. Thanks in advance for ur information.

For wakeboarding there is no comparison between the 190 and the 205 V-Drive. Go with the 205. If you are talking about a DDrive 205 then you are just talking about a matter of space. The 205 has an open bow and is wider and a bit longer and therefore has more room for fat sacs. Plus the 205's seem a bit deeper which makes it handle better in the rough water.

Remember the 190 is the flagship slalom boat of mastercraft and the old 205's are what the first x-star's were made from.

I guess it depends on what your looking for. We have two 205's in our crew ('92 & '99) and a '90 190. IMO the open bow is worth the extra cash. If you can swing it, get a 98? or newer 205. The hull is the same as the X-Star, but in DD configuration, at least I know the '99 is. We run about 600 in the trunk and 300lbs of sand under the bow seats. It's O.K., but when you really sac it out or add 6-8 adults to it, the wake can get really nice. The guy with the 190 doesn't even bother to sac his out, he just rides with us. But I've heard a few people on here say they've gotten a good wake out of a 190, but I don't have any experience with weighting one. I can attest to the quality of our '99 205. A real solid boat, holds value well....700 hours and not a problem.....have fun looking!

Greg - I had a 96 PS 205 DD and loved the boat. I was at the same junction you are - I actually had a deposit down on a 190 which was in better shape but obviously was closed bow. Get the open bow 205 - you will not regret spending a few extra bucks for the additional seating/space.

We used to run a 700lb sac in the back and 250 in the bow with 4-6 people and the wake was nice. I'll be honest with you though - I've got a new XStar and the wakes aren't comparible (X is bigger by far) but the wake we created on the 205 was a nice rampy wake which you'll enjoy. I put 400+ hours on that boat in a little over a summer and never had one problem.

You should be able to find one around the same year as mine for $12-15K.

Good luck!

12K for a 96 205 would be a steal.

Thanks alot i was told that it is a 96 and up that is the same hull as the x-star

Naw- How does the 92 205 compare to the 99 (all aspects)

Greg-Both boats are really nice. The guy with the ’92 has a Phat Budde tower, where as I only have a fly-hi pole. I’ve never boarded behind his because when we board he always comes with us. He says the wake on the ’99 has more of a lip on it and a better shape all around. He puts twice the weight in his, and the results aren’t the same as with the ’99. His is carbeurated, where as we have the Indmar EFI, with the Northstar Ignition, it has power and then some. We’ve put 2k pounds in it before and it seemed the motor was asking for more, we were all impressed. Handling on both is superb; ski wake is world class on both. I like the rear seat on the ’92 better than the ‘ 99, more of a wrap-around couch than a bench. All in all I think they both get the job done, if it were me, I would spend the extra for the newer model, but I’m biased.

I love my 95 PS 205. Not one problem with it so far. The wake is nice with 700 pounds of ballast and 5 or 6 friends. I'm going to have to say no way on the 12k to 15k though. You would get a trashed boat with a ton of hours for that.

I agree that 12 would be a steal but I bought my 96 with 220 hours on it for $17.5K. The only problems were some minor nicks in the engine cover but he threw in two sacs and a fly high pole with the deal.

I cannot say what the boat would have sold for on the open market as it had ~600 hours on it when I traded it for my new X but the dealer gave me 12K for it.

Maybe I was a little low but I think you could shop around and find a deal close to this.

Discussion on weighting a PS190:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/16703.html?1023898219

Here is a copy of my post from that thread:

I have a 2000 ProStar 195, which is the same hull as the 1997 ProStar 190. I'm currently weighting it as follows:

Lead - 480lbs in trunk
240lbs under back seat
120lbs to the right of the drivers seat
120lbs on the port side underneat the observers seat
240lbs in the very front

Then, I fill a 350lb sack in the trunk, and a 350lb sack in front of the rear seat. This brings me up to a total of 1900lbs, with a definite rear bias to the weight (240lbs front, 240lbs mid, 1420 rear). You could accomplish nearly the same weighting with a FatSeat in back, and a fatsack or two up front, which Matt Ritchie can attest works very well in his ProStar 190 (2000, I think).

Here are the results:

http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=2531
http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=2533

It's a clean, solid wake all the way back to 75' @ 22 mph. It's got a nice steep face at the very end, almost like an extra little kick before leaving the wake.

-Jeff

p.s. Thanks Zee for posing as my wake model!