I checked out a tige RZ4 today. I was pretty impressed. My big concerns were the ballast system and the tower. I'm not a huge fan of the tower. They didn't seem to be very interested in intalling the ballast system. They claim that the plate system they have is better than ballast. Any tige owners care to comment?
ron, i have a 98 tige with TAPS... and then i put 2100#'s in and probably will add another 750. I have not ridden behind a newer tige with the TAPS 2 so this may not help.
the taps does make the wake bigger or smaller, but not by much, it does a real good job of shaping the wake depending on the speed and ballast you run... at a higher setting 6,7 the wake is steeper with a nice lip, if you put the taps down to 3,2,1.. the wake gets smaller and flattens.
it also does well at stopping porpousing when cruising around.
definately install ballast... theres no substitute.
Ron, I can give you a ride in a non ballast 24 foot Tige for you to see what it is like. Most sales people try to sell using the standard Tigé marketing that it does not need ballast without knowing what levels people ride at. I think the best way someone described it is that a Tigé with no ballast is equivelent to most other brands with stock ballast. Tigé does offer ballast in the form of hard tanks that move the batteries into the locker compartment. I will assume the one you looked at is the one posted below:
our dealer always orders the factory plumbing for the ballast then puts their own sacs in the boat. we are running a 600# bag in both back lockers and a 600# bag under the front seats in the bow. then put another 500# bag in the walkway and some random lead weights for fine tuning. we run this in our 24Ve which has the same hull as the RZ4. tiges are just like every other boat, in that the stock wake is good, but obviously additional ballast is needed.
I would try to get the ballast if you plan on learning a lot of tricks. You may not need it at first, but down the line you will want it.
If it helps, I rode a RZ2 and the wake was sick. It had the stock 850 lbs, plus a 600lb center sack and 5 people. The wake was one of the best I have ever ridden.
i have a tige 24v whithout ballast, the wake is great, the taps makes it so versitile and the wake will be huge whith the rz4. however i am considering buying some sacs for my boat because the wake has so much potential. if i put sacs in it it could be huge. and also alot of the time i invite friends on my boat who arent very familiar whith wake boarding and they dont get how to sit on the boat, and whith no wieght it is really easy to mess up the wake. so if it is a hassel to get it installedi say its not worth it you can always get sacs and it is an rz4(great wake)