Tige 20V vs Malibu Vride

So we finally have our decision down to two boats. The Tige 20V and Malibu Vride after looking at all the boat shows and determining our price point. Couple of questions. Will I need the ballast in the Tige (we just started wakeboarding last year, trading in our I/O)?
How much ballast will I need in the Vride? We would upgrade both to the 340 hp engines. ANy thoughts on the purchase? They both appear to be nice boats and fit our budget. Thanks for advice...

Out of the box the Vride will give you a better wake for wakeboarding. Not sure about the surfing wake. You will need ballast in the 20v.

Both boats are a great choice, ballast is a must. My choice would come down to the dealer's reputation in your area. I have a 02'20V with 2000lbs. of ballast.

If it was me I would go for the v-ride hands down. I haven't ridden a 20v, but have ridden two direct drive tiges and I am not a big fan of the wakes. The vride is the old wakesetter hull and can produce a very nice wake, probably all you will ever need.

Scott,
We bought a Vride 2 years ago, and love it. The Vride had everything we needed at a great price. The dealer has a great reputation, so that made our decision much easier. Up to this point, we have only ridden with the center ballast and the Wedge. We'll probably be adding weight this year, or for sure next year. Good luck and have fun.

Hey

Another satisfied V-ride fan here! I have an 06 with the rear ballast tanks/center and wedge. The wake is more than I will ever need to get seriously mangled on!
With a couple of extra ballast bags in the port rear corner the surf wake is really good too. I don't know anything about the Tige but I am sure they are great boats as well. Try to drive 'em both if you can. Also, definitely get the extra hp if you can. The 340, which I have comes in handy when you start adding weight. It is a lot better to have it when you need it instead of wishing you had a little more oomph later on.

Here comes my 2 cents.......

My long drawn out story is a paragraph...I started wakeboarding on a 1994 Rinker with a tower and rode it for about 2 years until I decided that I needed a bigger wake. The boat buying process began a long time ago. A friend of mine has a Tige 24V with a lot of ballast and the wake is incredible. I fell in love with the Tige's and immediately wanted to get one. I test drove a 22v and loved it but it was a little out of my price range. Next I tested a BU LSV and loved it! I was hooked on the BU wake and the ride. Instead of making a rash decision, I decided that I wanted to try out the 20 V before making my choice. Low and behold I tried a 20 V and didn't like it. Now the fun begins! I saw the MSRP of the V-ride and decided that it was more bang for the buck than the LSV was so I gave it a shot. Needless to say I'm a proud owner of a 2006 V-Ride and I couldn't be happier. I wish you the best of luck and feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. By the way I'm running close to 2000 lbs, no wedge, and the 320......

Chris

Wow, thanks for all the responses so far. The dealer question is same with both products as neither are local, and both new to malibu and tige. Should I be concerned with the Vride being a old design on the hull (SV23) and hurt resale down the line when/if we upgrade? HOw does the Vride handle in choppy conditions? Lakes sometimes around here in the afternoon are a mess.
Thanks Again....

Scott, unless you plan to upgrade for the heck of it I don't think you would ever need to so because you will get a better wake. I like the wake on the sv23 as much as the sv25 hull. Both very nice wakes. I think you will actually get away with running a little less weight in the sv23(vride) to get about the same size wake. I ride Brookes 06 vlx just about every week in the summer and the wake is great but we are also pushing probably 2600lbs. Even if you are concerned about the value holding, I think you would get better resale from the v-ride anyway since it would be a more desirable wake. When I was looking for a used boat a couple of years ago I was looking for a vlx with the sv23 or a supersport nautique. I happen to find a deal on the nautique first otherwise I would have bought Malibu if I had found it first.

I'm lucky my lake and river are well protected from the wind so not a lot of chop. When I test drove my 20V the lake was nasty with white caps. I was very impressed with how it handled the waves.

This is purely an educated guess, but I would think the Tige would do a little better in the chop, especially having Taps. This was a major concern for me when I bought my boat. I had been "caught out" enough in 3-4ft chop to know I wanted something that could handle those kinds of conditions, first and foremost. For this reason, I went with Tige. It has never disappointed me or left me stranded.

I've never been in either one on the water, so I can not speak of the wake performance. I like the Malibu interiors better. However, I can't imagine owning a boat without trim (Taps, wakeplate, whatever).

They are both good boats and I'm sure either one will do a great job for you, especially coming over from an I/O.

One thing to keep in mind is the V Ride is Malibus "Value boat line". Its price point is going to be lower than a standard Malibu, ie VLX. To compare apples to apples you would have to compare a Tige Switch 20V to a V ride. The Switch V was Tige's "budget boat" which they no longer make. The 20V has the same standard features and options on all of the other Tige models such as the 22V and 24V.

The 20V and V ride maybe the similar in overall size but the V ride wont have as many nice amenities/options as the 20V.

Not to be "that guy" but I'd say Malibu's budget boat's amenities is about the same as a Tige's regular stuff. The V-Ride is a great boat and the interior/features are top notch. Its not like the Moomba of old where it was cheap for a reason.

Big Heavy you speak the truth my friend. It is what it is.

Well Big Heavy, you did say it and now you are "that guy"....j/j... I guess you have'nt been in a Tige lately? No, not your homeboy's '02 model, but a new model? Tige is as nice a boat as anyone's boat. Interior, exterior, wake, performance, you name it..... For some reason, Tige does'nt get the props on this board as it should. In my market, I am proving on a daily basis, in the dealership, on the water, and at the boat shows, that Tige's product is top notch and is worth every customer considering when purchasing an inboard boat.

As far as nice stuff, Tige comes standard with alot of things the "big 3" consider options: depth gauge, air temp., water temp., PSS thru hull, pull out cleats, TAPS, ACME power prop, so on.

Actually I drove a Tige for the tournament I put together last year. Drove it all day long. And I helped out with the demo that I put together two weeks prior to the tournament(drove and gave heads up on the boats). What I am saying is that a V-Ride is far above a Switch V in ALL aspects . You may have not been in a V-Ride lately.

Edit: Anything else I should try before I'm educated enough to give my opinion?

(Message edited by stephan on January 23, 2007)

One thing that would be nice on all boats...and I thnk the v-ride has and the 20v does not, is snap out carpet. My next boat will have to have that. With dogs, leaves, and other crap I can't imagine not being able to remove the carpet for a good cleaning occasionally.

Agreed. The V-Ride does have a few more ammenities than the Switch v which is dicontinued. The way I order and build the 20v, I believe is very comparable the the v-ride, and has just as many ammenities as far as options, plus more "standard options", like mentioned before. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of the v-ride, but don't discount the 20v, it is solid, performs great, and has a nice wake when properly weighted.

What model did you drive at the tournament, and what did you think, performance, handling, and wake(i.e. was it weighted)?

Again, the Switch v is discontinued....

You are comparing a discontinued boat to an'07 model. I don't understand why people want to compare their uncle's '97 Tige 2100i to their 2006 X-Star or VLX??????

Let's compare apples to apples, agreed????

Fine I believe as I originally stated that a V-Ride(the budget boat) is comparable to a 20v. I took exception to Pierce implying that its a budget boat and thus of lesser quality. Apples to apples was given a bad name & I wanted to clear that up. I have never been in the Swich boat so all my Tige experience is with the dealer in a new boat or a friends 2005 21i, which I ride a lot.

Actually the V-Ride has been out for 3 years now and I am comparing the 20v to a 2005 & 2006 that I have experience in.

At the tournament the boat was a 24ve. It was weighted with 1200 in sacs and about 8 people. Out of the hole it was good, turning was impossible, I had to back off the throttle to get her to turn and the wake was great (I also rode in the comp).

Brandon agreed Tige's are nice boats, I almost bought one before the VLX. Everyone's argument towards the Tige is it's ride in BIG chop. Who cares who rides in 2-3' of chop, most people are heading to the dock. One thing I really like about the tige's are their engine options, they have everyone beat when it comes to that and what you get for a standard powerplant. I also love the new seat they came out with. With all that said I still went with malibu. Just my choice after forming my own opinion. I'm not loyal to any brand, a Tige could be my next boat. They are going to have to get the ballast thing figured out first. You have to sac them out to get a decent wake agreed, well that depends on your definition of decent.

Fair enough.....

Thanks for the clairification....

For a true Tige wakeboat, try the 22ve or the RZ2 fill up factory, throw a 6 hunny in the walkway, and put the TAPS on about tree-4. I think you will see this is a sweet set-up..

Nice profile pic Heavy.

Looks like 05mobius needs to change his name.

With the Vride, is it pretty much mandatory to add the wedge? If so, do I need to spend the extra cash for the power wedge?

We have looked at both and the fit and finish is about comparable. However with winter we are unable to test drive so everyone comments are great.

Thanks again for all the comments, cant wait for spring and upgrading from the i/o...

Here the floating wedge might be better than power wedge, just having any wedge is good.

Scott,

The wedge is going to be personal preference.Some people love it and some hate it. Personally I dislike it. In Brookes vlx we run straight weight and no wedge. He does have the power wedge which I heard is good for surfing, we may play with that this coming season. For riding I don't care for the way it shapes the wake, plus the boat doesn't handle as well. It is like having two rudders that are pointing forward and don't move. Just my opinion though.

I would go with the Vride.

Big Heavy,

Something must have been wrong with that 24ve you drove. We run 2000lbs. in ours and 6-8 people and have no problems turning.

Back to the original post, get a V ride. This is coming from someone who had a Tige Switch V. The wake is going to be much better on the V ride.

Thanks again for everyones help. We are working on deals for both boats and see where they come out. Leaning toward the Vride.

Quick question, haven't tried surfing yet, since we owned an i/o. But loved surfing in Calif. How is the surfing behind the VRide?