Fuel consumption Fi 21/23

[dukesofhazzard 4]

Hey everyone, I was out last weekend on a 2018 axis a22. Beautiful boat, I really like the wave, we tried with and without the wedge. However we used a full tank of gas in about 4 hrs. I couldn't believe it. Around 4000lbs plus of ballast. still had room in the lockers to store stuff. like I said really nice boat. But I am floored by how much fuel we used. We were over 4000 rpm without the wedge and upwards of 4600 rpm with wedge. He said he has hi altitude prop. I have a 22ve load it pretty good not 4000lbs but its loaded. I have a 1235 prop and surf is right around 2800-3200 rpm. I can go all day on a tank of fuel and my tank is smaller. I guess my question is what are you guys with Fi 21/23  seeing for fuel usage. Please be honest!! GPH? I watched the Boardco videos, but I am wondering what real world usage has been. thank alot

[InfinitySurf 302]

11 minutes ago, dukesofhazzard said:

Hey everyone, I was out last weekend on a 2018 axis a22. Beautiful boat, I really like the wave, we tried with and without the wedge. However we used a full tank of gas in about 4 hrs. I couldn't believe it. Around 4000lbs plus of ballast. still had room in the lockers to store stuff. like I said really nice boat. But I am floored by how much fuel we used. We were over 4000 rpm without the wedge and upwards of 4600 rpm with wedge. He said he has hi altitude prop. I have a 22ve load it pretty good not 4000lbs but its loaded. I have a 1235 prop and surf is right around 2800-3200 rpm. I can go all day on a tank of fuel and my tank is smaller. I guess my question is what are you guys with Fi 21/23  seeing for fuel usage. Please be honest!! GPH? I watched the Boardco videos, but I am wondering what real world usage has been. thank alot

Wow...I would not run my boat at 4600rpm for extended periods, that is crazy and sounds like he has the wrong prop on that boat...besides burning a ton of fuel running that high, I sure hope he changes oil every 25hrs.

I cant tell you exact numbers for the FI, hopefully someone will chime in that has been tracking it. However, I have the ZR409 engine in my 2014 SV244 boat....this is the SAME engine that comes in the FI23 as the base option so I would think it would be similar to my boat. I run at 800ft elevation using the 1847 prop (14x14.25...its also the elevation prop for my boat), I run between 3300-3500rpm depending on how much trim tab I use (0-35% depending on wake height I want)....and running 4400-4900lbs of ballast using a Nauticurl suck gate (fantastic wave). I average 4.5-5GPH.

[dukesofhazzard 4]

Well that is crazy different!  Thanks. 

[InfinitySurf 302]

The Opti-V hull is for real, I don't think BoardCo was fudging anything (not to mention you could see the numbers first-hand on the diacom system that was plugged in). First Opti-V was on the 2017 RI257 (now used on all the 2018 models) and I recently spent a week with a friend in TN surfing at Lake Norris, his boat is 2017 RI257. Adding 1000lbs of lead to all factory stock including all the PnP bags (huge wave.....with boat and ballast its pushing about 16,000lbs thru the water)....He has the H6 engine and averages 7.5GPH (other RI257 owners have confirmed similar GPH numbers) I think its a combination of efficient direct injection engines as well as a deep-V hull that cuts thru water really well cutting down on resistance. Really, you have to consider that the surf system (tabs) also makes a difference cause you have tabs going down into water creating the "crabbing" that forms the wave. Malibu/Axis have a gate that sticks out the side as well as a wedge that in effect, drags like an parachute to pull the stern of boat deeper into water (gotta be more drag than just adding ballast to sink the stern). Both of those things combined are creating a ton of resistance that increases the rpm/loading on the engine....no way it would not be a lot less fuel efficient. Nautique also has side tab that protrudes out side of boat which basically makes the boat "yaw", which also adds drag over a tab IMO (I have friend with 2017 G25 with H6 engine that averages 12+GPH...stock weight with no PnP bags or lead added yet).

Zero argument that all the new boats make an AWESOME wave when set up right, I love them all and would be proud to own any one of them... some are just more efficient than others for one reason or another. Most people don't care or don't think about stuff like that. I happen to personally consider this cause fuel cost is an ongoing cost of ownership and no matter how rich I were to be, I will always take things like that into account when making my decisions to buy.

[dukesofhazzard 4]

Infinity surf. Thanks for the reply. I don’t doubt boardco at all. I am actually more curious about the 21 and 23 footers as I will never own a 25. I assume they would be even a little bit better.  And yeah the amount of fuel we burned would take the fun out of it pretty quickly  especially when the kids Wanna go for so long. Thanks for the time u put into answer. Appreciate it

[Darkside 248]

@dukesofhazzard GPH will always be a function of setup. 

I had Malibu's previous to my 257.  The 12+ GPH is normal.   Especially if you weight it and use wedge.  Which you have to do in order to get any sort of push from a surf gate wave.  In my 24MXZ's i would be empty early afternoon 72 and 78 gallon tanks.  

The Opti-V is 100% legit.  I would expect a 23 to be in the 4-7 GPH range.   The differences are how much stinger and how much extra weight.  I like an aggressive wave so my stinger is usually under 50.  So i burn more fuel.   Those that like longer less aggressive waves run stinger 80-100 burn a lot less fuel.  

[joelmjohnson 13]

My last two fill ups were 5.18 and 5.33 GPH on our fi23 with 409 and 3145 prop. The 5.18 was mostly surfing, 11 hours on the clock and 57 gallons. The second had 2-3 hours of cruising 4-5k rpm the rest surfing and slow speed zup (for my 4 year old)  9 hours on the clock and 48 gallons of fuel. Hours aren't exact but they are close. 

Im at 5k ft elevation ballast is 75-100% full when surfing + 500 lbs of steel

Edited June 27, 2018 by joelmjohnson

[rhino89523 34]

I have a older avalanche so nothing to add other than I couldn't have a boat that did that poor on GPH. Thats a crazy amount of fuel.

[DrNate 426]

These numbers are crazy.  I think I need to figure my GPH, but I can go 2-3 days (surfing only) on a 50 gallon tank of gas

[dukesofhazzard 4]

See this seems more on par with what I think u should be burning. Another person I just talked to has the 25’ supra and says it’s an absolute big on gas. And this guy works on boats so I am taking his word on it. Appreciate all the info keep it coming

 

@rhino89523 I am not looking for a new boat yet but when I do I wanna be educated. I have def ruled out a Malibu/axis. 

Edited June 27, 2018 by dukesofhazzard

[Shaka 146]

I've been developing a tab based surf system similar to what's now on Centurion and Supreme. One of our first prototypes went on a Malibu VTX.  Using the Tabs instead of the surf gates lowered the RPM's by about 1000. The wave was excellent with a lot of push.

Tabs are far more efficient than gates and give you a bit more wake shaping ability.

[Tleeah 33]

There is an Axis A 22 at our marina, which I have seen him fill up with gas twice in an afternoon while surfing.  My friends with the wedge, their motors scream when that wedge is down. 

Rough calculations,  on the FI 23, we burn about 5-6 GPH while surfing.  That is usually with 5,000 lb of ballast and 6-7 passengers.  With a few people, we have burned about 4 GPH.   I usually do not use more than a quarter of a tank when surfing for several hours (63 gallon tank).  Opti-V is for real!!!!

[rhino89523 34]

This post had me wondering what kind of GPH we are getting. We went out Thursday after work, just myself and 6 guys from work. we surfed tough from 5-9 really minimal down time between riders. I weigh in at about 280 (ex college lineman) and I would say boat average per person at about 200 so we will call it 1400lbs on people and probably 3000 in ballast with a suck gate hooked to the side. filled up this morning and we used 14 gallons and some change so about 3.4 gallons per hour. I am in an older Avalanche with just a 5.7 and we were running at 5600' elevation.

Our lakes are usually at least a half hour from a gas station, no Marina...where we were running after work there is currently no launch we dirt launch and need 4x4 to get it out. I'd have to have 15 race cans in the back of my truck to surf for a full day if I got some of these posted mileage figures....those are crazy numbers!!!! I realize I don't have the pro status waves that many of these big dogs are putting out, but I'm not a pro status rider and I don't need the pro status fuel card either.

[h20king 794]

5.3 gph on our fi just surfing. Older listed centurions get better gph. Ours 238 was at 4gph listed but I also was not running 5100 lbs of ballast like I am in our fi

[dukesofhazzard 4]

That’s impressive with that much weight

[sporte77 5]

I just came from a 2012 Malibu VLX.  46 gallon tank, I would get 9 hours surfing and wakeboarding (using a suck gate- the surfgate came out in ‘13).  That’s about 5gph.  Now, my new 2018 Fi21, I get 7 hours from a 48 gallon tank. That’s appx 6.8gph.  Same mix of surf and wake.  So I’m not sold on their up to 50% efficiency claim.  HOWEVER- the Fi21 weighs at least 1,000 lbs more than the VLX (2012) - and has more ballast.  My expectation was that the “efficiency pitch” from Centurion sales should equate to what my VLX got.  But these are the real numbers.  I didn’t buy the Fi21 for Economy!  I bought it because in my opinion- it kicked other brands’ butts - in surf wave and wakeboard wakes - that I demoed.  That’s my experience and opinion.  So I’m not put off by how it sucks more gas than my Malibu did.  Bigger boat-the Fi21.

[wheels 151]

9 hours ago, sporte77 said:

I just came from a 2012 Malibu VLX.  46 gallon tank, I would get 9 hours surfing and wakeboarding (using a suck gate- the surfgate came out in ‘13).  That’s about 5gph.  Now, my new 2018 Fi21, I get 7 hours from a 48 gallon tank. That’s appx 6.8gph.  Same mix of surf and wake.  So I’m not sold on their up to 50% efficiency claim.  HOWEVER- the Fi21 weighs at least 1,000 lbs more than the VLX (2012) - and has more ballast.  My expectation was that the “efficiency pitch” from Centurion sales should equate to what my VLX got.  But these are the real numbers.  I didn’t buy the Fi21 for Economy!  I bought it because in my opinion- it kicked other brands’ butts - in surf wave and wakeboard wakes - that I demoed.  That’s my experience and opinion.  So I’m not put off by how it sucks more gas than my Malibu did.  Bigger boat-the Fi21.

When you refuel are you filling up all 46 gallons? On my ri my gauge can say zero even with bow up and there’s no way I can get the full capacity of 63 gallons back in. 

[sporte77 5]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 8:24 AM, wheels said:

When you refuel are you filling up all 46 gallons? On my ri my gauge can say zero even with bow up and there’s no way I can get the full capacity of 63 gallons back in. 

Pretty sure I am.  I've filled up twice when the guage was about an 1/8-1/4 tank and it took 41 gallons.  I also am getting the zero fuel on my gauge when the boat is full.  But after about 10 minutes of running it shows full again. 

[carguy79ta 67]

On 7/27/2018 at 0:26 AM, sporte77 said:

I just came from a 2012 Malibu VLX.  46 gallon tank, I would get 9 hours surfing and wakeboarding (using a suck gate- the surfgate came out in ‘13).  That’s about 5gph.  Now, my new 2018 Fi21, I get 7 hours from a 48 gallon tank. That’s appx 6.8gph.  Same mix of surf and wake.  So I’m not sold on their up to 50% efficiency claim.  HOWEVER- the Fi21 weighs at least 1,000 lbs more than the VLX (2012) - and has more ballast.  My expectation was that the “efficiency pitch” from Centurion sales should equate to what my VLX got.  But these are the real numbers.  I didn’t buy the Fi21 for Economy!  I bought it because in my opinion- it kicked other brands’ butts - in surf wave and wakeboard wakes - that I demoed.  That’s my experience and opinion.  So I’m not put off by how it sucks more gas than my Malibu did.  Bigger boat-the Fi21.

Just to add to what has been said, I used 40 gal on my first 10 hrs on my 17 RI 257.  Combination of cruising and surfing, fully ballasted.   Now I have lead, and use a little more fuel, but not much.  I am super impressed with the(lack of) fuel I have to put into the boat. Also the surf tabs are way more fuel efficient than surfgate.

Edited August 4, 2018 by carguy79ta

[sporte77 5]

On ‎8‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 8:48 AM, carguy79ta said:

Just to add to what has been said, I used 40 gal on my first 10 hrs on my 17 RI 257.  Combination of cruising and surfing, fully ballasted.   Now I have lead, and use a little more fuel, but not much.  I am super impressed with the(lack of) fuel I have to put into the boat. Also the surf tabs are way more fuel efficient than surfgate.

Wow!  4 gallons per hour.  That IS amazing.  We must be doing a lot less cruising back and forth to our ride spot.  Also, I've heard guys have changed out their stock prop and seen good gains.  I'm running the stock 1235 (14.5x14.25) and seeing 4100-4300 RPMs surfing btwn 10-11mph with full ballast.  Thinking about getting a bigger prop to drop the RPMs. One other guy said his Fi21 experience is that the fuel consumption goes way up passing 4000rpms.  I don't think I should go all the way up to a 16x13 though - I've got the 409 engine and the shaft is 1-1/8" vs. the HO engines that have the 1-1/4" shaft.  Maybe look at a 15.5 or 15"

Edited September 11, 2018 by sporte77
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