2006 Elite V Drive?

[Cowichan 0]

Hi guys, I'm looking at a 2006 Elite V-Drive. Was wondering if any can give me some specs on this boat. I do not know much about Centurion but I am lookin at buying one. Is this boat a good boat for surfing. it has 2 sacks in the back and the plate in the back ( I guess these plates are a manual adjust. How does this model rank in the Centurion line for 2006. Any other info would be great.

 

Thanks

Paul

[Oldwakedude 0]

Ok, centurion is a good boat for the $$, but if you want to surf it needs to be an Enzo (my opinion). That being said I had a 2000 Elite V-drive for 8 years and enjoyed it. We originally had two 250# sacks in the rear compartments which wasn't enough. We swapped out and installed two FH 750# sacs then installed a sac under the port seat. This was good for surfing. We also installed a couple of sacs under the bow seats to improve hole shot and wake for boarding. We didn't really go to extremes to get the maximum lean to make an even bigger wake, but with this ballast the 315HP set-up knew it was being challenged. The attached photo is with the smaller sacs in a deep lake (lakes less than 10' significantly reduce the wake). After we installed the larger sacs my daughter had no problem surfing no rope, I have a video, but I am not sure how to post it, I'll work on it. But it shows the wake quite clearly and what a skilled 110# surfer girl can do with it.

 

The Enzo - all this being said, I did not originally plan to buy a new boat this year, but we did a demo behind an Enzo 230 and that was it, no more questions. The wake for both wakesurfing and wakeboarding was significantly better than what we were able to achieve in the V-drive. Downside to the Enzo is a higher purchase price tag and a higher operating price tag (tow weight is 800#s heavier and ballasted weight is higher, more gas cost for truck and boat). If you consider an Enzo note that there are three models, 220 (21'6"), 230 (23')and 240 (24'). The 230 and 240 are the same basic hull shape just a foot different in length. The 220 (use to be the 216) is a totally different hull shape. It is flatter bottom, meant to be a cross-over boat for slalom to wakesurf, read flatter to mean rough riding and a different wake (although I've seem some nice photos).

 

The plate - personal opinion again, but the plate is not really useful. Mine was always set all the way up (no effect) and I have not seen any comments that say it has ever been used otherwise.

Edited October 13, 2008 by Oldwakedude

[AirWarriorC4 0]

Hey Paul, My brother and i purchased a 2006 Air Warrior and honestly i will never go to another boat when we look to upgrade. Yes the enzos are extremly nice if you are looking for more and have the money to. I am 18 and my brother is 20 and we purchased the boat brand new and have never had a single problem with it. The company support is beyond excellent they do really care for the customers (long story short- we hit land and had some drive shaft issues and they took very good care of us)

The things that i do like the most about the Air Warrior is that they can come stock or you can upgrade a couple of things. OUrs came stock and we took it as a chance to customize it to how we want it. THe simple things- Bags in the lockers, speakers, lights, custom bimini, stickers, etc. I really feel like it gave us the chance to make the boat how we want it instead of making it look like every other boat on the water. I have a couple of pics but not of all the things we have done to it. Again we have never had a single problem with anything on the boat. (And another plus is we did our own oil change and it took all of ten minutes. Very simple) Here are a couple of pics-

I custom made the light bar 3 forward and 3 reverse

I installed the speakers and ran the wire myself

The Custom Bimini Top revently purchased (Onlyinboards.com)

The surf Wake if you surf (350 and 550 bag in rear locker and 350 in bow plus midship)

 

I can put more up when i get the chance-

 

 

If you have any more questions feel free to ask- all the guys on here are extremly helpful

 

Jaret

[smitty 0]

Well put AW, Couldn't agree more we love our's too!

[duramat 462]

Yes,,, you can have fun withe the Elite. For my budget the Elite has been well for me and I havent regretted it ounce. Just throw some Sacs in and go. The more weght the better as Ive found out this year. My elite is weight sensitive so it takes a little tweaking when balancing it out but it can be done. when getting pulled stay in the middle to see how the wake is and move people around to balance it out (side washed out? more weight). The manual trim.....Ive got mine up all the way and its noticeable at higher speeds when beginning to purpoise. Its a fun boat, I do recommend it for all around everything.

[Oldwakedude 0]

I agree with all of the above. The Enzo is designed for wakesurfing so it is going to have better capabilities, but you pay for it.

 

Economics will probably dictate which model you get, but don't forget to pay attention to the important things, here is some benefit from my experience:

 

Tower - I don't really like the Evolution tower (my daugters think it is cool actually I think they say "sick"), it is a bit low and the bimini top is not the easiest to put up or store. I prefer a tower that the bimini can be easily deployed and it is high enough that a 6' guy does not hit his head on the speakers (tower speakers should be above the bimini). My old tower tilted forward so that in the stowed condition the tower rested on the bow leaving the boat open for work, the Evolution tilts aft and is right in the way if you want to work on the boat in the garage.

 

Garage storage - again the Evolution tower is a problem, it doesn't collapse as far as most of the others. If you are going to store the boat in a garage, make sure that the tower in the folded condition is less than 7' or whatever your garage opening is (Evolution is almost 8'). Length is an easy one, it would seem, but make sure to notice (measure) the actual garage space (backwall to inside of closed door) and the actual boat on trailer length (some things stick out like the wake plate). If you have to fold/remove the trailer tongue to make it fit, make sure folding/removing is easy enough, some can be a pain to disconnect, others just unpin and swing out of the way.

 

Bimini top - if it is important to you, make sure it is easily deployed and stowed and it is tall enough to stand under.

 

Ballast - filling and adjusting ballast manually can be a pain and regardless of the boat you will need a lot of ballast, so auto filling should be a priority. It is easier and faster to upgrade an existing system (replace hard tank with bigger sacs, add sacs) than installing one new, but again you pay more for it.

 

Ok, enough from the old guy

[elc 2]

We have had ours for a couple years now and are happy we went this route for our first v-drive purchase. It is a great all around boat, especially for the price.

 

My elite is also weight sensitive (although we have the older hull)... once you figure out how to manage it, its fine for beginner to intermediate riders.

 

The manual wake plate is a pain. It makes a noticeable difference in the shape of the wake and it also makes a difference in how the boat plains. If the plate is all the way up, the wake is steeper, if it is down its mellow with a longer transition. If its down the boat plains easier and does not porpoise.

 

Like oldwake says, get an automated ballast... at least in the rear lockers. Its a pain to fill up a bunch sacs. If you are new to wakeboarding you may not think its important now, give it six months and you will wish you had it.

 

If you are going to wakeboard you should also get some type of "cruise control". We do not have it, I am lucky because my wife is a better driver than I am. The bad part is, when someone else tries to pull me who is not a great driver, it makes it very difficult to board.

[Oldwakedude 0]

Second that recommendation on the speed control.

 

Only good one I know of is the perfect pass, and on my Elite it was (perfect). The boat didn't come with one and with my 13year old daughter driving I really needed it. Even after a few years when the solenoid failed, due to moisture in the engine compartment (my fault), perfect pass sent a new one free of charge no questions asked. Even now with an experienced daughter driving (now 21) I am glad we have the perfect pass on the Enzo. Actually even when I am driving the perfect pass makes it much easier, no need to tightly monitor the speed.

 

Perfect Pass - Highly Recommended !!!

[Oldwakedude 0]

Ok, don't know if this will work, but I made a 30 second video clip of my daughter surfing behind our 2000 elite v-drive. Boat had 2 750# sacs aft and one 150# sac below center. Wake is not as good as it could be as we didn't have the port side middle sac in then and we only had four people, two heavies were in the bow . But the video shows you what you can do if you are good and 115#s. Me, I'm 6', 170# and had a hard time keeping up with the boat on that board . Probably with a bigger fatter board I could have done it, instead I got a bigger boat/bigger wake so now I can do it.