Response, Sportster, or Sunsetter
Brett Caywood
I just had the pleasure of selling my old i/o, and I'm now ready to buy
an inboard. I've pretty much decided on Malibu boats because of their
value, and because the Malibu dealer is pretty good. I do have a
couple questions though. What is the wake difference between the
Response LX ('98 model) and the Sunsetter LX (also a '98) ? I skied
behind the '97 sunsetter which was pretty nice, and I'm just interested
to know the wake difference because I won't be able to test ski the
Response for a week or two. Also, is the Sportster built as well as
the other Malibus, or did Malibu take quality shortcuts to get the
price down? (I'm wondering whether or not to wait and and look at a
sportster before I make my purchase.)
thanks in advance,
Brett Caywood
Greg Wait
Without making ANY CLAIMS about the relative merits of either
construction style, I thought it interesting to note that the Sportster
features a screwed "shoe box" construction, as opposed to the blunt
fitted and glassed construction of other Malibu's. While this was done
to keep costs down on the new entry-level boat, it may be perceived by
some as an additional value-point for the Sportster, since some people
have questioned the merits and the integrity of the glassed together
design.
As to whether they took "quality shortcuts" in building the Sportster,
any time you cut costs you must "cut corners." The question is which
corners you cut. Whether or not they took "quality shortcuts" depends
on what you consider the minimum requirements for a "quality" boat.
While the Tantrum seemed designed to take market share away from the
Jet-boat crowd, the Sportster appears to be targeted more toward the
buyer who has been lusting after a new competition inboard for years,
but who lacked sufficient "coin" to make one his (or her) own. This
seems like a smart move to me.
--
Greg Wait <zo...@behindtheboat.com>
Tom Ruta
Greg Wait <zo...@behindtheboat.com> wrote:
>Brett Caywood wrote:
>>
>> I just had the pleasure of selling my old i/o,...
>
>Without making ANY CLAIMS about the relative merits of either
>construction style, I thought it interesting to note that the Sportster
>features a screwed "shoe box" construction, as opposed to the blunt
>fitted and glassed construction of other Malibu's. While this was done
>to keep costs down on the new entry-level boat, it may be perceived by
>some as an additional value-point for the Sportster, since some people
>have questioned the merits and the integrity of the glassed together
>design.
>
Well, since one sees both types of construction in aircraft,
it probably best left to those wishing to argue on USENET,
eh?
>As to whether they took "quality shortcuts" in building the Sportster,
>any time you cut costs you must "cut corners." The question is which
>corners you cut. Whether or not they took "quality shortcuts" depends
>on what you consider the minimum requirements for a "quality" boat.
>
Interestingly, in the auto industry, prices haven't really
jumped as high as hey might have (yeah, I've seen prices --
sticker shock or what?) due to a couple of things:
commonization and decontenting.
Commonization, or using the same parts across mutiple
products has been fiarly common in boats over the last
while (pylons, swim grids, etc.). But I imagine there is a
bit more on internals that can or is being done to reduce
costs.
Decontenting is something that describes the process of
removing things not easily seen. Anyone buy a car with a
cigarette lighter lately? No, not unless you order the
"cancer package". Or take a look at Ford's Explorer -- note
that they no longer paint the inside of dash boxes or ash
trays. Saved them a bundle. I suspect we'll see 16 oz
carpet instead of 20 or 24 oz and such other things. I
really don't care as that while that reduces the "quality",
I can live with things like that.
In addition, I suspect that limited colour choices (like
MC's Sportstar) and engine standards will allow more
standard lines will less intervention, thus lowering the
costs further. Like Henry Ford used to say, you can have
any colour as long as it is black <g>.
>While the Tantrum seemed designed to take market share away from the
>Jet-boat crowd, the Sportster appears to be targeted more toward the
>buyer who has been lusting after a new competition inboard for years,
>but who lacked sufficient "coin" to make one his (or her) own. This
>seems like a smart move to me.
A good friend of mine (who has had nothing but grief with
his used Brendella -- but that is a whole other story) just
bought an open bow I/O. He really wanted an inboard, but
the MC 205 and SNOB were just too much money. He's gonna be
weeping at the next boat show!
Tom
Steven Cobb
I've skiied behind a 96 Response LX and a 97 Response closed bow. The wake
behind both of those boats is as flat as I've ever seen, to the point of
being practially non-existant. Being a larger boat, the Sunsetter
undoubtedly has a larger wake.
Brett Caywood <merl...@hotmail.com> wrote in article
<5s35qp$1b7$1...@news2.uswest.net>...