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My Review - G23: 550 & 450 hp engines
I finally got my butt into a 550hp super charged G23, today. For those of you who are not familiar, I own a G23 with the 450hp engine. The sole purpose for my personal boat is to wakeboard. The reason I wanted to try out the 550hp was to see if the wake was any better, with the capability it has for extra ballast weight. Below is my review. Please realize that this is all just my personal opinion (besides the #'s), but I know there are people out there who are not sure what engine they want to get, so I've given my thoughts on the other areas I know are of interest to people as well...hopefully this will help you to make a more informed decision.
Ballast setups.
450hp: Factory plus 450 each rear compartment, 200 under midship seats, 750 in bow.
550hp: Factory plus 750 each rear compartment, 250 under midship seats, 1000 in bow.
Wake - The extra 950 pounds that the 550hp engine can handle (factory + 3000) does not make a noticable improvement over the 450hp setup (factory + 2050 pounds). This is in-line with what the Nautique team riders first told me back in May when I ordered mine...there seems to be threshold with where the wake basically maxes out in size (that threshold is describe above with the 450hp ballast setup).
Some may ask, "why do any extra weight over factory, at all?" The wake does not get any bigger with the extra ballast (because you can ride slower and with a shorter rope), however, the wake gets harder with the extra weight. For my friends and mine riding styles, that suits us best...basically grip it and rip it.
Boat Performance - The 550hp definitely takes the turns much better...like a slalom boat. The time to get up to speed during starts was not a huge difference, but remember, we had nearly another 1000 pounds in the boat, compared to what I have in the 450 (plus it was a smaller prop). I'd imagine that if you had only factory + 2050 lbs, that you'd notice it get to speed much quicker. Top speed was a no brainer, much higher on the 550hp. I didn't take all the way up, but when I hit 38 mph, we were only at about 3900 rpm. Top speed with the 450 is about 38mph at 5500 rpm.
Engine Noise - To me, I didn't really notice a difference.
Conclusion - The only real benefit of the 550hp engine is that you'll get to speed quicker, take corners better, higher top end speed and run lower rpms. The wake between the 450 and 550 is equal, as is the noise. Again, this is all my personal opinion, and I'm sure there will be others out there with one that differs. I could definitely see the extra engine being a huge benefit for those that live on small lakes and need to get to speed immediately. This thread is not intended to promote one engine over the other, but is meant to just provide some real life insite
Ballast setups.
450hp: Factory plus 450 each rear compartment, 200 under midship seats, 750 in bow.
550hp: Factory plus 750 each rear compartment, 250 under midship seats, 1000 in bow.
Wake - The extra 950 pounds that the 550hp engine can handle (factory + 3000) does not make a noticable improvement over the 450hp setup (factory + 2050 pounds). This is in-line with what the Nautique team riders first told me back in May when I ordered mine...there seems to be threshold with where the wake basically maxes out in size (that threshold is describe above with the 450hp ballast setup).
Some may ask, "why do any extra weight over factory, at all?" The wake does not get any bigger with the extra ballast (because you can ride slower and with a shorter rope), however, the wake gets harder with the extra weight. For my friends and mine riding styles, that suits us best...basically grip it and rip it.
Boat Performance - The 550hp definitely takes the turns much better...like a slalom boat. The time to get up to speed during starts was not a huge difference, but remember, we had nearly another 1000 pounds in the boat, compared to what I have in the 450 (plus it was a smaller prop). I'd imagine that if you had only factory + 2050 lbs, that you'd notice it get to speed much quicker. Top speed was a no brainer, much higher on the 550hp. I didn't take all the way up, but when I hit 38 mph, we were only at about 3900 rpm. Top speed with the 450 is about 38mph at 5500 rpm.
Engine Noise - To me, I didn't really notice a difference.
Conclusion - The only real benefit of the 550hp engine is that you'll get to speed quicker, take corners better, higher top end speed and run lower rpms. The wake between the 450 and 550 is equal, as is the noise. Again, this is all my personal opinion, and I'm sure there will be others out there with one that differs. I could definitely see the extra engine being a huge benefit for those that live on small lakes and need to get to speed immediately. This thread is not intended to promote one engine over the other, but is meant to just provide some real life insite
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