This weekend is it ... 216/211 or 206?

[TN_SN_Convert]

One more thing ... What about engine upgrades? Do I need to upgrade with the 216 or 211? I hear the 21 can be a litttle slow out of the hole with the base engine. Thoughts? Also ... is the fuel economy that much worse with the bigger engine?

[AbunDiga909]

I have the ZR6 and love it. Is it necissary? No. Is it considerably faster? No. Does it accelerate faster? Slightly. Does it sound better? Yes. Does it look cooler? Yes. Does it eat up more fuel? Yes. Does it have a higher top end? Slightly. Is it nice to have when you're pulling a slalomer or barefooter or just have an extremely heavy load? Absolutely. Is it worth the extra 4K? Probably not. Would I get it again? Without question... gotta be different...

Gotta have the biggest baddest Nautique on the lake? Go w/ the ZR6... you won't regret it...

[NautiqueJeff]

The ZR-6 is an expensive option. Even so, my next boat will have one. If you plan on adding extra ballast, the extra power will come in handy. I have never heard of someone upgrading to the ZR-6 and saying that they wish they hadn't.

[TN_SN_Convert]

Thanks guys. I will let everyone know how the skiing and test drives comes out.

[SGY]

I would consider the ZR6 here at higher altitude. If I were anywhere near sea level, I can't imagine the Excalibur not being suitable. It's a horse here in Denver. I'm sure its quite good at lower elevations. Besides, the Excalibur takes 87 octane whereas the ZR6 I believe requires 91. I could be wrong on that.

[AbunDiga909]

The ZR6 takes regular 87, a lot of people make that mistake...

[SGY]

I wasn't sure. Thanks.

[TN_SN_Convert]

I drove and skiied the 216,206 and 211 this weekend. Here are my observations:

206 - Started with the 206. I fell in love with the wake. It drove a lot like my MC205 but more defined. The ski wake is truely awesome. I thought it would be bigger than my '94 205 but it is not. It is softer and smaller. Loved it. This boat is awesome if I just did not have 3 kids. Wife and I ruled this one out as it is no bigger than our current boat. Great boat ... too small for us.

211 - The 211 came next. We absolutely loved the room of the vdrive. The extra back seat is a bit hoakey and cheap looking, however, everything else was great. The drove totally different than what I am used to. Slower out of the hole and not as responsive. It was the 330hp engine and I thought that was a bit uderpowered. I would upgrade to the ZR6. When I skiied the hole shot was slower than I am used to ... side note (maybe I just need o lose a few pounds as my wife says it was fine.) The wake was much bigger than the 206 ... obviously. I was skiing at 32 and 34 MPH at 15 off. Wife skiied at 15 off at 30MPH. Wake was barely accpetable and will take some time getting used too ... the good point was that it was softer than I expect and crossing was not affected by the size. Summary - Loved the interior ... concerned about the ski wake

216 - By the time we skiied the 216 I was getting burned out. 5 sets in a hour for a old fat guy is about all I do in an entire day!! The interior was nice but not even close to the 2111. The darn vdrive does have its advantages. The boat was more responsive but I expected it to drive just like the 206 and it did not. I could not figure it out. Must have been just the size of the boat. Lots more storage than my current boat ... I love the rear locker. The wake was much better than the 211 .. I would say it is very comparable to my 205 wake. I really felt good behind this boat as did my wife.

Summary - We are more confused than ever. We love the interior of the 211 but are very concerned about the wake. Especially the ski wake for our kids. The 216 was a good wake just does not have that awesome vdrive interior. We are leaning towards the 216 but need to think about it for a couple of days. Thanks to all for your help. I fould the boats to be exactly as I have been reading about in terms of pros and cons. There is just not the perfect boat that has lots of room with a great ski wake.

[AbunDiga909]

Buy 3 boats.

[SGY]

If you love the 206 that much, then my advice is to buy it. I have three kids and usually take a couple more with us to the lake. Our 206 fits us just fine. Get it with a tower and racks and you'll get the stuff off the floor. At the margin, will the 216, with a foot more room, really give you that much more room/enjoyment over the 206? In either boat, you are probably only going to put two in the bow and then three on the observer seat plus the driver. Will the 216 give you room for another person or two and still allow folks to ski of the pylon. Probably not. Get the boat you love--even though you might be a bit more scrunched. Besides, you'll save some money.

[Mikeski]

Resale of the 211 will be the best of the three, it's the cheapest mistake. Last I heard V-drives are outselling direct drives by something like 10 to 1. If your wife is like mine she can get used to the 211 wake with a bit more speed. If she is skiing the course then you should not be looking at the 211. The Acme 644 is a must on the 211 if you plan on pulling deep water slalom starts with any load in the boat.

[cooperwoods]

I echo the comments of SGY. I too have a 206, three kids (13,15 and 16) a wife and two big dogs. While the boat is a little tight on space, it works great with the tower. The tower opens up the rear seats, and I believe the beam of the 216 and 206 is the same. Therefore, I'm not sure that you get that much more space with the 216. We have the flip-up tournament seat and that helps. Strongly recommend it if it still available. We have had the boat for 1.5 years and 280 hours later -still loving it.

[AbunDiga909]

I think the extra space in the 216 is seen in the bow. The extra foot on that boat really is shown there. If your family likes to go to the bow, lie down, stretch and relax up there like mine does, I'd say you should take into consideration the extra bow space in the 216. Little kids always love it up there and there is definately more room to spread out up there. And if the law matters to you, to some it doesn't, you can get 10 in the boat instead of 9...

[Zeda]

I test drove, wakeboarded, and skiied behind the 211 today and was very impressed with this boat in all areas. I currently own a 2004 Tige 22V that throws a pretty good wakeboarding wake and a marginal ski wake, but found the 211 to be better in all areas. Better boarding wake and demolishes the 22V's ski wake. The 22V may win for surfing, but I have not surfed the 211 so I can't say for sure.

I think if you are looking for a good boat for skiing and boarding, this is the one. I'm getting one.

[FatBoy]

Surfing on the 211.