Few questions about a G21l

[Noahsark]

Well just when I thought I had pretty much decided on a 230, the wife sees a G21 and thinks thats the overall better option for our family. She like to sit in the bow and says it looks much deeper and safer.

Now for a few questions, the guy that had the G21 was just finishing getting it on his trailer and starting to strap it up. He told me hed be glad to put it back in the water and take me for a ride, but I just didn't want to have go through all of that just for me.

His G21 is a 2014 model. I asked him how it handled and he said it's quite easy to drive and it's pretty nimble. I asked how much topend speed he could get out of it and he said pretty much empty ballast and 4-5 people on the boat like he normally has the G21 will run about 43 mph, but that he has only tried that once.

I told him we like to take nice boat rides at time and usually cruise at about 28-30 mph, and he said it will do that with ease. I asked him about how it rode in rougher water and he said it rides much better than his previous 210, but he couldn't say if it was any better than a 230 which I had been leaning towards.

I asked about the surf wake compared to his 210, and he said he couldn't really give a valid answer. His 210 was a 2011 model and didn't have NSS. He said his G21 has the same engine his 210 did, but that the G21 gets on plane and feels much stronger with the different gear ratio.

I was quite impressed with his boat also and too be honest it almost looked like it had just as much room in it as the 230 I was looking at.

Does all of his answers seem right? Thanks guys

[JoeA]

All the answers seem to be accurate.

G series is great, not question bout that BUT the 210s and 230 are VERY nice too. Drive a 230 and the G21 and decide. Don't buy a boat based on its looks only. Make a list of things that are important and rate each boat after the test drive.

[Kenv]

Joe is correct....don't buy a boat based on it's looks only...BUT...If you like the looks of the 21 over the 210 or 230 and performance is close...you will sleep better, and your wife will be happier for choosing the boat that you guys like the most. You will hear a lot of positive comments about all Nautiques...and the only negative I have with mine is I wish it went about 50mph...no more...no less....so barefooting when I wanted.... wouldn't be a problem...oh well. Driving the boats may be so similar that you are still undecided. So get the one that tugs at the heart the most. You won't go wrong with either of the 3. One note....my kids do like the deeper bow of the G21 over my old 226.

[NautiqueJeff]

Unless it has a 550, I would be surprised if the G21 could get to 43 MPH. A G23 with a 550 will only get to about 41 or so.

Also, cruising will be much more comfortable in the 25 MPH area, and that assumes relatively-smooth water.

[Noahsark]

Thanks for the input guys ! I absolutely will take a ride in each one if I can find a G21 to ride in? They don't seem to be as available as the 230's.

We looked over and sat in a 230 at a boat show last month. The wife immediately thought it was too short and felt like you would fall out of the boat and didn't care for the bow area at all.

I had to tell her that the boat was actually sitting "downhill" to keep the prop off of the floor. I mentioned to the salesman that he should maybe make sure the boat is level as that did make it a little deceiving. Once my wife actually sat down on the seats she changed her mind quite a bit and said it felt safer than she thought? Women? Lol

But then we were at a lake yesterday and here comes this G21 and she commented to me "what type of nautique is that". We went over to inspect it and she instantly told me how much more she liked that bow area, and then got to talking to the owners wife and she got to telling my wife how much better she liked the bow area over their previous 210.

I guess I should say that we are coming from an I/O and this is why my wife is used to a deeper boat.

Nautique Jeff, this G21 had a 409 in it which is the 6 liter motor I assume? How fast do you think it will go? Im not really worried so much about topend, but I don't want to be geared so low that we are still screaming the motor taking a 25-30 mph boat ride.

It seems to me with a lot of the responses on here wanting more topend out of these boats, that they wouldn't have come up with some type of an "overdrive" transmission to use once you have got up on plane and want to go faster, or just cruise at a lower rpm pace using less fuel and wear and tear.

I plan on using this boat for quite a bit of watersports, but I also want to have something that can give us a good day out on the lake, cruising, exploring, and listening to tunes!

Thanks guys

[NautiqueJeff]

Remember, these boats are not built for speed. They're built for moving tons of weight (literally) and moving a lot of hull through the water to create the biggest wakes possible. There is simply no way that a G21 with a 409 would get to 41 MPH. They're just not propped for that, and the transmissions are not geared for it. You'd likely hit the rev limiter before you'd see 41 with a 409 or a 450, and certainly would in a 343. I would speculate mid- to upper-thirties for top-end in a G21 for non-550 boats.

Running 25-30 with no ballast won't be too many RPM's. The stock Back to Dock setting for speed in the LINC system is 25 (but can easily be changed), and that is comfortable. 30 MPH is pretty darn fast on the water unless the water is very smooth. Sometimes boat speeds sound slow when compared to land speeds, but once you're out there, I find that 25 is a good cruising speed, but everyone has different opinions, and that's totally cool!

Both the 409 and 450 engines are 6L blocks. The 343 is a 5.7, and the 550 is a 6.2.

You mention that you've seen responses on here looking for more top-end on these boats. I haven't seen that. Can you point me to any of those discussions? I'd like to have a look and see what's being said.

[Noahsark]

NautiqueJeff, I've asked a few questions on here during my research and things and a few of the responses then mentioned they would like to see more topspeed. I think I even seen it in a few threads where a member was looking at different boats and then wanting more speed for slalom skiing, when they weren't going to surf or wakeboard.

KenV in this post here mentions he would like to have more speed.

So do these boats not actually fully plane once they are in motion? I would think with no ballast or minimum ballast these boats should get up on plane and move along at a decent pace? I'm sure loaded down to wakeboard they aren't going to hit those speeds, but "back to dock" mode I would think would "free up" quite a bit of speed?

Thanks

[NautiqueJeff]

Thanks for that example.

Yeah, slalom guys would certainly want more speed than wakeboarders or surfers, but the G-Series isn't marketed as a slalom boat. That's just not what it is made for. The G-series hull does not create as much lift as a ski boat, so the G-series boats displace more water and create a bigger wake, which by design would cause it to be slower than a ski boat. These boats just are not made for skiing.

The Back to Dock setting, once the boat is on plane, will raise the NCRS to the uppermost position (parallel with the hull), which will allow as much of the bow as possible to come out of the water. The more it does that, the less water resistance there will be and the faster the boat will go. NCRS is useful in keeping the bow down when starting off and in tight turns it will keep the boat on plane when otherwise it might not stay on plane. This is why I always recommend that the NCRS setting be left in Automatic mode and set at High intensity. Let the system do its job and it works great.

[Whitetail15]

how do you change back to dock to 30 mph. does it have to go the dealer for that speed? also, you will not reach 40 mph with a g21 409. it is a 38-39 mph boat with ncrs working to max it out.

pcm cruising rpm for 409 is 4000 rpm max. i will check, but believe it is about 30-32 mph with an empty boat and 409. hope this helps

[NautiqueJeff]

You can just arrow-up the speed just like any other time you're using Zero Off. Simple as that!

[Noahsark]

So what about the 230? Is it a faster boat on topend, as it looks like it gets up out of the water in videos I have watched of it, and it has more of the ski boat look?

I love the looks of the G series, but maybe I should still be looking at the 230 as it's starting to sound like maybe it's more of a crossover boat than the G series.

Again this is a great board, and I appreciate you guys dealing with all of my questions. I will most definetely take a ride in each of them before I make my final decision, but the more I know from the get go, will make each ride a better thing as i will know what to and what not to look for.

Quite a few people, even the salesman told me the 230 will top out in the mid 40's, so I'm assuming it's a good 5-10 mph faster than a G series on topend?

Again I'm not truly worried about top speed, but I figure if a boat will run 43mph or so on topend then cruising at 25-30 mph should be easy and not "working" the engine so hard?

Thanks again

[Noahsark]

I called the guy that had the G21 I saw and asked him a few more questions. He again said that in fact did hit 41 mph on his boat, but he said it was a day his family was taking a nice boat ride he no ballast, it was late in the afternoon and he said the water was like glass with not even a ripple in it, so for kicks he "opened it up" and when it wasn't pulling anymore his Zero Off read 41.2? He said it might be a fluke and he has never ran the boat wide open after that so he can only speak for that day.

He told me he cruises at 26 mph all the time and the motor sounds fine and doesn't sound like it's working hard at all. He brought up a good point to me, as he used to have an I/O years ago too. He said when I thought I was cruising at 28-30 mph on my I/O I might have truly been more around 25-26 mph.

He says from his experience the siphon hose designed speedo's on most I/O aren't true mph speeds like the GPS version which are on tow boats. I believe I might have not taken that into account as I have heard this before.

He told me that they went for the G series for few reasons. They don't get near as much spray over the bow as his old 210, it seems to ride rougher water a little smoother, and the main reason was the storage. He said there was no comparison there in his opinion.

He also said he found out the G series comes stock with main of the "options" you'll have to add on the 210, 230 models.

He told me they rode in the newer 2014 210 boat and it was much better with bow spray, but still not as good as the G series.

I also told him I have a 8' tall door on my garage and he says that's what he has and his boat will clear his door, but just barely. As soon as I hung up I thought "**** I should have asked him what trailer he has !" Oh well another day maybe?

Thanks again guys

[Kenv]

Noahsark and Jeff.....Yes, I mentioned that I would like a little more speed both from my old 226 and my current G21...JUST because i'm an old school kneeboarder, skiier, slalomer, and barefooter. Would still like to show the kids a barefoot pass or two but I have to do it behind my buddy's Malibu or a 200 Nautique. That is the single reason I mentioned the wish for a little more top end. I will sacrifice that for everything else that this boat is about and does well. The G series in my opinion is just one cool looking and functioning ride !!

[nyryan2001]

If you must have 40+ top end speed you better get the 550hp. By the way you talk... You should be looking at a 230, 550hp with an OJ 14.75"x16-17" prop.

That ^^^ will have you at 45-47mph guzzling 16-18gph going that fast.

Cheers.

[nyryan2001]

And for the record, my G with the 16x16 prop runs 43-44mph.