Ex-330 vs Zr6 in 211

[NSV]

How big of a difference is the whole shot and top end with the Zr6 vs the Ex?

[SNMike]

RE: Ex-330 vs Zr6 in 211

From what the guys at SouthEast CC said, it wasn't worth 5K more money in the 196. Don't know anything about it other than what they said. Almost no discernable difference. Yellow_Flash_Colorz: Mike

[j2nh]

Hole shot $ top end

I owned a 2002 196 with the 330 and now have an 05 with the ZR6. The difference depends on what you do with the boat. For slalom skiing it is insignificat.
The ZR6 is hotter out of the hole. Top end is a couple of miles an hour faster. Big difference is if you are pulling multiple barefooters or multiple skiers. I am part of a show club and drive our shows from time to time. Do to a failure on one of the clubs boats we used mine for a show. Our club Nautique (05 196w/excalibur) will not pull two barefoot pyramids. My boat with the ZR6 will. 7 girl swivel line requires a bit of a jump to get the girls off the dock with the 330 but a tight line is all that is required with the ZR-6. The ZR-6 is a much thirstier engine than the 330.
My .02
Jim

[BPresley321]

i have a 211 and the 330 has worked fine for most things. the only time i would like to have more power is with the boat loaded with fat sacs and lots of ppl. other than that, it's fine.

[SilverSpraySports]

We have only sold one or two 211's with the zr6. You can feel the difference but I am not sure that it is necessary. You have more power out of the hole and a little bit more top end. The big question is "how do you plan on using the boat?" Are you pulling individual skiers and wakeboarders or are you pulling a show ski team?

-Doug

[FatBoy]

And is it worth the difference to you in the amount of fuel it uses. I have heard that the ZR6 is pretty thristy.

[Cumberlandrider]

How much extra weight do you run in your boat? With just stock ballast and some people the Ex. is plenty of power. If you add and extra 1,000+ to factory ballast the ZR6 is well worth it. When the boat is loaded heavy the ZR6 is not working nearly as hard as the Ex. thus its actually more fuel friendly. Also the "out of the hole" performance when loaded is exceptional. I've had a SAN with the Ex. and I've riden in a SAN with the ZR6 and its a night and day difference when loaded. I'll never own another without the ZR6.

[NSV]

We would probably never put more weight in the boat other then the factory balast. We always have 6-8 poeple on my current boat, it pulls my out of the water pretty quickly with only 260 php.

[j2nh]

I think you would find the excalibur to be an excellent engine choice. As I stated previously, short of pulling multiple skiers under unusual circumstances (barefoot pyramids) you would never need the extra grunt that the ZR6 delivers. The Excalibur in my 196 was a very smooth trouble free engine.