This video is a follow up to the video that we made comparing a Malibu MXZ and a Nautique G23 to a Centurion Ri257 looking at fuel economy and power.
There were a number of people that were concerned that the information wasn’t valid because the Malibu MXZ we used in the video was a 2016 model and the 2017 model changed both the hull and the drivetrain of the boat. As you can imagine, getting current model boats to do this kind of testing is difficult, REALLY difficult. We made the offer to run our fuel flow rate Diacom test on any manufacturer’s current model year towboat, but had no takers.
Well, it didn’t take long for us to take a 2017 Malibu 24 MXZ in on trade for a new Centurion. Of course, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to compare the test results of the new hull and powertrain on the 2017 vs the Ri257. The Malibu MXZ has the current hull and powertrain system, making a side by side comparison unarguably accurate. So we geared up and hit the lake with an equally equipped Centurion Ri257.
Both of the boats in this test have supercharged 550 horsepower engines, stock ballast settings, and are propped appropriately for the elevation we run our boats at (5,417ft). The Centurion Ri257 has a 1.72:1 transmission gear ratio and a 16×15” prop, while the Malibu has a 2:1 gear ratio (possibly a 1.76:1 – getting the proper information here has been difficult to verify) and a 17×14” prop.
We would like to reiterate, this isn’t an analysis of the subjective aspects of the boats, i.e. surf wave comparison, driveability, and anything that can’t be represented by numbers. These are cold hard facts, baby.
Here is the setup that we ran on each of the boats including their size, weight, ballast, etc.:
Centurion Ri257
Boat Length – 25′ 7″
Boat Weight – 6,150 lbs.
Ballast Weight – 5,100 lbs.
Total Weight – 11,250 lbs.
Lake Elevation – 5,417 feet
Engine – PCM XR7
Engine HP – 550
Malibu 24MXZ
Boat Length – 24′ 5″
Boat Weight – 5,500 lbs.
Ballast Weight – 3,000 lbs. + Wedge
Total Weight – 8,500 lbs. (10,000 lbs. if factoring wedge at 100% depolyment)
Lake Elevation – 5,417 feet
Engine – Indmar Monsoon 575
Engine HP – 550
