X-star engines which one?

Bambamski · Posted: Feb 14, 2006 10:48 am Post subject: X-star engines which one?

My buddy is buying an 06 X-star and asked me what engine he should be getting. The sales guy said that the MCX350 and the LQ9 385 are pretty much identical and the LQ really isn't worth the upgrade as you wouldn't notice much of a difference. He said if you really want to upgrade then go for the next one up, what is that 450hp? I'm not sure which one that is?

Anyays, you X-star owners or people that have driven an X-star what are your opinions of the engine choices? What do you like or dislike about which engine you have in your X-star? Would you get a different engine now after using the boat for a while? This is his first boat, I can't see him throwing a ton of sacs in it for extra weight right off the bat here. He did say they will typically have 8-10 people in the boat when they are on the water though. His buddy had an 05 X-star and his buying an 06 with the 450hp engine. Is that overkill? I know the X-star is a bit of a pig to drive, can you ever pass a marina if you go for the big engine or does it get pretty much the same gas consumption? What are your top speeds with each of the different engines?

Does anyone noticed a difference between the LQ9 and the MCX?

Thanks

RoughRiverMike · Outlaw Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 107 City: louisville

Bambamski,
I've heard that the LQ is not much of an upgrade on anything but price. If he drives it in salt water, then absolutely. I just ordered mine and went with the mcx. I have been in that boat with all the stock ballast 850lbs and about 10 people on board and it did great. I haven't been in one with the 450hp because my dealer never orders them that way. I recently talked with a Hyperlite Rep that is also sponsored by MC. He orders the MCX and advised me to do that also. Plenty of power IHO.

snowboardcorey · Posted: Feb 14, 2006 4:18 pm Post subject:

I've driven the X-star with the MCX 4 peeps, stock ballast + 1500 lbs. Sooooo sweet, takes a couple of seconds to plane out, but totally worth it.

The LQ-9 is a killer engine, needs at least 100 hrs to break in before you will notice any difference in performance and even then it will be subtle. I'd save the cash and put it into a gas fund.

Ruune · Posted: Feb 14, 2006 6:28 pm Post subject:

Go for the 8 liter... seriously. If you want a lot of torque... its the best thats available right now.

Cbrown · Soul Rider Joined: 23 Oct 2003 Posts: 301 City: Memphis

As stated 8.1 or MCX, the LQ9 does not seem to have the low end grunt. It is very reliable and the closed cooling is nice but not worth the money in my opinion.

BugHunter · Newbie Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 29 City: Palm Bay

I just got mine last week.
I have the MCX and the "high altitude prop" which has the same pitch but smaller diameter. It does great with this prop. That is with 1500lbs over stock and 7 people in the boat. We tried the boat with this weight and the standard prop and it takes for ever to plane and falls off plane in a tight turn, even with full throttle.
The problem with this prop is that it makes the engine rev higher. Not a problem for us, because we will use the boat 99.9% for wakeboarding only. If your friend wants to use it for loaded-up wakeboarding AND for skiing or just cruising, this prop is not going to be good and he would have to go with the big block.

Mastercraft should make a hard-core version of this boat with a lot more stock ballast and the big block standard, for an reasonable price. I believe the big block was a 12K upgrade from the standard motor ?

Fuel consumption with the big block will be higher if you don't load up, the same or even lower if you load it up.

Bambamski · Posted: Feb 15, 2006 8:01 am Post subject:

His buddy ended up buying the new X-star with the 8.1 engine so my buddy is going to buy his old boat. It has the LQ9 engine. From the responses it sounds like it doesn't matter much between the LQ and MCX. I doubt the boat has even close to 100 hours on it so after that it starts pulling better? It's always great having one more top notch boat that you can bum a ride on when you don't feel like taking your own boat to the lake.

When he was negotiating with the dealer I thought he said the big block was 7 grand more? Or is that 7 grand more over the LQ9?

Anyways, thanks for the input.

Ruune · Posted: Feb 15, 2006 2:13 pm Post subject:

when I was looking at an X-45 last summer, I believe that the 8.1 Liter was an 12k upgrade, and the LQ-9 was like 8 or 9k.

another note- the LQ9 runs 89-91 octane (some people alternate), whereas the 8.1 Liter runs 87 octane...but more of it. Razz

shaggyboarder · Posted: Feb 15, 2006 7:25 pm Post subject:

i would def. get the big block the one down at the camp we use has the mcx and with a boat load of people and ballast it does not plain of well, also if you have to turn tight double ups in your area it does not have enough power to stay on plain.