New member - A couple questions on options

If you’re not doing a ton of water sports the SPS would be fine for a cost saver. I tried for a G series an ESP but the misses insisted on a floor plan only available on the S series. I would of pushed to the 250 if it was available then. We do a decent amount of water sports with our boat and absolutely love it. Depending on where your boating may dictate the extra boyancy but I’m doubtful you’ll be disappointed with an SPS/250. But as Bulldog states... a test drive can make all the difference in the world.
PS: we have infloor storage and love it, that being said when I shopped used before our order that option wasn’t a deal breaker.
 
Going to the LOTO in-water boat show next weekend and hope to test both the ESP and SPS hulls.
I like a smooth floor and I see the EXP has two floor access panels at the rear. I'm sure one is for acess to the required 50 gal fuel tank, but not sure what the other one is for. I'm not fond of that one door doesn't match the other two in-floor doors and is not flush at all, not sure why they would do that.
 
Going to the LOTO in-water boat show next weekend and hope to test both the ESP and SPS hulls.
I like a smooth floor and I see the EXP has two floor access panels at the rear. I'm sure one is for acess to the required 50 gal fuel tank, but not sure what the other one is for. I'm not fond of that one door doesn't match the other two in-floor doors and is not flush at all, not sure why they would do that.

One access panel is for fuel tank hoses and the other is bilge pump and fuel sending unit (just before the last bulkhead).

For LOTO, I would recommend the ESP.

Also if doing the SPS plus (for greater than 200hp), almost positive you can't do a ski tow at all (other than a turbo swing) so another reason to jump to ESP. Otherwise, go to standard SPS (okay with 200hp and below).

ESP is definitely higher cost, but also higher resale, especially in your market at LOTO.
 
Unless you are on rough water pretty often (like Lake of the Ozarks rough), I would do without the wavetamer to bow upgrade. We boat on rough water but our ESP without it is still just fine and I much prefer the access to the front underside of the deck that is otherwise all inaccessible. I don't think an SPS would lose enough front bouyancy compared to our ESP to still justify it. Again, unless you were regularly in really rough water.

We just bought a Bennington 25RSRX, 300 Mercury. I don't know a lot about boats but we are on the Lake of the Ozarks too. What is a wave tamer to bow upgrade? Just trying to learn. We are in Osage Beach, mile marker 19. Thank So!
 
A wave tamer is underskinning all the way to the bow. Normally, the first 2 sections are open and I personally don't think it makes a difference.
 
They highly recommend wave tamer to bow on the LOTO with wave situation for any motor over 200HP.
 
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We went to the in-water boat show this weekend, was able to ride in an ESP hull which was very nice. I was hoping to ride in an SPS+ to compare, but they didn't have one in the water. We will have to do it in a couple weeks. The one we rode in was a $105K 27' Q with a 350, boy that will spoil you fast. It was a beautiful boat.
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Another thing we saw in person for the first time was the blackout package. It had white panels, black accent and SS rub rails. We hadn't really thought of that combination, but it was a very sharp boat. Stupid me forgot to take photos of it. Does anyone have that combo? Do the black anodized railings hold up well?
 
Another thing we saw in person for the first time was the blackout package. It had white panels, black accent and SS rub rails. We hadn't really thought of that combination, but it was a very sharp boat. Stupid me forgot to take photos of it. Does anyone have that combo? Do the black anodized railings hold up well?

I don’t have that combo (mine is Smokey grey, black accent, SS rub rails with blackout package). I will say after our first year the black anodized railings held up great. Our’s is a 2017, so it’s only had one Michigan boating season on the water. However, I heard good things from others on this board when we ordered over a year ago.
 
We went to the in-water boat show this weekend, was able to ride in an ESP hull which was very nice. I was hoping to ride in an SPS+ to compare, but they didn't have one in the water. We will have to do it in a couple weeks. The one we rode in was a $105K 27' Q with a 350, boy that will spoil you fast. It was a beautiful boat.
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My wife knows me well enough to not let me demo anything we can’t afford whether it’s a Q or a 350....... not because she doesn’t like it but knows I’d do anything to have it once I experience it! :)
 
Even though it will be under a covered dock with the cover on it the lower part of the aluminum rails will be exposed to the west, so major sun. I wonder if they fade over time?
 
We went to the in-water boat show this weekend, was able to ride in an ESP hull which was very nice. I was hoping to ride in an SPS+ to compare, but they didn't have one in the water. We will have to do it in a couple weeks. The one we rode in was a $105K 27' Q with a 350, boy that will spoil you fast. It was a beautiful boat.
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That is a beautiful Q. We were down at the LOTO this weekend as well. Didn't go to boat show but did get our new Q out this weekend after waiting all winter. We love our ESP hull, but we have the IO. Did you get to ride in the IO? They sell a lot of those down there. We absolutely love our IO with ESP. Our friends that we had down this weekend couldn't believe how smooth the ride was! We bought ours from Kelly's Port down there, of course, and they were absolutely wonderful to work with, and great service to boot. Who are you working with? We bought ours thru Paul. Great guy! Good luck with your purchase. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
 
That is a beautiful Q. We were down at the LOTO this weekend as well. Didn't go to boat show but did get our new Q out this weekend after waiting all winter. We love our ESP hull, but we have the IO. Did you get to ride in the IO? They sell a lot of those down there. We absolutely love our IO with ESP. Our friends that we had down this weekend couldn't believe how smooth the ride was! We bought ours from Kelly's Port down there, of course, and they were absolutely wonderful to work with, and great service to boot. Who are you working with? We bought ours thru Paul. Great guy! Good luck with your purchase. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.


I saw a LOTO Edition at Lands End. The boat was covered but it looked beautiful. We are suppose to get our boat soon as we are at Lands End also. We went to the boat show but my husband didn't want to pay since we already have a boat coming. :(. They sure had some pretty boats!
 
Good to know the black doesn't fade.
I've looked at Kelly's Port and a few other dealers. The Q was a 350 outboard, not an I/O, I didn't ride in an I/O. Sounds like you got a nice one.
On a side note, Kelly's Port wants 20% down to order a boat and it's non-refundable!! That's CRAZY!!!
 
What are the features that make an LOTO Edition?
Geared more towards rough water options?
Exactly. ESP hull with wavetamer and lifting strates, I believe.
 
I've never heard of 20% down.... Didn't have to do that with either of my orders. If you are custom ordering a pink boat with hello Kitty on the side I could see that as finding a buyer with that particular taste would be unlikely. But life happens and I'd want an out if it was me.
 
Good to know the black doesn't fade.
I've looked at Kelly's Port and a few other dealers. The Q was a 350 outboard, not an I/O, I didn't ride in an I/O. Sounds like you got a nice one.
On a side note, Kelly's Port wants 20% down to order a boat and it's non-refundable!! That's CRAZY!!!
Wow. Didn’t know that. We bought ours out of the showroom.
 
I've never heard of 20% down.... Didn't have to do that with either of my orders. If you are custom ordering a pink boat with hello Kitty on the side I could see that as finding a buyer with that particular taste would be unlikely. But life happens and I'd want an out if it was me.
And what, may I ask, do you have against hello kitty on a boat? Purr! Purr!
 
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