rough ride

[rickbenson]

Took delivery of a new R8 with twin 300 mercury outboards and the ride is very disappointing. Under 30 mph pretty much zero trim, even crossing small wakes the boat slaps. At no speed does it feel like you can set the boat in the water and cut thru any rough water. Has anyone else had this experience?

[AsLan7]

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Hey rb. So glad you found us.

Sorry to hear about the disappointing ride. Did you test drive with the Cobalt Rep.. What were their thoughts?

Any pics?

And welcome aboard mate.

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[Krob1114]

Took delivery of a new R8 with twin 300 mercury outboards and the ride is very disappointing. Under 30 mph pretty much zero trim, even crossing small wakes the boat slaps. At no speed does it feel like you can set the boat in the water and cut thru any rough water. Has anyone else had this experience?

I had a similar experience when we first bought our R3. I turned off the automatic trim, started doing it manually, and it was fine. Don't know if that's your problem. Good luck.

[Sam Adams]

I recently bought the R6 and I agree that the ride is not as smooth as my previous Cobalt 24SD in rough water. The 24SD had a 21 degree deadrise and the R6 has an 18 degree deadrise. I think the R5 had a 21 degree deadrise also. I believe the recent hull changes are designed to enhance the "Wave" making ability. I use the boat on a fresh water lake and typically see the rough water on weekends.

In rough water I generally run at 20 - 23 MPH with zero trim.

[dsthomas]

We had an R7 surf. We really enjoyed surfing and when we saw the wave on the R8 we decided to upgrade our wave and purchase an R8S. As part of the research I did cobalt made a big deal about how the hull was completely redesigned with surfing in mind. Our R7 had a much nicer ride than our R8 does. We are mostly on small inland lakes so it doesn't make too much of a difference to our family. The ride on our R8 isn't terrible, it's just not as nice as our r7 was.

[CobaltDeadHead]

I'd be curious what the take rate is for Surf models vs regular stern drive or OB.

Is the surf market that important that Malibu has to go all in on surf designs with the Cobalt brand?

[Krob1114]

I'd be curious what the take rate is for Surf models vs regular stern drive or OB.

Is the surf market that important that Malibu has to go all in on surf designs with the Cobalt brand?

I wasn't curious until I read this post. It would be nice to still have a choice. I'm glad we got in on the R"odd" series before they discontinued it as it meets our boating needs better.

[stifflkd]

I agree with some of the earlier posts. Cobalt is focusing on a lake environment and surfing in particular. Too bad, missing a huge market on the coast. Bought the last R5 on the dealers lot before breaking the mold. Boat handles great in the rough and can stay with anything in its size.

[CobaltDeadHead]

I'd be curious what the take rate is for Surf models vs regular stern drive or OB.

Is the surf market that important that Malibu has to go all in on surf designs with the Cobalt brand?

I wasn't curious until I read this post. It would be nice to still have a choice. I'm glad we got in on the R"odd" series before they discontinued it as it meets our boating needs better.

It just seems to me that between the Axis and Malibu brands, they have virtually every type of surf boat you could want already. So, why focus so hard on surf designs with Cobalt as well? Maybe offer just two. Say the CS23 and R6. Keep the R4 and R8 traditional style bowriders with a steeper deadrise at the transom for better big water performance. Or if you feel you have to offer surf in all the Rs, maybe expand the A Series to include a smaller boat. Call it an A26.

Perhaps they're just following the market and the demand for surfing is that high. It's not in my part of the country, but that might be because we have colder water and a shorter season.

[billk2632]

LKN is full of wake boats now, wandering aimlessly at 15mph, throwing a monster wake and thumping a rock concert! Nothing like a tsunami rolling through your nice quiet cove. Sometimes I get annoyed, but also appreciate the technology in those boats and enjoy seeing a group of kids having a good time. Brings a whole new meaning to "hold my beer".

My marina has so many Malibu's with the big supercharged engines in them that they have started only selling 93 octane non-ethanol fuel at $6.29/gal.
Wake is the rage in lake boating these days.

My R5 cruises through the LKN chop like a big Lexus, I have never been on an R6 or R8, did not realize the ride was worse, I did know there were hull changes - in addition to the deadrise, the extended hull that makes the odd R's jump on plane so well is also changed on the even R's. I have had several boats and have to say my Cobalt is the best running, riding of any of them.

I would think many of the R series buyers are older and not as interested in wake boats. I am not, I even specifically looked for a boat without a tower.

[rickbenson]

My goal was to buy a cobalt for comfort not for surfing, there are way better boats on the market if surfing is the goal. I bought the R8 because it had the outboard option which I wanted for simplicity of ownership in fresh water or salt water. Took a couple of my dealers service guys out yesterday in the boat to check it out. They did take a video to send to Cobalt but their basic conclusion was I need to keep the tabs down enough to hold the boat down and I need to run at 30 mph plus to keep the boat planing. This kind of defeats the purpose we bought the boat for, hard to just cruise when you have to be above 30mph and it almost eliminates riding in the bow much. Running with the tabs down to correct the transom lift just doesn't feel like a good solution to me.

[billk2632]

I've never been on any of the outboard powered Cobalts, but I have to think those two big outboards hanging off the back are going to affect handling behavior. A stern drive engine would be sitting further forward and be a little bit (a lot) lighter than the twin outboards:

VP 430 Sterndrive: 450lb
Mercury Verado 300: 600lb each

So you have 750lb more engine and it is sitting farther aft.

Where are the fuel and water tanks on the R8 outboards? This could also have a big impact on how the boat rides and handles and rides. How the motors are mounted, especially height and shaft length also have a big impact.

There is a lot of difference between how an outboard and sterndrive, in many ways they are totally different boats. I would bet the R8 with a sterndrive would handle more like what you were expecting.

[Lifelongbtr]

I've never been on any of the outboard powered Cobalts, but I have to think those two big outboards hanging off the back are going to affect handling behavior. A stern drive engine would be sitting further forward and be a little bit (a lot) lighter than the twin outboards:

VP 430 Sterndrive: 450lb
Mercury Verado 300: 600lb each

So you have 750lb more engine and it is sitting farther aft.

Where are the fuel and water tanks on the R8 outboards? This could also have a big impact on how the boat rides and handles and rides. How the motors are mounted, especially height and shaft length also have a big impact.

There is a lot of difference between how an outboard and sterndrive, in many ways they are totally different boats. I would bet the R8 with a sterndrive would handle more like what you were expecting.

This makes sense, I have a R7 surf model so no tabs, ride is great, and when the bow is full of people it rides noticeably smoother. The R8 is heavier and I wonder where the extra weight sits.

[CobaltDeadHead]

My goal was to buy a cobalt for comfort not for surfing, there are way better boats on the market if surfing is the goal. I bought the R8 because it had the outboard option which I wanted for simplicity of ownership in fresh water or salt water. Took a couple of my dealers service guys out yesterday in the boat to check it out. They did take a video to send to Cobalt but their basic conclusion was I need to keep the tabs down enough to hold the boat down and I need to run at 30 mph plus to keep the boat planing. This kind of defeats the purpose we bought the boat for, hard to just cruise when you have to be above 30mph and it almost eliminates riding in the bow much. Running with the tabs down to correct the transom lift just doesn't feel like a good solution to me.

Did you not test drive an R8 before committing to purchasing a $300k boat? I believe that's about the price of an R8 with twin 300 OBs.

It's a bummer that the boat doesn't ride as smooth as you like, but I'm not sure Cobalt is going to be able to do much about it. It's the way the boat was designed unfortunately.

[mdadgar]

I agree with some of the earlier posts. Cobalt is focusing on a lake environment and surfing in particular. Too bad, missing a huge market on the coast.

Do you think so?

It seems to me that it's the very opposite: Cobalt is going hard after the coastal market, which explains all the outboard models they've added to the lineup.

I understand the maintenance advantages of OBs for salt water use, but they are kind of a PITA for freshwater use because they are right in the way of all the stuff we want to do on the lake.

- Mark