Boat Test.com 223 VRX

[ScarabMike]

Enjoy!

 

[OrangeTJ]

The boat is definitely nice looking and I've been impressed with the build quality and fit & finish of my buddy's Chaparral I/O. I am curious about the interior noise level at cruise, though. The test results for the 24 footer show it being substantially louder than the Yamaha. I hope that's not accurate, as I'd definitely consider a Chap jet as a possible next boat, but our next boat MUST be quieter than our current boat (so says my co-captain).

 

[fairpilot]

Looked at the 223VR yesterday at a boat show, what beautiful boat, I kinda started at front and worked my way to the back, first of all boat is really solid, everywhere you pound it with your hand it is solid. The front bow light did a neat little trick and flipped over to make it a smooth stainless steel plate when not in use, the anchor locker contains bow ladder that was neatly tucked into compartment and was very secure , no rattle, also a place to secure anchor. Boat had a removable front center cushion and easy step out the front. Two front side cushions were removeable with decent storage, I was kinda suprised these areas are not finished with carpet but do drain to bilge, I would probably install some kind of matting or carpet for sound. 2 stainless cup holders, 2 stainless grab rails and 2 speakers.
Cockpit area was very roomy, as much as my Yami if not more, snap in carpet, 2 flush cockpit drains, large wake board or ski compartment, passenger seat does a weird backrest flip that acts as back rest for a normal seat or folds down so you can sit and keep and eye on tubers, wake boarders or skiers. this seat when in the regular config is super roomy a 6 to 6. 5 ft person has plenty leg room, small glove box with stereo remote and 12v outlet behind dash backrest. Driver side seat was comfortable and large all controls were on outside of arm rest so no getting down on floor to make adjustments to seat not sure how these controls will hold up. Dash top has a nice thick leather looking top with good looking stitching, two gauges display engine temp and volts a 6 inch glass display does a lot of neat features like the new yamaha Connext, this one also has a built in Navigation loaded with world base maps from Navionics you can update it with chips. Leather steering wheel is option.
Two lift out cushions behind driver and passenger have good storage but again no carpet these had a 1/4 inch thick honeycomb rubber mat. Behind these 2 cushions are 2 corner cushions there is a battery compartment under each one, nice large transom walk thru with no cushion to step on, Yamaha has made you step over the transom on the new boats and step on cushions especially in the 190 series, i for one don't want myself or guests stepping on my cushions. Now, here is where i believe chaparral got it right, their back deck is as roomy and comfortable as yamaha 242 in my opinion, comfortable seats that lift providing access to battery switches,circuit breakers and really good idea water shut off valves to engines , ton of leg room, stainless cup holder each side, stainless grab handle speakers and table mount off to one side so as not to block transom pass thru and pop up stainless cleats.

Now my areas of a little concern due to lack of knowledge boat has a nice engine hatch with good insulation and gas shocks. this boat had twin 200 HP Rotax Super charged engines, closed loop cooling, i had just read they just made their 450,000th engine if that means anything. Boat has no clean out ports, they enclose drive shaft to stop ropes and other items from getting wrapped around it but this will not stop weed and grass ingestion, this is one of my concerns as we boat where there are weeds at times but again I am able to clear my yamaha 95 % of the time with out removing clean out plugs. as for the reverse gates this boat in reverse directs water truly toward the front and laterally looking like a very maneuverable reverse. I though fit and finish on boat was excellent

I am ready to upgrade my boat. I am shopping between the Yamaha 212SS or this boat, prices are comparable.I will let everyone know if I test drive it but it is on boattest.com for now. Here is link to gallery http://www.chaparralboats.com/Chaparral-Boat.php?id=126&action=tab_gallery

 

[OrangeTJ]

Most things about these boats really do look great. The thing that has me concerned is noise level. The boat test results show much higher dbs than any of the Yamahas, and way way higher db ratings than the newest 24 foot Yamahas. One of the few things I don't really like about our Yamaha is how loud it is underway. I would not get a louder boat.

 

[fairpilot]

i agree, I honestly think the chaparral is a better looking boat design style, Supercharger and no clean out plugs are my concern. Im being told supercharger rebuild at 200 hrs on new Rotax that is like 4 years for me, i have no idea what cost is so i still have research to do.

 

[GTBRMC]

Looked at the 223VR yesterday at a boat show, what beautiful boat, I kinda started at front and worked my way to the back, first of all boat is really solid, everywhere you pound it with your hand it is solid. The front bow light did a neat little trick and flipped over to make it a smooth stainless steel plate when not in use, the anchor locker contains bow ladder that was neatly tucked into compartment and was very secure , no rattle, also a place to secure anchor. Boat had a removable front center cushion and easy step out the front. Two front side cushions were removeable with decent storage, I was kinda suprised these areas are not finished with carpet but do drain to bilge, I would probably install some kind of matting or carpet for sound. 2 stainless cup holders, 2 stainless grab rails and 2 speakers.
Cockpit area was very roomy, as much as my Yami if not more, snap in carpet, 2 flush cockpit drains, large wake board or ski compartment, passenger seat does a weird backrest flip that acts as back rest for a normal seat or folds down so you can sit and keep and eye on tubers, wake boarders or skiers. this seat when in the regular config is super roomy a 6 to 6. 5 ft person has plenty leg room, small glove box with stereo remote and 12v outlet behind dash backrest. Driver side seat was comfortable and large all controls were on outside of arm rest so no getting down on floor to make adjustments to seat not sure how these controls will hold up. Dash top has a nice thick leather looking top with good looking stitching, two gauges display engine temp and volts a 6 inch glass display does a lot of neat features like the new yamaha Connext, this one also has a built in Navigation loaded with world base maps from Navionics you can update it with chips. Leather steering wheel is option.
Two lift out cushions behind driver and passenger have good storage but again no carpet these had a 1/4 inch thick honeycomb rubber mat. Behind these 2 cushions are 2 corner cushions there is a battery compartment under each one, nice large transom walk thru with no cushion to step on, Yamaha has made you step over the transom on the new boats and step on cushions especially in the 190 series, i for one don't want myself or guests stepping on my cushions. Now, here is where i believe chaparral got it right, their back deck is as roomy and comfortable as yamaha 242 in my opinion, comfortable seats that lift providing access to battery switches,circuit breakers and really good idea water shut off valves to engines , ton of leg room, stainless cup holder each side, stainless grab handle speakers and table mount off to one side so as not to block transom pass thru and pop up stainless cleats.

Now my areas of a little concern due to lack of knowledge boat has a nice engine hatch with good insulation and gas shocks. this boat had twin 200 HP Rotax Super charged engines, closed loop cooling, i had just read they just made their 450,000th engine if that means anything. Boat has no clean out ports, they enclose drive shaft to stop ropes and other items from getting wrapped around it but this will not stop weed and grass ingestion, this is one of my concerns as we boat where there are weeds at times but again I am able to clear my yamaha 95 % of the time with out removing clean out plugs. as for the reverse gates this boat in reverse directs water truly toward the front and laterally looking like a very maneuverable reverse. I though fit and finish on boat was excellent

I am ready to upgrade my boat. I am shopping between the Yamaha 212SS or this boat, prices are comparable.I will let everyone know if I test drive it but it is on boattest.com for now. Here is link to gallery http://www.chaparralboats.com/Chaparral-Boat.php?id=126&action=tab_gallery

Great write up. Thanks for all the info.

 

[fairpilot]

as for noise levels the yamaha 212SS they seem to jump around throughout the different RPM,s but are only off by 1 or 2 dba and 6 at cruise compared to 223VR Unless your going to the 240 or 242 which seem to have xtra sound proofing
i think they all are noisy.

 

[fairpilot]

I gotta call and find out how much supercharger rebuild is and what hrs it needs done, both the Rotax factor rep and the Chaparral Rep told me 200 hrs it needs "maintenance" which i think is rebuild. I know the old ones with ceramic parts were at 100 hrs but new ones may be 200. I get about 40 hrs a year. Prob cost around the same as the 200 Hr Yamaha valve adjustment. Right now they offer a 3 yr/480 hr warranty with purchase. Im sure supercharger is probably considered normal wear and tear.

 

[GTBRMC]

Supercharged Rotax engines require premium?

 

[fairpilot]

I read minimum 87, 91 recommended

 

[OrangeTJ]

Just a note that 6db is no small thing. Putting that in terms of a stereo system, it takes 4X as much power to produce 6 more db. Compared to a 240/242, they're up by 10+ db. I would really be inclined to wait to see if Yamaha applies the noise reduction to the 21 footers for model year 2016.

 

[MikeyL]

FYI, all SuperCharged Seadoo's, which use the identical engine (design, maybe the exact same block) require SuperCharger rebuilds @ 100 hours, I believe.

Nice write-up. It will be MOST interesting to read how you feel about the Chap "noise factor" when you take a test ride.
Many Thanks, Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[fairpilot]

yea yamaha went all out to sound proof the 240 series, just wish that would have went across the whole line of twins. My 230 is noisy but have become use to it im sure if I buy the 212SS or the 210SX the noise will be what i have now,

Mikey, i asked the Rotax rep to or 3 times about maintenace and the repeataly said first maintenance is 200 hrs not counting oil changes. so not sure i will make some calls monday and try to find out, I will talk to a service guy not a sales guy.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

All supercharged Rotax motors that I maintain required a rebuild at 100 hours. The latest model year was 2012 so it is possible that they have changed it to 200. I am interested in what you find.

 

[fairpilot]

Spoke to dealer today, they said the new motors will not need any major service for at least 200 hrs, If you are good at taking care of it the said you could get 3-400 hrs before you need to rebuild super charger. I was very clear about the supercharger again i was told "recommended 200hr service if it needs it" factory rep for Rotax told me 200 hrs also, also regular 87 fuel works fine but 91 will give max performance.

 

[fairpilot]

I read minimum 87, 91 recommended

Dealer said 87 is fine, best performance is would be 91

 

[Ronnie]

I know a guy with wind jet hull powered by two newer supercharged Seadoo rxts or rxps. He recently rebuilt the superchargers himself for $500 each. Not sure how long it took him but my local pwc shop charges $115 per hour for labor.

 

[fairpilot]

ask him how many hrs on them and what year motors are

 

[fairpilot]

I believe that they are saying supercharger rebuild at 200 hrs on the boats(not skis) because the supercharger does not get used as hard as it would on a jet ski, you dont spend a whole bunch of time in the boat winding the supercharger up fast, mainly progressively whereas a jet ski gets a a lot harder use of the supercharger. just my thoughts. Max RPM on this boat is 7850, im not sure it even needs a supercharger but I guess that is how they get 205 and 250 HP per engine. I cant see cruising at 5000 RPM is taxing the supercharger. Im not sure what max RPM is on ski, but it is a lot of running it hard if you are playing on it, Im sure the supercharger on ski goes through a lot more high pressure cycles rapidly that must take its toll on it. Maybe someone with supercharger knowledge can put more perspective to it.

 

[GTBRMC]

From Boattest.com review of the Chap 243 (223 is similar, but with fewer features):

"The Medallion touchscreen display has a lot to offer.

• Cruise Mode – Allows for setting the desired cruise speed and maximum speed.

• Ski Mode – Allows for a controlled launch with up to 5 pre-set acceleration curves and user defined target speed. Once underway, it accurately maintains tow speed with a GPS based controller.

• Eco Mode – Optimizes engine efficiency by limiting engine torque.

• Docking Mode – Re-scales the throttle for increased resolution and maneuverability at the dock.

• Navigation Display – A moving map display comes pre-loaded with a Navionics SD card for the country of choice.

• Apps Display – this provides setup displays, engine gauges, control of the premium stereo system and allows for a video display of Go-Pro cameras via Bluetooth.

• Depth Readout – A display of the bottom depth as well as a contour scan are both available."

My favorite feature is highlighted in red, above.
That is huge for a family sport jet, IMHO.