I have to agree the VRX is a is a very attractive boat and seems like a performer. Chaparral makes a solid boat. I looked closely at one when I was "shopping" in 2016.
There's a dealer in my area that my family has had dealings with for close to 30 years. I was just there to get my mother's boat after service and noticed that there was a jetboat on the floor and started to ask questions. Turned out they had a 24ft Glastron, a 19ft Scarab, and a 24ft Chaparral VR. The Chaparral is the one that caught my eye first. They'd ordered it with a few options, like a tower and such, but I'm not sure what engine size it was running. I knew Chaparral makes great boats but wasn't familiar with the Rotax. One thing lead to another and the dealer tried real hard to make me a deal on it at $60k, claiming it was his bottom figure and he needed to clear it from his inventory. I wasn't even sure if I was in a position to buy a boat yet... but it peaked my interest and made me serious about comparing it to the Yamaha's that had caught my eye at the boat show the year prior.
I started researching between the 2 and in the end purchased my AR240. There were several factors that lead me to my decision and the boattest.com stats plaid a bit of a roll.
1) Affordability - Yamaha's relationship with Synchrony Bank got me approve for a 2.99% interest rate for 5 years and 5.99% for the remaining. The best I could get for the Chaparral on my own was 6%. Made me realize I actually could afford a boat.
2) Price - both boats were, stock, were similarly equip. But the Yamaha was something like $7k less to start. I had the dealer add in a full speaker swap upgrade, adding amps, sub, and tower speakers. Also a 3 bag 3 pump ballast system and ribbon delete. All this included I was still under $60k and less than a 242 Limited s.
3) Interior layout - I much preferred the passenger swivel reclining captains chair in the Yamaha over the multi position backrest thing the Chaparral had.
4) Noise level - BoatTest statistics showed the Chaparral was producing the same noise level at idle as the Yamaha made at full throttle.
5) Reliability - the Rotax engines seem to have a bad rap, whether deserved or not... The dealer here is quite reputable for their service. So I don't know that I'd be all that scared...
Anyway, all this is pretty much a long way of saying that the one thing I have been slightly disappointed in with my Yamaha is it's top speed. At my altitude I'm topping out in the mid 40's. I expected a little more from a twin engine jetboat, but it's adequate. I think I got the right boat for me at the time, but I'd take a second look at a Chaparral next time I'm in the market.