Tig 24V
Tig goes for bigger things with its new wakeboarding flagship, the 24V.
By Dave Kelley
December 1, 2003
It's a big world you live in, but it's getting smaller as you and your
stuff get nothing but bigger. Over the past 50 years, the average American man has grown from 5
feet 7 inches and 140 pounds, to almost 5 feet 10 inches and 180 pounds, with women experiencing
similar growth. The roads have gone from two-lane byways to 10-lane, multilevel oceans of concrete.
Cars have become 7-passenger SUVs. So it's no wonder that every year boat manufacturers are
building their biggest boats ever. The good news is that most of these boats aren't just bigger,
but better. Case in point: the 2004 Tig' 24V, the biggest boat ever to come off the Abilene, Texas,
production line, and easily one of the best.
According to Brett Thurley, Tig's VP of sales and marketing, the 24V is the biggest boat
Tig's ever built, but in spite of the size and the V-drive configuration, the boat still delivers
an above-average slalom wake as well as a world-class wakeboard launch ramp. Usually, this kind of
talk is dismissed as marketing hype, but since Thurley was the World Waterski Slalom Champion in
1993, his word carries a little more weight than most. And on a calm day in late summer, with just
a few ripples on the water, his word proves accurate.
There's no way a V-drive is ever
going to deliver a world-class slalom wake. The engine's position is simply too far aft to allow
such a thing. However, it is possible for a V-drive with a well-designed hull to throw a pretty
good wake for the recreational slalomer, and that's what you get with the 24V. The wake is a little
big, but it's very soft, with no sharp lips to catch and edge and send you flying, and the wake has
a large tabletop so the transition is spread out as you cross, and easily manageable. You won't do
four buoys at 38-off behind this boat, but you'll be able to have a good run, and that's enough.
A world-class wakeboard run, on the other hand, is one of the things you expect from a
V-drive with all that engine weight stuffed in the transom, and the 24V delivers, especially with
the optional wakeboard package and PerfectPass system. First, it's a heavy boat, with a dry weight
of 4,500 pounds, which includes an optional 375-hp, 6.0L Vortec 6000 V8 sitting just forward of the
swim platform. Then it has the new, improved TAPS2 (Tig' Adjustable Performance System) trim
system. Tig's been using TAPS since '91, and it works well. TAPS2 is an adjustable trim plate
(think of an oversized trim tab) positioned at the stern that allows the driver to adjust the
hull's attitude in the water with the flick of a thumb. Raise the TAPS2 all the way and get the
best possible slalom wake, lower it fully for the best wakeboard wake. The improvement in TAPS2 is
the addition of seven degrees of adjustment, so the wakeboard wake is even bigger and better
formed, with a well-defined lip for solid launch and easy transitions from the flats to the top of
the wake.
The improved versatility that
comes with a respectable slalom wake and a wicked wakeboard wake is a good thing, and the most
immediately obvious benefit of TAPS2, but it's not the greatest benefit. Where TAPS2 really shines
is when the water gets rough. While most V-drives do a pretty good job of handling the rough stuff
thanks to their size and generous deadrise, the 24V does better than most because TAPS2 lets the
driver adjust the hull's attitude to carve through the chop more efficiently. Nice stuff,
considering that you probably spend most of your boating time on waters that aren't exactly glassy.
On this day, however, the water's pretty close to glass. That's one of the great things
about sneaking out for a late summer session in the middle of the week ' you can have what's
usually a pretty packed urban lake almost all to yourself, and the water conditions are vastly
better than they were even a couple of weeks earlier. So you take full advantage of the situation
and spend all day out on the lake. The smart play is to also take advantage of what is arguably the
V-drive's main benefit, the huge seating area, and bring as many of your friends as you can. The
24V, with its length of 23 feet 10 inches, and a full 8-foot-6-inch beam, has room for 12 people on
board, although to be honest that's getting a little crowded. You can easily fit 8 to 10 on board,
though, and why not? More people means an even bigger wake, so bring 'em on.
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The 24V layout is fairly standard for
a V-drive, with a U-lounge setup that practically encircles the driver, who gets a particularly
well-thought-out seat. The captain's seat bottom has a full inner-spring construction, for longer
life and added support, but what's better is the clever bolster, a padded yet sturdy arch that
folds up over the seat bottom to raise the seating position a few inches for increased visibility
when docking, launching or retrieving. All bolsters do this, but most are nothing more than an
extra bit of padding that soon starts to sag. The Tig' bolster, though, with its hard-arch design,
doesn't sag a bit, even if you spend all day sitting on it.
With the optional Bimini top that fits right into the tower offering shade from the sun, the driver won't sag, either. Up front, the 24V offers a decent bow-seating area, with contoured lounge-type seat backs for more comfortable hanging out. Most people will probably put the bow filler cushion to use, turning the bow area into a large sun lounge. Lounging is fine, but with a boat like the 24V, the real fun is going mobile. Power is in long supply, especially with the optional 375-hp Vortec 6000 engine package. With two people and gear on board, as well as a full tank of gas (47 gallons), the Vortec 6000 accelerates from 0 to 30 mph in just a red hair more than seven seconds (7.1 seconds, to be exact), before topping out at an impressive 50.7 mph. The standard power plant, a 5.7L Vortec 5700 V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor that produces 315 hp, won't quite match the 6.0L engine's performance numbers, but will still do the job of getting the boat and a skier, wakeboarder or inflatable rider up and going without breaking a sweat. The 24V isn't just a powerful boat, but a solid one. 'We want to deliver the kind of quality, luxurious ride that people usually associate with first-class runabout like the Cobalts,' Thurley says. The normal response is, 'Who doesn't?' But Tig' comes pretty close with some improved construction that's new for '04. The LifePlus Core stringer system is standard on all Tig' boats this year. It's a high-density, closed-cell foam material that's injection-molded and engineered to fit each hull individually and perfectly, creating 300 percent more contact area with the hull and the floor for increased structural stiffness and vibration damping, and a softer, quieter ride than traditional two-stringer cores. That's the claim, and on-water testing backs it up. The LifePlus Core system eliminates all wood in the construction and forces Tig' to use significantly more fiberglass in its boats than just about anyone, resulting in a heavier boat but a noticeably sturdier, quieter ride, especially in rougher water. Tig' is so convinced that the LifePlus Core is a winner that it's offering an industry-first lifetime replacement warranty, so if there's ever any structural failure in the fiberglass hull, stringer matrix or floor, you get not a repair but a replacement, a whole new boat. That's a bold move, but a bet Tig' doesn't plan on ever having to pay off, since the company claims to have never suffered a case of structural failure and is confident the new construction will be even more reliable. Aside from delivering a softer, quieter ride, the construction doesn't affect the 24V's handling, which is solid. The pat-ented ConvexV hull, featuring a continuous rocker design, comes on plane with virtually no bow rise unless the TAPS2 is in the full wakeboard position (and even then the bow rise is minimal), and delivers extremely flat turns. Even full-throttle, wheel-lock turns are smooth and predictable, with no hooking or sliding. And the extra-deep seating configuration, with loads of freeboard so you really sit down inside the gunwales, keeps even the passengers in the bow area safe and dry. Bigger may not always be better. Price tags, for instance, are best when they're smallest. And it's nice to report that while the 24V is a big boat with a big motor that can handle big water and deliver big fun, the MSRP is surprisingly small, starting at just over $44,000. That's not quite pocket change, but it's substantially less than expected for a boat of this caliber. And that's big. |
related articles:
Tig 24V: Tig goes for bigger things with its new wakeboarding flagship, the 24V.Sea Ray 200 Sport: Sea Ray unleashes a fierce competitor in the runabout market the 200 Sport.
Rinker RX2: When Rinker's new family-friendly RX2 gets on the water, it morphs into a tricked-out wakeboarding machine.
