Defying Gravity
Moomba's new Mobius XLV Gravity Games works the top features of a tournament wakeboard boat into a family-friendly design.
by Michael Verdon
When most people hear the names "Toyota" and "Lexus," they automatically assume the Lexus is the
better car. After all, it's a Lexus, right? Toyota makes the Corolla, Matrix and that hybrid Prius.
And what's the deal with that little Yaris? How can you seriously compare that with a Lexus?
Not so fast. Name brands carry a lot of weight in this country, but the label isn't always
the last word in quality. You can get a pretty darn-good Avalon Touring Sedan for five grand less
than the Lexus IS 250 AWD, and the Avalon gives you a level of quality that's just as good as, if
not better, than its flashy sibling.
There's a similar notion present in the ski-boat/wakeboard industry, where a half-dozen of
the big brands are - quite rightly - regarded as the crème de la crème in terms of quality,
performance and handling. But they're also pushing the price envelope into uncharted territory.
While that's fine for sponsored wakeboarders or families with deep pockets, the rest of us are
still looking to get some bang for our buck - a premium watersports boat that doesn't feel like
you're shelling out big money just for a logo.
Moomba - considered the "Toyota" of the inboard segment - has pushed into "Lexus" territory with
its new Mobius XLV, a boat that should give the name brand extra "street cred" on the lake, while
allowing the parents the extra funds to invest in wakeboards and towable toys rather than a logo.
Moomba - which is also an annual festival in Melbourne, Australia - is an Aboriginal word meaning
"let's get together and have some fun," and the XLV does just that.
The boats are designed and built in Tennessee, but they carry the same Aussie spirit in their
styling and performance. On an early October day at Tellico Lake, you get the chance to test the
Mobius XLV, which is particularly family-friendly and complete with a "playpen" bow for the kids to
congregate or for spouses who need a time-out. The test boat is the special Gravity Games edition,
a tricked-out XLV with a host of options that includes a rockin' Kicker stereo system, pop-up
cleats, tower mirror bracket, docking lights and blue halogen rear-facing lights, and the Gravity
III ballast system.
At the dock, you take a look at the test boat, which has a white hull with a thick black boot
stripe, and "sponsor" decals that include Indmar Vortec, Moomba and XLV in a stylized red. The
swept-back tower has four kicker speakers, with Star Wars-like faceplates, and an optional Z5 cargo
rack that holds four wakeboards. It's a head-turner of a boat that doesn't look cheesy, like some
board boats of yesteryear. It also has enough subtle design moxie to age gracefully over five
years, rather than stand out like, say, a Corey Haim haircut from the '80s - cool at the time,
maybe, but the object of chuckles now.
But what really interests you is what lies under the waterline. The new Mobius hull shape has
an aggressive deep-V hull with a sharp deadrise in the front half of the boat, moving back to a
fairly flat hull toward the rear. It has the two shark-fin keels about amidships - standard on most
direct-drive and V-drive towboats - but it also has a prolonged wakeplate (think "oversized trim
tab") at the rear of the boat.
Combine the hull shape and wakeplate with the 1,450 pounds of potential ballast in the
Gravity III sacks (one 600-pounder in the front, two 400-pounders in the rear), and Moomba says you
can get just about any size and shape of wake you want. The sharp front entry and wakeplate tabs
also keep the cockpit dry if you run into waves or venture out into heavy seas.
There aren't any heavy seas on this early October day as you run the XLV around Tellico Lake
outside of Knoxville, but the Gravity Games package gives a pretty good demo of a solid family boat
dressed in a wakeboard package. Sure, the tower is functional and cool - and you're loving the blue
LED rear-facing lights that, technically, aren't supposed to be used for nighttime towing - and its
four Kicker speakers with four-channel amp pump up your adrenaline levels. (The boat actually has
11 Kicker speakers, including one at the driver's feet for a good shot of bass up the legs.)
While Moomba prioritizes the XLV GG as a core wakeboard or wakesurf boat first and a family
boat second, the order could easily be reversed. With a hull rated for 16, this is really a serious
family wakeboarding boat for someone who is big into watersports. But either way you use it, you
come out a winner, because the XLV GG delivers comfort and performance. The test boat is powered
with the 340-hp, 5.7L Indmar V8 EFI, the middle choice between the 325-hp, 5.7L Indmar and the new
410-hp 6.0L Indmar.
The 340-hp test engine, according to Moomba, is the only CARB four-star emissions-rated
engine in the tournament boat category. It also gives the boat plenty of giddy-up, running from 0
to 30 mph in 4.9 seconds and reaching a top end of 40.8 mph. The engine runs with electronic
throttle and cruise control, so throttle response tends to be quick and smooth. It also tends to
carve up the water, and the wakeplate does produce different wake sizes. An optional PerfectPass
system is included on the test boat, and instead of looking like an aftermarket accessory, it's
been integrated into the console.
The redesigned black dash looks, well, dashing. The two 5-inch-diameter Deebe gauges are
positioned around the PerfectPass gauge (the Simple Cruise feature is standard on all models),
along with fuel, voltmeter oil and engine temp gauges. The test boat also has an optional depth
finder. The 17-inch-by-23-inch helm seat could use some extra padding, and while the dark gray dash
over the console looks good, it gets hot in direct sunlight. But, overall, the redesigned helm
station (with a nifty elbow rest) works.
Moomba made 25 enhancements to this year's XLV. Some, like dual-density foam in the seats,
will be readily apparent, but others, like the Gore Tenara thread used to stitch them with,
hopefully won't show up at all - because it's designed to resist stains and breakage.
The list is fairly impressive, including larger-diameter shocks to hold up the sundeck to a
synthetic nonskid material on the swim platform. The Mobius XLV's warranty has also been extended
to include four years on the engine and drive train - a year for components and a limited lifetime
warranty on the hull.
The boat does deliver on promises of space. It has cool lounge seats along the gunwales
(measuring 91 inches long on the port side, and 63 inches on starboard) that lift up on poles so
the passengers can sit facing backwards. There is a 9-inch-by-12-inch in-floor cooler in the center
of the cockpit and decent storage under the sunpad/engine cover. The engine is boxed in by panels
that easily snap out, which is a maintenance-friendly feature that still lets you use the side
areas for storage.
The bow playpen is one of Moomba's bragging points. Sitting 14 inches over the cockpit deck,
it opens up a tremendous amount of storage up front, especially with the ballast bags deflated. But
the space, with only 12 feet to 17 inches of freeboard, wouldn't be a great place to let small kids
ride, and it could be a little bumpy in rough water since your feet aren't absorbing the shocks.
It's a great place to sneak away for a nap, but whether the extra storage is worth it will depend
on how you plan to use the boat.
Overall, the Mobius XLV GG is a big leap forward for Moomba. The Mobius XLV shows that it has
taken a page from the Toyota playbook, building a value-priced product loaded with quality
features.
The Verdict
The Mobius XLV Gravity Games is a watersports boat that isn’t going to break the bank. It
offers performance, quality and handling, along with a stylish look. Watersports enthusiasts will
put amenities like the optional PerfectPass system and a nonskid swim platform to good use, and it
still functions as a family-friendly boat — with extra cool points going out to the bow playpen for
the kids.
Moomba Mobius XLV Gravity Games
LOA 23'
Beam 8'2"
Weight 3,600 lbs.
Fuel 40 gal.
Top Speed 40.8 mph (w/340-hp, 5.7L Indmar EFI)
Time To Plane 3.6 seconds
0-30 mph 4.9 seconds
Decibels @ Idle 66 dB-A
Decibels @ 30 mph 90 dB-A
Decibels @ WOT 98 dB-A
Base Price $49,190 (w/325-hp Indmar Assault MPI)
Price As Tested $50,685 (w/340-hp, 5.7L Indmar EFI)
Hull Warranty Limited Lifetime
Skier’s Choice
1717 Henry G. Lane St.
Maryville, TN 37801
(865) 983-9924
www.moomba.com
