4 replies to this topic

[Kellykidd9]

Hello All!
My husband and I are going to join the boating world for the first time this year. We will be new boat owners by May once we decide on which Sea-Doo 180 Challenger. Any opinions from you all on which boat is better, the 2011 or 2012 180SE Challenger? They seem like the same boat but just a few differences. Obviously we would get a better deal by purchasing the 2011 since the dealers are trying to sell those to make room for the 2012 but are the differences small enough that we wouldn't regret not getting the 2012? Any suggestions would be great! Thanks.

[gverva]

Welcome! My family was new to boating last summer when we purchased a 210 Challenger and now it's all we can think about. You will really, really enjoy it.

The 2011 and 2012 are basically the same boat. The biggest difference, and probably the only difference, between the 2011 and 2012 180's is the additional of Intelligent Throttle Control (iTC) in 2012. I have this on my 210 Challenger and I absolutely love it. I was aware of the feature when I bought the boat but I didn't have any idea how much I'd come to enjoy it. We do a little water skiing with plans to try wakeboarding eventually. The rest of the time we spend cruising and floating around.

Basically the iTC feature means the throttle control is now electronic instead of mechanical which allows several modes of operation controlled by a computer. I'll briefly outline the modes.

Ski Mode = makes towing a skier/wakeboarder "automatic" so to speak; don't have to learn throttle control that traditionally required
Cruise = cruise control just like in your car
Eco Mode = automatically selects the most fuel efficient RPM
Docking Mode = limits the RPM and provides finer tuned throttle control for low speed maneuvering (i.e. docking)

For me, it's worth some extra cost for the 2012 unless you get a great deal on a 2011. Being new to boating it's probably really difficult to assign a value to this feature as you don't know exactly how you will best enjoy your boat. But it think it does provide some value that should be included in your decision.

One thing I can recommend very strongly is you get the SE model and not the base model. It looks like you already had that in mind though.

Hope this helps.

Geoff

[Kellykidd9]

Thanks Geoff! That was great advice! We have an appointment with a marine shop next weekend to discuss the 2012 180SE challenger as well as the 2011. That new throttle in the 2012 does sounds like a great addition to the boat, that may sway me to get it.
Kelly

[gverva]

FYI, I just noticed that the 180 Challenger SE datasheet does not mention Ski Mode although it does mention the other throttle modes. Just something to keep in mind.

[moochy]

The only diffrence between a 2012 challenger 180SE and a 180SP will be ski mode and a fancy paint job. for some reason they left ski mod off the 180SE. Wonder if it's just a software upgrade?