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| Reprinted from Go Boating |
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| By James Corns |
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The ultimate compliment we can give a boat is that it’s a fun ride--and the Glastron GXL 235 is exactly that.
When it comes to handling and maneuverability, the GX 235 is one of our top three choices for the year. In fact, the boat might be the very best of the best--but you’ll have to make that decision for yourself.
Heaven knows we certainly put the GXL 235 through the ringer. When we tested the boat on Tampa Bay, the waters were some of the choppiest we’d faced in a good while. It was an ugly, nasty day, and we had been testing boats left and right in the weeks prior to that, but the GXL 235 and its smaller sibling the GXL 205, both stood out for their excellent, comfortable rides. Bowriders are generally meant to stay on the calm waters of lakes and rivers, but Glastron’s sturdy GXLs were making the supposed big-water boats look like amateurs.
The GXL 235 is undoubtedly helped by its hull’s aggressive 21-degree deadrise, which made mincemeat of the chop. Turns were spectacular, and after having ridden many less seaworthy boats in that bumpy Florida water, we didn’t want to get off. It’s highly doubtful that the waves on any lake are going to get much bigger than the ones we faced, so it's nice to know that your family will be comfortable and safe through most conditions that might be encountered.
A 350 Magnum Mercury Bravo 3 sterndrive served as the power on our test boat, which proved very responsive to trim. The 300 hp engine took the boat to plane at 2,000 rpm, at which point the boat was running at 13.2 mph. We liked a quicker cruising speed at 34.4 (at 3,500), but if you are a speed fetishist, the GXL 235’s upper-end speeds are all comfortable enough at the sacrifice of fuel economy.
The boat went to plane in 3.3 seconds, and it went from 0 to 30 mph in 7 seconds. Both numbers are impressive--and indicative of the engine’s excellent fit with the boat. It seemed like a perfect amount of power.
Our numbers were affected by the fact that we had two adults and 3/8 of a tank of fuel on board, and our engine had a prop with a 24-inch pitch. Visibility was good at all times, with the bow hardly going up at all as we went to plane.
The GXL 235’s has a few small touches that break the standard bowrider mold. For instance, the boat has a flip-up rear boarding gate that allows for easy cockpit access from the transom. However, this inventive feature still gives you full wrap-around seating along the transom as well as a rear sunpad.
A U-shaped settee takes up the bow of the boat, as is the norm on 99.9 percent of bowriders. The ends of the settee are designed to make it comfortable for passengers to lean back and look forward as the boat rockets across the water. Since we’ve broached the subject of comfort, let us point out the GXL 235's plush upholstery, which makes all of the boat’s seating easy on one’s posterior. It also deserves some credit for the GXL 235’s smooth-feeling ride.
With many bowriders, the walk-through windshield seems to cut the boat in half, but when you move back through the GXL 235’s windshield, you still have another 2/3 of the 23-footer to explore. As you walk through to the back of the cockpit, you find two buckets seats--one serving the starboard helm console and one serving the portside passenger console. The bucket seats have built-in, flip-up bolsters, and the passenger console has a glove box.
In addition to the regular instrumentation such as a speedometer and a tachometer, the helm has an hour meter and a depth sounder. An AM/FM stereo system with CD player and four speakers is also standard.
Moving farther back, the boat has the aforementioned wrap-around settee at the stern, with the sunpad and flip-up rear boarding gate aft of the settee. The very back of the boat is taken up by an integrated extended swim platform that is generously proportioned but doesn’t waste space. A three-step telescopic boarding ladder is built into the swim step, so those skiers and wakeboarders who make use of the boat’s standard ski tow ring will find it easy to re-board the boat from the water. A ski locker is built into the deck, and additional storage can be found underneath the boat’s two settees.
The GXL 235 has a base price of $37,199 with the 5.0 GXi Volvo Penta power package, which seems more than reasonable for a 23-footer of this quality. (The price does not include the trailer, license, tax, freight or dealer prep.)
In case you couldn’t already tell, we really liked the GXL 235. It has a maximum capacity of 1,650 pounds, but all you really need to know is that it has a real-world capacity of twelve people. Many 23-foot bowriders wouldn’t be able to fit so many passengers, but the GXL 235’s open layout makes it feasible. Glastron’s new GXL 235 might serve as a first boat for some, but it’s more likely to be the second or third craft for skippers who know that a boat is only as good as it drives.
TEST PERFORMANCE:
Top Speed: 52.2 mph @ 4950 rpm
Optimum Cruising Speed: 34.4 mph @ 3500 rpm
GPH @ Optimum Cruising Speed: 10
MPG @ Optimum Cruising Speed: 3.5
Range @ Optimum Cruising Speed: 146 miles*
*Mileage range calculated on designated rpm and mph figures shown above, and are based on 90 percent of boat's fuel capacity. |
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| for GXL 235 photos, specifications, options, etc. |
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| © 2007 Glastron Boats |
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