When I was buying my first boat my friend (who has decades of boating experience) posed these questions to me.
-What are you going to use the boat for?
-Where are you going to use the boat?
-How many people will be on the boat, be honest with yourself, how many people will really be going w you each trip?
-How often will you be using the boat?
-How big of a boat do you really need? Get the smallest boat that will get the job done was his statement.
-Is your tow vehicle up to the task of towing your boat (This one is my addition after seeing issues with this here on this site)
If you have not downloaded the Yamaha app do so, there is a model comparison function you will find useful.
The bigger boat is the way to go as you can just not use space that’s there, you can’t use space you don’t have, also if you’re going to be going out in the ocean the bigger boat will handle the bigger waves better. But the bigger boat will use more fuel, can you afford to pay for the extra fuel and not have that expense keep the boat on dry land? What about range? Do you want to be able to take longer trips will te bigger boat have the range you want? Looks like the fuel tank sizes only vary by five gallons, the 22’ has a 70 gallon tank and the 25‘ has 75 gallons. I also see that the AR220 comes with the TR-1 engines, not as powerful as the 1.9’s but they’re also better on fuel.
Will your tow vehicle be up to the task? The 222 SD on the trailer with a full tank of fuel weighs 5,674#, toss in gear/ full ice chest(s) etc you’re knocking on 5800-5900#. The 252 SD on the trailer weighs in at 6252# with a full tank of fuel, toss in gear and ice chest(s) and you’re looking at 6300-6400#. Lots of discussions here about tow ratings, refer to yiur owners manual it will have a built in calculator so you can determine what your tow vehicle can tow and still be within its rating. Hint hint, people, cargo, vehicle options reduce the tow rating.
There’s a thread here some where about the DriVE impressions, if I’m not mistaken in that thread the OP was not all that impressed, he felt he could do the same with split throttle and or just driving it. Now, the DRiVE X that is on the 25’ SD version is a different story, the new X system has features similar to Yamahas Helm master, it will move the boat left or right latterl, spin on its axis, and I believe it will hold itself against a dock, to me that system is worth the squeeze / money as it will make close quarters maneuvering, docking and loading the boat back on the trailer exponentially easier.
The 1.9 engines are supposed to be quieter and smoother along with four bladed impellers which is where a lot of the sound reduction and smoothness probably comes from.
I love my 210 FSH, I boat 99% of the time by myself, it’s pretty darn thrifty on gas with its TR-1 engines, (why they didn’t put the 1.8’s in the sport model is still vexing) not the fastest boat but it still moves right along, has room for three couples comfortably but is rated for 10 people. The 25’ versions were not available when I bought my boat in July of 2020, had they been I would probably have bought the 252 with its normally aspirated engines and 86 octane fuel requirement. Yes it would be bit harder to handle at the dock, use a bit more fuel, and have more space than I really need, and it would be very difficult to get in my heated shop for winter storage but it would handle the larger wind driven waves with their short frequency better. I do lust after those sexy 25’ FSH boats, especially the Helm master one, but I’m very happy with the boat I have.
You have a lot of options to choose from!
