2002 232 captiva

strictlybliznes

Hello all,

I am a current Rinker owner (04 192 Captiva) was planning on keeping it as I'm fairly young (22) and the boat size is adequate for me for the time being all though i always wished the boat was a little bigger, i guess thats the "2foot-itis" I'm always hearing about. That being said I was doing some classified searching out of boredom the other day and local to me there is a 2002 rinker 232 posted for sale, talked with the owner and he seems willing to negotiate to a decent price... so my questions are to any of you who have owned this era rinker especially the 232... it does have a carbed 5.0 with thunderbolt ignition which is my least favorite part about the boat as even my 4.3 in the 192 is MPI and I'm worried that the 5.0 may be slightly underpowered.. so thats my main question.. is it sufficient power? I will absolutely be putting hydraulic trim tabs on any boat i buy as they help in the rougher lakes I do my boating in... as well as help tremendously with planing.. so basically is there anything i should watch out for with a 2002 Rinker (232) and does that power plant seem "good enough" not interested in WOT just enough to plane with a decent amount of people onboard (no more than 6) and pull a tube and occasional wake boarder..(again it will have trim tabs on it) This forum has been great to me thus far even with a crazy question or 2 i had and ill more than likely be in a rinker for the rest of my life even when im ready for a brand new 26qx (absolutely in love with that) but i think the size and layout of the 232 will be more than perfect for me until im ready in a few to buy a newer bigger boat

strictlybliznes

sorry wrong section

Dream_Inn

strictlybliznes said:

sorry wrong section

no problem, I moved over to the sport boat section.

Do you know what the hp is for the carbed 5.0?

Skippy79

I have a 05 232 with a MAG350, 5.7 MPI, and I'm not sure I would want a 5.0L on it, it's a heavy boat for a 5.0L. A mate of mine has a 22ft maxum speedboat with a 5.0L MPI (260hp) and he is happy with it, but looses in holeshot and WOT.  I don't have tabs, and don't really need them, even though I boat in rough water, it's a high lying boat in the water and fairly stable. 
Ask to take for a testrun, you'll know straight away. But like you said, WOT doesn't matter, so you can always get a different prop

Dream_Inn said:

Do you know what the hp is for the carbed 5.0?

220 or 240, depends if it's a EFI 

69fastback

I also have the 350MAG in my ‘03 232 and I wouldn’t want the 5.0. 

Lake_Bum

I have a 2000 232 cuddy, and the 350 MAG mpi.  I feel it would be underpowered with the 5.0.  I've owned a similar sized boat, actually slightly smaller with the 5.0 and it was very sluggish out of the hole, and that is with EFI.  Tabs will help you out of the hole for sure, then prop accordingly. 

 I love the layout of the boat, but the newer ones have the walk-thru transom. Mine is the sunpad all across the engine.  Only major difference is I get a full sized bed, with the cushions that fill-in the bench. 

Cableguy Greg

All of the 5.0 232's that I have been on are dogs. My 98 232cc had the 5.7L in it and it was 250hp. The ideal engine for the 232 is the 350MAG. If you can find one with that engine or a big block, it is a great boat.

NRath

It's kind of surprising that the V6 4.3 FI is rated 225 hp vs the V8 5.0 carbed at only 220.  I"ve been through enough carb love to know I wouldn't consider a boat without it- especially problematic since they aren't run every day.

69fastback

The FI 4.3 is a really good motor. They perform really well in smaller boats. 

Lake_Bum

I've had both the 5.0, and the 4.3 both fuel injected in pretty similar sized boats.  The 4.3 was in a 21' Stingray cuddy, the 5.0 in a 21" Four Winns cuddy.  The Stingray was about 800 lbs lighter, and the 5.0 outperformed it.   Still.....by no means a powerhouse. I wouldn't own my 232 with a 5.0.