Seacraft GO! vs. Suex VR Voyager

[bradStyle]

Hi everybody. My wife & I just finished a three day DPV course in Cozumel & I'm planning to buy us DPVs sometime this year.
I've narrowed it down to the Seacraft Go and the forthcoming Suex VR Voyager.
I was hoping to use this thread as a place to weigh and discuss the pros and cons of these two models:


DIMENSIONS
GO Length 520mm/20.5" Width 280mm/11.0" Height 330mm/13.0" Body Diameter 160mm/6.3" Weight with Batteries 9.7kg/21.4lbs
VR Length 510mm/20.0" Width 320mm/13.4" Height 422mm/16.6" Body Diameter 200mm/7.9" Weight with Batteries 11.7kg/25.8lbs

BATTERIES
GO 582 watt/hours between 6 batteries (97Wh each) 4hr total charging time
VR 356 watt/hours between 4 batteries (89Wh each) 4hr total charging time

MOTOR
GO Brushless
VR Brushed —pretty sure, but awaiting confirmation

THRUST & SPEED
GO 260 N max thrust 80m/min max speed 45m/min cruise speed
VR 220 N max thrust 70m/min max speed 45m/min cruise speed

RUNTIME
GO 220min at cruise speed 60min at max speed
VR 130min at cruise speed 60min at max speed

PRICE
GO EU €4300 USA $5300
VR EU €4500 USA $5400


SIMILARITIES
Both are travel friendly DPVs, meaning they use multiple smaller lithium batteries which comply with TSA safety standards, and can be transported in carry-on luggage.

Both offer external charging, meaning you plug a charge cord into the chassis to charge all the batteries, which means not having to open the DPV each time.

Both appear to be similarly priced, although this could change or could vary between resellers.


DIFFERENCES
GO Advantages: Smaller, lighter, and a bit faster max speed, with clearly better burn time, quieter*
GO Disadvantages: No trigger lock, may not be as well constructed, brushless motor power lag, more electronic parts, quieter*
VR Advantages: Trigger lock, more robust construction, brushed motor provides instant torque, louder*
VR Disadvantages: Bigger, heavier, a bit slower max speed, less burn time, louder*

*Regarding engine noise, quieter could be preferred for being less intrusive to wildlife, while louder could be preferred for team diving to know your teammates are close by without having to look.

This information is correct to the best of my knowledge, but please feel free to contribute corrections if I've made mistakes or this information changes.

 

[stuartv]

Thank you for putting this together.

Quieter is definitely an advantage - to me. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "I wish my scooter were louder."

Having a cruise control is definitely nice. I thought the Go! had some way in its menus or a click combo to allow it to run with the trigger "locked", but I could be wrong. Regardless, it does not seem like a difficult problem to solve to fabricate some kind of simple thing to hold the trigger, if needed.

You talked about motor power lag and are attributing lag in the Go! to having a brushless motor. I don't think those are related.

A brushless motor seems like a clear advantage and undoubtedly contributes to the Go! having a longer run time.

Lag in delivery seems likely to be a designed-in characteristic of the Go!'s motor controller and firmware. It may even be adjustable. Seacraft puts a lot of stuff in their menu system to support changing the behavior of their scooters (in general - not sure exactly how they have the Go! setup).

I would not compare manufacturer specs for speed. That is subject to way too many uncontrolled variables. I would only look at maximum thrust.

What is your basis for saying the Suex has better or more robust construction? I know the Go! had one specific issue when they first came out where you could overtighten some part on the nose and break something. But, I believe they redesigned that and that problem is now gone. I haven't heard of other issues with the Go! lacking robustness. From what I know, Seacraft and Suex both produce very high quality DPVs.

The Go! is:

Shorter
Lighter
More Thrust
MUCH longer runtime
Quieter
Same price (in practical terms)

The Go! is a no-brainer in this comparison, in my book. A factory throttle lock does not outweigh the benefits in a DPV of more thrust, lighter weight, and longer runtime.

I already had the gut feeling that this was the case, but your collection of the specifications makes it very clear (to me).