So I have been diehard minnkota my whole life and am very impressed with the new ultrex. Can anyone who owns the motor guide X15 weigh in on why it is better? Looking to buy one or the other soon. Thanks for your time,

Rich

The Xi5 is comparable to the Terrova.

The Ultex has no comparison, there has never been an electric power steering cable steer motor before.

No such thing as a MotorGuide that's better than a MinnKota. Go with what you know.

x2

no comparison between the two

Motorguide has to be scrambling to get something put together to compete with the ultrex. It won't take long and the ultrex will be the standard on bass boats if it does what it's claimed to and holds up to a beating. I will have one before I have a set of talons.

I currently run a Xi5, as had been said the Ultrex will be in a different league when its available.
I fish Fork 7 to 10 days a month and have beat the Xi5 on stump after stump. I cant believe its still running. Im on my third prop in less than a year.
I had an I Pilot before Xi5. Everyone said the Xi5 would hold better. I personally cant tell that much difference.
All in all im very pleased with the Motor guide but I will be switching over to the Ultrex next spring mostly due to the ease of deployment.
Im getting old and walking all the way out to the point of the bow to raise the motor in 3 foot rollers is not as exciting as it used to be.

My 2 cents:
Minn Kota and "Ultrex" is going to sink Motorguide if the new Models hold up to the daily abuse most trolling motors are subjected to...and since Hummingbird and Minn Kota are married together MK will push HB sales too...
Minn Kota will function with Late Model Lowrance Units with the proper adapters...albeit the newer I Pilot Link will not function with a Lowrance Unit...
Lowrance still has an edge with electronics in my opinion, but not for long if they continue to push out over hyped products that turn out to be duds...Spotlight Scan and 3D come to mind�
Hummingbird and Lowrance units are not compatible in anyway and one must actually download software to convert Lowrance waypoints to load into a Hummingbird for accurate GPS�not being able to network a console Lowrance to a Hummingbird upfront is a real bummer because you can�t save WPT�s from the console to the front HB Unit�
So, the battle for first place continues� with all competitors having strong and weak points...

I've had an xi5 for a couple of years now. It's a good tool but just like the iPilot, it's not made to take a beating (rough water day in and day out). The deployment system is [censored] on both the xi5 and iPilot.


Hands down, the Ultera will take over the market if it performs as advertised. The only advantage of xi5 over the Ultera is price.

I recently bought a terrova. I thought about the xi5 but they have their own issues and I run hummingbird. It only made sense for me to have mk so that I could use the link.

Compare terrova and the xi5 for an apples to apples comparison. Neither will compare to the ultrex because of the cable foot controls. If you want that feature then you have no choice. If that feature isn't important then there are less expensive models to choose from.

I have no experience with the xi5 but have known it has been available for quite a while. The bracket and deployment system prevented me from buying one despite how badly I wanted spot lock. The Ultrex appears to be what I have been waiting for for 2+ years. I have already ordered mine and am hoping to have in the second week of October. I can't wait!!

Thanks for the input guys. I have seen and tested the ultrex firsthand and was blown away but wanted to make sure I was seeing it right. I will have one by the end of the year.

October 6 is the ship date....from what I understand.

From what I have seen posted, there are two release dates.
One for the iPilot version, and another for the iPilot Link version.

What's the difference?

The iPilot Link is Humminbird compatible via Ethernet to store more waypoints and tracks. PLUS it can use Lakemaster mapping to "follow the contour" of those maps.

Johnson Outdoors owns both products so their stuff works with their stuff.