Thread: What's your vote? Minn Kota Terrova w iPilot and Spot Lock, or Motor Guide Xi5?

I have an older Terrova 80lb powerdrive I bought the Ipilot upgrade for a couple years ago. My boat is a 20' cc that catches wind pretty good. On a windy day 35' radius is probably normal. Calm days 15'-20' is probably pretty close to how it performs. If reviews come back great on the new units it will be hard not to upgrade; be like having deep water power poles!


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Had the pleasure to try out the Minn Kota Ultrex today. I will say I'm very very impressed. I will also say using Lowrance Electronics there are certain things this motor will not do, but would if connected to a bird. It will not follow a trail or route using Lowrance. That's not exactly what I was interested in. The Anchor mode worked flawlessly holding within what I would say 1' either way from where I anchored it several different times. We were fishing piles and placed a marker on the pile and when I hit anchor I placed another marker 1' in front of the motor. It was flawless even in the current on upper Ft Gibson. I will say the electric pedal was more responsive than my cable drive and took a few minutes to get use to. The lift assist on the storing bracket was great and was what I expected as I have a Fortex. Guys if I was wanting a tm for no other reason as spot lock this is the motor for you. Hands down I love this motor.......Ranger

About time Minn Kota fixed the spot lock. The Xi5 raised the bar on that feature and they needed to be competitive.

Doesn't the XI-5 hold in a plus or minus 1 ft. also. Never tried one so don't know how accurate they are.

I doubt any of them will consistently hold in one or two feet. They are governed by GPS and it's not that accurate. My Xi5 holds me consistently on a brushpile until I want to jog to one direction or another, or move on.

Originally Posted by IkenI

I doubt any of them will consistently hold in one or two feet. They are governed by GPS and it's not that accurate. My Xi5 holds me consistently on a brushpile until I want to jog to one direction or another, or move on.

The new spotlock includes a second sensor, which I think is what helps with holding more accurately.

The Ultrex does indeed have its own gps in the head of the motor. From what all the reps said I talked to they state it's the best advanced gps ever used in the boating industry. All I know is what I experienced yesterday on Gibson with current on the river. It held us tight all afternoon. It's quite and I see less battery use as a conventional tm. As of right now from all the others I have used or been around it's hands down the best I have been around. Love the anchor button on the foot pad and also the convenience of the neck lanyard controller......Ranger

The Xi5 also had additional sensors. This is one thing that Minn Kota did to improve their accuracy. Both brands are good - just gotta decide which is for you. However, as I stated above no gps can consistently keep one foot accuracy. If all things are perfect they can come close. You need to understand the limitations of GPS. I've began using GPS 55 years ago in it's earliest stages in the military. To understand it's limitations (which are not much) go to:

GPS.gov: GPS Accuracy

from which I quote "Real-world data from the FAA show their high-quality GPS SPS receivers attaining better than 2.168 meter horizontal accuracy, 95% of the time."

Off to Grizzly Jig in the morn.
Floyd