While I love my current boat, at some point I’ll need to replace her. When that time comes, I’m going to have to make a very important decision: should I buy a Lund Impact, or a Lund Pro-V? This article is my attempt to wrestle with this impossible choice. This is a decision that is keeping me up at night a bit given the boats are both great, but so very different. To put it simply, if your children are young, buy a Lund Impact. If your children are grown, buy the Pro-V. If you’re struggling with the same decision and want to know why I’d say this, read on.
A Note on Pricing Information
Throughout this article you’re going to see me refer to some MSRP pricing for these Lund boats. These prices reflect the 2021 model year for these boats, and are taken directly from the Lund website’s boat builder on the date of publication (March 14, 2021). These are subject to change by the manufacturer at any time and are merely a guideline. Indeed, even while just writing this and going back and double checking, there were slight variations that I can’t explain. So, any price you see is very much a “guideline” and should be taken with a grain of salt. Remember, these are MSRP, dealers will have different prices, and at any given moment another trade war, pandemic, or utter chaos could erupt, throwing these prices out the window. It’s the 2020’s, after all.
Where noted, these prices will reflect the use of the boat builder to max out the motor. Most of Lund’s MSRP is “starting at” which usually means a motor with less horsepower. I’ve used the “starting at” figure as the least you’d pay, and then used their boat builder to figure out what the MSRP is when the boat is maxed out. I have not made ANY OTHER CHANGES, so these prices are generally going to be without trolling motors, batteries, boat covers, trailer upgrades, etc.
Spousal Disclaimer – You’re on Your Own!
In other words, your out the door price is going to vary wildly and I cannot be held liable if you tried to use this article to convince your spouse to let you buy this boat, only to find out that there’s another $10k or more tacked on the end price! All the same, I do think it’s useful to include the pricing so you get at least a rough idea of how the different models scale against each other.
If this article becomes popular, I may update it from year to year and if so, you’ll see this disclaimer change. If it is 2022 or later and you’re still seeing “2021,” send me an email and tell me to get my butt in gear 🙂
Apples to Apples
I’ll let you know right off the bat that this article won’t consider the 2075 or 2175 Pro-V. I don’t think I could afford them in the first place, but more importantly – there’s just no comparison between those two models and the Impact lineup. Instead, I’m going to focus on two specific matchups:
- The 1875 Impact Sport vs. the 1875 Pro-V
- The 2025 Impact Sport XS vs. the 1975 Pro-V
These two matchups seem pretty fair and frankly my next boat decision is going to boil down between one of the two. I’d argue that if you’re looking at an apples to apples comparison between the Lund Impact and the Lund Pro-V, you’re probably considering all of these boats.
The Lund Impact 1875 Sport vs. The Lund Pro-V 1875
We’ll first discuss the Lund Impact 1875 Sport (my boat) vs. the Lund Pro-V 1875. Before we dive into a discussion, here’s a handy chart with some key stats. Note that the chart below reflects the Sports models for each boat (meaning, the walkthrough windshield model). Both the Lund Impact 1875 and Lund Pro-V 1875 offer an “SS” model that has a single windscreen for the driver. The numbers are going to be slightly different (in terms of weight especially) for that model, so do visit Lund’s website for more details.
| Boat | Lund Impact 1875 Sport | Lund Pro-V 1875 |
| Length | 18′ 11″ | 18′ 10″ |
| Beam | 96″ | 97″ |
| Chine Width | 81.5″ | 83.75″ |
| Transom Height | 25″ | 25″ |
| Cockpit Depth | 22.75″ | 22″ |
| Hull Type | IPS | IPS2 |
| Freeboard Thickness | 0.063″ | 0.080″ |
| Bottom Thickness | 0.080″ | 0.100″ |
| Double-Plated Bow Thickness | 0.160″ | 0.180″ |
| Max HP | 150 HP | 200 HP |
| Top Speed | 52 MPH | 56 MPH |
| Fuel Capacity | 36 gallons | 43 gallons |
| Person Capacity | 7 person | 6 person |
| Rod Storage | 8’6″ rods (in gunnel) | 8′ rod storage |
| Weight | 1410lbs / 2559lbs towed | 1710lbs / 3021lbs towed |
| Towing Length | 21′ 5″ | 21′ 9″ |
| Towing Width | 7′ | 7′ |
| Height on Trailer | 8′ 6″ | 8′ 6″ |
| Gunnel Storage | Recessed | Non-recessed |
| MSRP | $42,394 (150 HP) | $44,783 (150 HP), $59,951 (200 HP) |
Construction
There’s no disputing that from a pure construction standpoint, the Pro-V is better. It offers the more advanced IPS2 hull design than the Impact’s IPS. The IPS2 provides additional strakes in the hull which provides a drier, smoother experience, as well as some advantages in handling. Reading through some owner comments in various fishing forums, it is said to be a significant difference.
In addition to this important factor, the Impact 1875 Sport is 1″ longer than the Pro-V 1875, but also 1″ narrower. The 1″ length difference is likely imperceptible, but a wider beam is almost always going to provide a more stable experience. Coupled with the more than 2″ greater chine width and extra 300lbs of weight, and the Pro-V is going to be more stable and offer a better ride than the Impact, period.
The Pro-V’s hull is thicker in all aspects and thus more durable than the Impact’s, which could be an important consideration if you fish around stump fields or the like frequently. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t count on this saving you if you are merciless to the boat, so don’t drive with reckless abandon.
Performance
According to Lund’s website, the Pro-V 1875 is capable of a max speed of 56mph compared to the Impact 1875 Sport’s 52mph. I don’t have a 150 on mine, so I can’t speak to the accuracy there, but I’m guessing it’s on point because the 40mph listed for the Impact with a 115 motor is about what I get (38-42 per the GPS, dependent on conditions).
What’s worth noting however is that the 56mph vs. 52mph assumes boat’s that each have maximum horsepower motors. If you were to compare a Pro-V 1875 with a 150 vs. an Impact 1875 with the same, the Impact is faster (52 mph vs. 46 mph). You’ll note that the MSRP for an underpowered Pro-V 1875 is about $2500 greater than a maxed out Impact 1875.
Fishability
One place where the Pro-V indisputably reigns supreme from a performance standpoint is fishability. It’s hard to argue with this when you can easily put a kicker motor and shallow water anchor on while still having a boarding ladder for safety and legal reasons. This is because of an ingenious trick Lund has done to put a boarding ladder directly inside the port gunnel.
While it probably isn’t the best ladder on earth, if you’re fairly fit, it will allow you to refuse to compromise between having a kicker or having a shallow water anchor, which is a huge plus in my mind. You can troll for lake trout with your kicker motor one minute and park yourself directly next to a bass bed the next with your anchor. With the Impact, you need to pick one or the other (or buy a really fancy trolling motor, like a Minn Kota Terrova to try and compensate).
Storage
The layout on the Pro-V provides more and better storage than the Impact. The front casting deck especially shows this point. I’ve always felt like my Impact had a lot of wasted space on the front casting deck as the angle and type of storage boxes left a lot to be desired. For example, while the port side compartment is spacious, the one on starboard is tiny. The Pro-V corrects this in a big way, as the compartments are mirrored on both sides (and, from the looks of it, much larger in the first place). Additionally, while there’s never going to be something as “truly dry” storage on a boat, the Pro-V’s compartments seem substantially more likely to keep water out than the Impact’s as they have much wider metal lips and dividers around them.
The Pro-V also has a very handy storage space for your cranking battery in the center of the rear floor where it is completely out of the way. In the Impact, you end up using one of the boxes on the rear casting deck that you’d really rather have for other stuff.
Rod Storage
One place the Impact does do better than the Pro-V, surprisingly, is with rod storage, as you can get an 8′ 6″ rod in the port gunnel storage as opposed to an 8′ rod that the Pro-V allows. While I haven’t had a chance to play around with the Pro-V, I do think the “top down” port storage on the Impact seems like it would be easier to access and use than the side-opening port storage the Pro-V favors. On the other hand, the Pro-V can carry 15 rods in its center rod storage compared to only 10 on the Impact. While you can buy rod tubes for the port rod storage as an option, this is something to consider.
Family-Friendly
The Impact 1875 Sport is a better family boat than the Pro-V 1875. I’m reaching that conclusion based on my experience with my Impact and knowledge of how the layout “plays out” in practice. I look at the Pro-V and have concerns that if I bought one in the future, I’d really miss the Impact’s layout.
While it might sound stupid, the specific reason for this is that the Impact has the recessed gunnel storage while the Pro-V’s gunnel storage is flush with the top of the side of the boat. In practical use, this means that the Impact has substantially more places for a kid to sit and fish from, or put their lunch and have a snack. It’s also another place that you can go to help them retie a lure, or even just to kick your feet up on while you’re trolling from your captain’s chair.
Finally, the Impact allows for more family members or friends to come along. It is rated for 7 passengers as opposed to the Pro-V’s 6 passengers. Depending on the size of your family, this could be an important consideration.
The Pro-V has many “better” features, but at the end of the day, I think the Impact is laid out substantially better because of these recessed gunnels, and it allows for more passengers. It’s too bad Lund doesn’t offer a recessed gunnel option on their Pro-V lineup, but “them’s the chips.”
Cost of Ownership
The Impact is going to cost you less to own over time. First, it’s substantially less expensive to purchase, even with maximum horsepower. Secondly, its towing weight is substantially less which will cost you less fuel to move it, and possibly allow a smaller vehicle to move it.
In addition to these factors, also consider that the Pro-V 1875 does come prepared to accept 4 batteries in that many folks rig one up with the 36-volt trolling motor. I can’t say for sure if you’d really need one, with just about 300lbs difference between the boats, but you might. If you do, that’s another battery to buy, a more expensive trolling motor to buy, and just one more thing to go wrong.
The Verdict: Lund Pro-V 1875 or Lund Impact 1875 Sport?
When I think of my next boat, I’d have a really hard time justifying going with a Lund Pro-V 1875 over the Impact 1875 Sport. While it is an upgrade in nearly every respect, it’s not that compelling of one to justify the much higher price, and much worse layout given the gunnel storage.
In my mind, and given I already own the Impact, “upgrading” to the Pro-V 1875 would mean that I would be going to a boat that could bring one less passenger with two less handy areas to sit and fish from. It seems likely to feel much more crowded, and that doesn’t work for me. The only reason it’s even in consideration is because of its price point compared to the Pro-V 1975 coupled with the fact that it can accept a kicker and talon on the transom while still having a boarding ladder. That is a very nice option indeed.
Weighing all of this, if I was in my 50’s and my children were grown, the Pro-V would probably be my choice. But, as I’m in my 30’s and my children are young, a Pro-V that is this small just seems impractical to me. If I was going to jump to this model, it would need to be one of the larger ones (1975 or up) or it just doesn’t seem worth it.
The Lund Impact 2025 XS vs. the Lund Pro-V 1975
Now let’s look at some bigger brothers. Again, we’re not going to check out the 2075 or 2175 Pro-V’s as they’re in a class completely in their own. Instead, we’ll look at the Pro-V 1975. Unfortunately, Lund does not offer the Impact in a 1975 version, so the closest comparison we can get to the Pro-V 1975 is the Lund Impact 2025 XS.
Note that there are some pretty significant changes between the 2025XS and the 1875 Sport in terms of layout. It’s not so much of a stretch to call them completely different boats, so it’s worth doing the comparison all over again. First, some stats (note that neither of these boats offer any option other than a full walkthrough windshield):
| Boat | Lund Impact 2025 XS | Lund Pro-V 1975 |
| Length | 20′ 2″ | 19′ 10″ |
| Beam | 96″ | 100″ |
| Chine Width | 81.75″ | 87.25″ |
| Transom Height | 25″ | 25″ |
| Cockpit Depth | 21.75″ | 22″ |
| Hull Type | IPS2 | IPS2 |
| Freeboard Thickness | 0.080″ | 0.080″ |
| Bottom Thickness | 0.100″ | 0.100″ |
| Double-Plated Bow Thickness | 0.180″ | 0.200″ |
| Max HP | 200 HP | 225 HP |
| Top Speed | 52 MPH | 56 MPH |
| Fuel Capacity | 46 gallons | 51 gallons |
| Person Capacity | 8 person | 6 person |
| Rod Storage | 8’6″ | 8′ |
| Weight | 1685 lbs / 3291 lbs towed | 1940 lbs / 3546 lbs towed |
| Towing Length | 23′ 10″ | 22′ 4 “ |
| Towing Width | 8′ 6″ | 8′ 6″ |
| Height on Trailer | 7′ | 7′ |
| Gunnel Storage | Recessed | Non-recessed |
| MSRP | $47,301 (150 HP), $60,898 (200 HP) | $53,719 (150HP), $68,228 (200 HP), $70,519 (225 HP) |
Construction
Here too the Pro-V is going to have the edge over the Impact in terms of pure construction. Granted, the Impact 2025 XS moves up to the IPS2 hull which is nice, and matches the Pro-V in hull thickness in 2/3 of the measured categories. Even so, The Pro-V 1975, while 4″ shorter, has a 4″ wider beam and a 5.5″ greater chine width. All of this should add up to a better-performing boat, on the water. I’ll leave to you whether the Pro-V’s .020″ thicker double-plated bow is going to make that much difference with what you tend to hit day to day, but it certainly can’t hurt.
Performance
Lund’s website again places the Pro-V faster, with the 1975 topping out at 56 mph compared to the 52 mph Impact 2025 XS. However, this is also a matchup between two different engines as the Pro-V 1975 accepts 25 more horses than the Impact 2025 XS. Regardless, when both boats are similarly underpowered with a 150 HP motor, the Pro-V still has a slight edge (44 mph vs. 43 mph). Accordingly, if speed is important to you, the Pro-V is slightly better across the board (though, if 4 mph better is really something to worry about, I leave entirely to you).
Fishability
As with the 1875, the Pro-V 1975 is better from a fishability standpoint in that it can accommodate a kicker, shallow water anchor, and boarding ladder at the same time given the gunnel-stored rescue ladder. While I suppose it’s unfair to say the Impact 2025 XS “can’t” do this, you’d have to move the talon way off to the side, right along with the gunnel. I know I’ve seen a fellow do this with the Pro-V so he could get two talons instead of one. Even if this is possible, this strikes me as a great way to make fishing from the back of your boat a giant pain in the butt. The bottom line is the Pro-V line up allows you to put the anchor and kicker where they belong while still being safe and legal.
Storage
Again, the Pro-V is going to best the Impact on storage. To me, this is almost inexcusable at this stage as the Impact 2025 XS is longer by a few inches, yet Lund has once again gone with the questionable storage layout on the front deck. I dislike it and would love to see it change for the Impact lineup in the future.
The Pro-V 1975 storage layout is much the same as the 1875 as the additional foot of space goes in the cockpit area. Everything I liked about the smaller model applies to this one as well.
Rod Storage
Once more, the Impact can accommodate longer rods in the the port rod locker, but, again, it can only accept 10 rods in the center storage compared to the 15 of the Pro-V. This is balanced, of course, against the fact that you can lay rods down along the recessed gunnel in an Impact, which isn’t an option with the Pro-V.
Family Friendly
I’m not as quick to judge the Impact a better family boat once you get to this tier, though it probably still has the edge. While it does have the same recessed gunnels that I think are so important, it takes a step back on the aft casting platform. My Impact 1875 Sport has a flip up seat. This does two important things for my family:
- It doubles the size of the aft casting deck.
- It allows my wife a “tanning platform” which, really, just makes everyone happier, don’t you think?
The Pro-V’s retain this option, and actually improve it, as the casting deck is broken into 3 parts and you can flip them up or down individually to access your livewell. The Impact 2025 XS, on the other hand, goes to the “jump seat” model. While this does save floor space, it also reduces this casting deck/tanning platform. I don’t like it!
Passenger Capacity and Where to Put Them
Setting aside my rant about casting platforms and tanning decks, we still have the gunnel storage situation to deal with. You will find that, as a family boat, your kids will have more places to sit, fish, eat, and play in the Impact 2025 XS than the do in the Pro-V 1975.
This is important, because the Impact 2025 XS can carry two more people than the Pro-V. Much of the reason for this is the “XS” designation in the first place, as this is technically a “fish and ski” model for Lund rather than a pure fishing model. The Impact 2025 XS was designed to be a family-friendly fishing boat where you could take the spouse, kids, and their friends or grandparents safely. The Pro-V is neither rated for this nor is there a place to put this many folks given the gunnel storage.
Cost of Ownership
Again, all the same arguments I went over with the 1875 models are going to apply here, except that both of these boats are large and should be using a 36-volt system for their trolling motors.
Another factor is your tow vehicle. The towing weight of the Pro-V 1975 is listed as 3546 lbs, and this is before you add any gear (and I believe before you add in for fuel). With a 51 gallon tank, you’re easily looking at 4,000 lbs when you factor in gear as well. That’s right at the 80% mark that many recommend you not exceed when it comes to vehicle towing capacity of many popular family SUVs, which is an important consideration. You’ll really want a vehicle that can tow more than 5,000lbs to get into either of these boats, but definitely the Pro-V 1975. You’d better like the looks of the Nissan Pathfinder.
The Verdict: Lund Pro-V 1975 or Lund Impact 2025 XS?
Not to sound like a broken record, but again it all depends on what you want. The Lund Pro-V started as a better boat from a “fishability” standpoint with the 1875, and doubles down on that in the 1975 length. Likewise, the Impact 2025 XS takes “family friendly” to a new level with the allowance of an 8th passenger, even if they can’t tan as easily from the back deck.
It all boils down to what you need and want in life. Are you a hardcore fisherman who brings hardcore fisherman buddies with you? Or, do you have little fishing buddies that just want to have fun? The Impact will be less expensive and better for children in general. The Pro-V will give you more options and ways to catch fish, but it’ll cost you.
Will My Next Boat be a Lund Impact or a Pro-V?
Bear in mind that I’m looking at these matchups from the perspective of “what should MY next boat be.” Given I have a Lund Impact 1875 Sport, in my mind it’s not until the 1975 class that the Pro-V starts to make more sense than the Impact. While I struggle to appreciate the added value when looking at two 1875s, the 1975 gives you a full foot of extra space to work with and compensate for the loss of seating space on the gunnels.
The Timing of Things…
Much of this will come down to when I pull the trigger. My son will by 6 this summer, and my daughter will be 3. In all honesty, I don’t need a different boat right now, and if I bought it, I’d be very concerned it would mostly be a garage queen. At the very least, it would spend the overwhelming majority of its time on teeny tiny lakes where a bigger boat really isn’t needed. Thus, if worst came to worst and I had to buy a new boat with an insurance check, I’d probably try and source a used Lund Impact 1875 Sport for the time being.
On the other hand, if things go to plan, and I buy a boat in the next five years, when my son is turning 11 and daughter is turning 8, the Pro-V would really start to come into its own. By then, the two of them shouldn’t need that recessed gunnel as much, and the extra length and durability of the Pro-V, coupled with the ability to put on a kicker and Talon, would become all the more appealing.
Later in life, when they both are in college and I’m “on my own” with my wife, I might take up guiding, which would require an entirely new approach (perhaps then you’ll see me start contemplating a 2075, or even a tiller).
It all depends on where you are. For now, I’ll stick with my rule of thumb:
- If you have small children, buy a Lund Impact.
- If your children are grown, by a Pro-V.
Thanks for Reading
I hope you enjoyed this article and found it insightful. I know that the question of “Should my next boat be an Impact or a Pro-V” has kept me up at night, scouring the internet! Please feel free to post a comment or to send me an email with any questions you might have.
Thanks,
John Paxton
