Cobalts USED to be premium, exceptionally well-built boats when it was privately owned. Ever since Malibu bought them, there have been a lot of disgruntled customers due to the build quality not being what they were used to...typical story of Corporate America ruining something that was once great. But frankly those Forward Drive boats give me pause for thought...I can't imagine how they could ever fare well when hitting something. I've had my outdrive kick all the way up out of the water a few times in my life on i/o powered boats when I hit a large log (and one time what turned out to be a shed that was floating about a foot under water. But a standard i/o is built for this, designed to kick up. Not sure how a Forward Drive could ever do it.
