Bayliner VR6 Bowrider Reviewed in 2025

Ratings

Boat & Sail Magazine Score: 4.7/5

Hull Design: 4/5

Layout: 4/5

Storage: 5/5

Power Options: 4/5

Available Options: 5/5

Price/Quality: 4/5

Bayliner VR6: The Ultimate Budget-Friendly Bowrider?

Budget-friendly and boating seldom get put together, but Bayliner has always been a brand focused on bringing the joys of being on the water to the masses. In that sense, a Bayliner boat is a boat of the people.

But even though the company makes entry-level boats at an attractive price point, they are still worth a look from serious boaters.

The VR6 has been singled out in many reviews as a pivotal model from the company. It’s popular due to its incredible layout, but also because it is very well-built and still reasonably affordable.

Hull Design and Quality

By far, the most unique feature of the VR6 is its hull design, which Bayliner calls “BeamForward.” Instead of a classic taper to the pointed bow, this vessel carries its beam farther forward to provide more interior volume.

You might imagine this would make the boat look more like a deck boat than a bowrider. But the company did a great job keeping the VR6 looking sporty, with a nice deep-vee hull to cut through chop and sleek lines to boot. In addition, the VR6 offers a comfortable ride with great tracking and responsiveness.

The VR6 also represents some changes from past Bayliner bowriders. Perhaps the most important of which is the fundamental construction. Gone are the days of wood-cored fiberglass hulls–this Bayliner bowrider is the first to feature all-fiberglass construction. This is a huge boost for the longevity of the hull itself. And, to maintain structural strength and provide that reassuring ride, the hull is built with a foam-filled stringer grid to give it rigidity.

Other small touches improve how the boat stands the test of time. Instead of being made of thin fiberglass prone to flexing and stress cracks, hatches on this boat are built out of solid thermoplastic polymer, also known as HDPE plastic. This miraculous material is fantastic in boat building because it is strong and does not deteriorate.

Layout

The BeamForward design has enabled Bayliner to make an incredible layout in the VR6. Even while remaining small enough to be manageable on a trailer and at the dock, the boat seats up to ten people and has an insane amount of storage.

Entering the boat is done from the broad swim platform, which is finished with an optional EVA foam flooring mat. The stern deck pad and lounge has a flip-up back to starboard, doubling as the cockpit door. Lift it for an easy walkway with steps down to deck level.

An L-shaped seat to port has a three-position swinging back. This enables the forward area of the bench to be either an aft-facing lounge, a forward-facing copilot’s seat, or a flat bench. The removable cockpit table fits, and the entire area can become a huge U-shaped seating area around the table thanks to filler cushions positioned over the entry walkway.

Forward, the swiveling bucket-style helm seat is to starboard. The sporty helm includes standard controls, a GPS chartplotter option, and audio controls. A cutoff, wrap-around windshield protects the area. If you want the side window wings, they’re available as an accessory.

Walking forward through the flip-up windscreen is the changing room or head to port. It’s a cozy space but a welcome addition to any family boat. There’s enough space to install a simple porta-potty and still use the space as extra storage or a changing room. An opening portlight provides light and ventilation.

The bow area is the customary U-shaped bench, which can be turned into a lounge with optional filler cushions. But what is not customary is the amount of space you’ll find here to spread out, which is greatly improved by the BeamForward design. Bolsters are mounted all around, and there’s also a spot to mount the table here.

Storage

Simply put, the storage space in the VR6 is cavernous and well thought out.

All benches have storage below. The head compartment provides ample storage. Between the helm and bench seat, an in-floor storage compartment runs all the way forward. It’s billed as the perfect spot for watersports enthusiasts to store their boards, inflatables, or skis. In actuality, you could stuff pretty much anything down there.

In the cockpit, the rear seat has a large compartment underneath that can be a large cooler. For anglers, this compartment can become an aerated bait well. Finally, more in-floor storage can be found under the entry walkway, where a second ice bucket or storage bin is located.

Consider the outboard model if you need even more interior space for your gear. In this case, the entirety of what would have been the Mercruiser sterndrive’s engine space is left open for storage. There’s also a deep battery compartment located on the rear port side.

Power Options

The hull is comfortable and designed well, but it’s nothing without some horsepower. There are two basic versions of the VR6 available, the standard one with Mercruiser sterndrive options and the VR6 OB, which comes with your choice of Mercury outboards.

You can spec the inboard-outboard model with the 200 or 250-horsepower versions of the 4.5-liter MPI Mercruiser powerplant.

The VR6 OB can be built with 150 or 200-horsepower Mercury four-stroke outboards. Power steering is an available option. Unfortunately, the max horsepower for the outboard model is limited to 200 at this time.

Available Options

Bayliner provides many ways to make a VR6 your own. You can play around and spec your hull out on the Bayliner website.

First, you get your choice of hull color. There are five color options, each available in solid or two-tone patterns–white, red, black, gray, and blue. There are also two sport package upgrades, which include graphics. Interior upholstery is available in graphite, tan, or two-toned gray and white.

Interior options include your choice of flooring, from snap-on woven coverings to teak or gray foam mats. It’s a free upgrade to the bucket-style helm seat, but you’ll also want to pick up the bow filler cushion.

Finally, Bayliner gives you a long list of optional accessories to customize the hull to suit your needs. There are specific options for anglers and watersports enthusiasts. A few things we think are worthwhile are the Simrad digital dash chartplotter, the Rockford Fosgate four-speaker upgraded sound system, and the ProArc tower with integrated bimini, which adds a much-needed rigid structure for your shade awning.

Price/Quality

Bayliner has done a great job of keeping the cost of their boats low over the years. So you might expect, with the all-fiberglass hull and impressive features of the VR6, to find it costs much more than Bayliners have in the past.

But the company held to its mission of making boat ownership approachable. As a result, the cost of the VR6, at least when it was introduced, was lower than the cost of the model it replaced. Bayliner accomplished this thanks to some clever manufacturing and design efficiencies. There are some parts commonality among other VR models, and the overall boat is easier for them to make.

All of that adds up to something that you don’t often find in the boating world. Here you have a legacy brand improving what they do while also making it cost less.

Do We Recommend Them?

With all the improvements the VR6 incorporates, the boat is a serious contender for anyone looking to invest in a bowrider. It offers some things that you’d only find on much larger and much more expensive boats, and it improves on many of the gripes people have had about the brand for decades.

Is it right for you? That, of course, depends entirely on what you and your family are looking for. But the option of getting an outboard-powered, take-anywhere boat with tons of comfortable space and storage makes the VR6 earn a spot on anyone’s shortlist.