James, I’m wondering with your connections in the industry or through the dealer, if you know anyone that can tell us if this issue is something that can be fixed via software upgrade – or is it a major overhaul for the next generation Ulterra motors. Seems to be enough of us with the same concern (seen it on other sites too).
Unfortunately I don’t know anyone in engineering at MinnKota or MotorGuide to reach out to about this. Everything I know has come from using both the Ulterra and the Xi5 extensively on a number of different boats and sharing experiences with other anglers I trust.
To be completely honest about the performance of both the Ulterra and the Xi5, both motors fall short of my expectations with each motor having its own strong points and areas of weakness.
In my opinion, the Ulterra falls short with regards to spot-lock and auto-pilot capabilities. I know this is going to sound harsh but the spot-lock and the auto-pilot functionality on ALL the Minn Kota motors I’ve run in the last two seasons… something’s just not right. The spot-lock throws the boats I’ve fished in all over the place… 50 foot off to the left… the speed ramps up to correct…. and we over-shoot the spot 50 feet to the right. And it never seems to settle in. And this happens if the wind speed is light or heavy. Doesn’t matter. I’ve given up even trying to use it. I’ve seen spot-lock work with other products so I’m not going to give them a pass because my expectations are too high.
The issues with the auto-pilot are equally frustrating. When I click the auto-pilot on I expect the motor to pull me in that general direction. For reasons I don’t understand the motor pulls to the left / port side every time. In multiple boats I’ve fished from. I can see the motor trying to correct the heading but it veers to the left each and every time. Why left? I have no idea. But the drift is considerable and I end up correcting the course so often I find I’m better off not even using it.
So what does the Minn Kota do well? The stow and deploy system on the Ulterra is very solid and so far has been very reliable. I enjoy using the Ulterra foot pedal. The Ulterra 112# motors are very powerful and quiet in the water with the prop spinning. The remote control for the Ulterra, while being a little large, has a nice LCD screen that allows me to monitor all my settings. I like that.
So how about the Xi5? I had an Xi5 on my WX 2190 last season and got a chance to use it extensively. The spot-lock functionality of the Xi5 is incredible. I mean it is a night and day better in comparison to the spot-lock of the Ulterra. It doesn’t over-correct and it handles changes in wind velocity and current better than some of my fishing buddy’s can pull off when driving manually. In all honesty if I hadn’t experienced how good the spot-lock on the Xi5 is I likely wouldn’t be so critical of this feature on the Ulterra. After seeing how well it can be implemented on one system… I expect it to work that well on competing systems. And I don’t think that’s unreasonable.
The “jog” function offered by the Xi5 is awesome. For those not familiar, when you’re “spot-locked” you can use the arrow keys on the Xi5 remote to move your lock. Hit the “up” arrow once and the boat moves the spot-lock “forward / twelve o’ clock position” five feet. Hit it twice, you move 10 feet. If you want to go 10 feet forward and 5 feet to the right (3 o’ clock position” hit the up arrow twice, the right arrow once. When it comes to refining a spot-lock position… the jog functionality is one I use all the time – love it!
The auot-pilot on the Xi5 also works well. When I point it in a direction, it goes in that direction.
So here’s where I think the Xi5 could be better…
The Xi5 foot pedal is one of my least favorite things about the Xi5 system. I’m proud of my boat control abilities and I put a lot of focus on getting the boat where it needs to be and keeping it there so everyone in the boat can catch fish. With the Xi5 foot pedal, I struggle due to the way the turning speed of the motor changes as you move the head from side to side. When the motor is pointed forward or slightly off-center in either direction the motor turns slowly. Once you get off-center in either direction suddenly the turning speed of the motor increases dramatically. I guess this is supposed to be a feature but I find it dysfunctional. I’ve never been able to get used to it and my boat control suffers for it.
The remote for the Xi5 is lacking an LCD screen which means you don’t have the ability to monitor any of your settings. I want a remote that allows me to see prop speed, whether spot-lock is engaged, etc.
The Xi5 is one noisy bugger in the water with the stock prop at high speeds and the Xi5 prop is far less durable than the prop on the Minn Kota.
The Xi5 is listed at 105# thrust but it seems to have considerably less “oompff” that the Minn Kota does with only a 7# thrust difference. If I had to guess why I’d look at the prop design first… but that’s just a hunch.
So in the end, after using both motors extensively, I’m of the opinion that Minn Kota and Motor Guide need to share technology so we can have the best of both worlds! 
My ideal motor would combine the Ulterra foot pedal and remote with Xi5’s spot-lock, jog function and Auto-pilot.
Obviously they’re not going to do that so as consumers we have to hope that the on-going competition between the two companies will push both to refining their offerings. If they don’t I wouldn’t be too surprised if we see a third-party get into the mix to meet angler’s demands.
My ideal motor would combine the Ulterra foot pedal and remote with Xi5’s spot-lock, jog function and Auto-pilot. 
