I own a quiver of C4s all of which except the 9m are 2011s and the 9m is 2010. And at 200lbs I find that the "jumpable" windrange of that size is very limited towards the bottom end. There might still be plenty enough power to go upwind, but jumps are just not happening! More like fart-pops! A couple knots more and it takes you to the moon...

So my question is, have they improved it in 2011/2012? Out of all my C4's it's with the 9 that I notice it the most (and it drives me nuts), though in all honesty, it's the kite that I use the least as well. We get more "real" 7m-days than 9m-days.

i haven't flown the 2012 yet. but i think you can only expect small improvements.

ps if you are underpowered and not boosting high put up a bigger kite.
maybe you need to turn the 9m into a 10m. Thats what i did.

at 82 pies i found the 9m pretty boring bellow 20 knots. The 10 gave me that little bit more grunt that i wanted in the low end i still hold it to 30 knots.

but i do here what you are saying 16-20 knots on my 10 is pretty low for jumps. but i enjoy doing kiteloop transitions and general dicking around in the waves in those winds so i still have a ripper of a time slightly underpowered on the c4. Infact i have 13m edge and 15m speed 3 so i can boost stupid 16-20 if i want. but i usually go for looping in the waves.

I hear you and that's what I do usually when there's no "oummmmph" left in the bar - I pump up the 12 or the 15. It's just that on some of our local spots, going in/out is a real PITA... For instance, just Yesterday I was riding on a very particular, and the only spot we have around for NE-winds. No beach with dead on-shore winds, you have to launch in the water and you have to land in the water and you're lucky if there's somebody to actually catch your kite - otherwise it's more of a crash-landing... Point being - this isn't as much of a C4's problem as it is my local condition's problem! Though I'm still suspicious that the 2010 9m is in fact a re-badged 8m... it's so small when compared to other 9m-s on the spot...

i think you already know the answer. not liking the bottom end of the 9 get a 10!.

ps i did notice a small difference in bottom end between my 2010 10m and my 2011 10m but really it was negligable.