Looking to upgrade from Mizuno mp650... if possible??

[MikeCartier]

Hello fellow WRXers,

 

I have been playing mp650 driver, 3w, 5w for a while now and love them... but I am wondering how these stack up against the JDM drivers/woods I drool over on TSG. I have NEVER EVER hit a JDM driver/wood, but I own JDM irons/wedges and can appreciate the feel, look, and craftsmanship that sadly seems to originate from that side of the globe only.

 

Obviously performance and distance is important, but I am looking for something a little more pleasing to the hands and eyes. From a feel/sound perspective, how much better can I do than the mp650 with the stock Orochi shafts? I

 

I have been looking at the royal collection 106v/306v, new Srixon 725, OnOff Kuro, and Yamaha RMX tour. How do these match-up to the mp650? Would the feel be noticeably better? Would I have to shell out real $$ and move up to Epon, jBEAM or Romaro to get that holy grail feel??

 

Any thoughts or opinions are greatly appreciated.

[phizzy30]

The difference would be that the higher end JDM drivers have forged, cup faces. My father who plays nothing but JDM has a collection of forged drivers. I've tried them for fun. The feel is a bit different from any of the OEM driver offerings here. The real difference is the shafts. Stock shafts for JDM drivers are way too whippy and soft for me. I think that they play about 1/2 flex softer than a comparable aftermarket counterpart. Of course these companies purposely design the shafts way to cater to the Japanese market which consist of mostly older Asian men with slower swing speeds. If you do go the JDM route for driver, I would recommend getting an aftermarket shaft, unless the stock shaft works for you.