Tour Cobra Dark Speed driver - 2023 RSM Classic

[getitdaily]

4 minutes ago, cw1209 said:

The YouTube reviews so far have been predictable.

 

Of course Shiels would gloat about calling for three weights on the LS model, but never actually hit it with the heavy weight in the back. He just likes the option. 

 

Finch will say he loves the Cobra brand, then proceed to tell you the driver sucks because it's not Taylormade or Ping. 

 

Crossfield will tell you every driver is good...why not get the cheapest one. 

Txg will test with weights forward and back but they'll hit 15 drives and keep/show 4 so we have no idea how the driver performs on bad strikes. 

[BirdieBob]

 

[coreyhr]

Finch stealing James Robinson's bread and butter "Huge Problem" tag. These guys must all attend the same influencer marketing seminars. 

[NNJ]

Interesting that the shape of the 8 degree LS is different than the other two. I don’t think I need an 8 degree but now I want one lol

 

Does anyone have a picture of the 8 next to the 9?

 

edit found this on golf.com

Apparently it’s more fade biased 

Edited January 11 by NNJ

[Trippels]

12 minutes ago, coreyhr said:

Finch stealing James Robinson's bread and butter "Huge Problem" tag. These guys must all attend the same influencer marketing seminars. 

Might share the same editor, at least the same editor guidelines. They're not doing these things because they want to, it's what works for getting views and engagement.

[Glock917]

Like how they have an option to install jumbomax grips. That is a first from any OEM.

 

Solid Stock shaft in the UST m40x as well. A shaft that TM charges $150 for and all their ventus addons being $250 instead of $350. 

 

Good work cobra 👍

[coreyhr]

11 minutes ago, Trippels said:

Might share the same editor, at least the same editor guidelines. They're not doing these things because they want to, it's what works for getting views and engagement.

It was a joke. But thank you, Peter. 

[bbspeer]

Does anyone know if they’re doing a tour length version? I don’t see it on @COBRA PUMA GOLF website. 

[snagy2000]

4 hours ago, MattM97 said:

I've yet to watch a video on these but I will. I was talking to a fitter at a private club who had these and said the ball speed on them is just insane, definitely a driver and wood everyone should look at.

 

I'm definitely going to, will see if I go back to back Cobra drivers. 

I went back mid last year and have played lights out for half a year with the Aerojet LS... It's going to be hard for them to beat it this year, but I will let them try...

Edited January 11 by snagy2000

[MattM97]

14 minutes ago, snagy2000 said:

I went back Play mid last year and have played lights out for half a year with the Aerojet LS... It's going to be hard for them to beat it this year, but I will let them try...

 

1 generation will be definitely hard to beat unless you had/have a really bad setup for you or something drastic changes. 

 

I'm at a 2 generation difference and even then I think the head will be a hard to beat but shaft is a different story. 

[ZAP]

2 hours ago, bbspeer said:

Does anyone know if they’re doing a tour length version? I don’t see it on @COBRA PUMA GOLF website. 

That is actually a great question.  I always order the tour length and didn't really think about it.  Maybe after the pre-order is over.

[snagy2000]

1 hour ago, ZAP said:

That is actually a great question.  I always order the tour length and didn't really think about it.  Maybe after the pre-order is over.

Be careful with Tour length, they count the Arccos sensor in their measurement and if you don't use it you'll end up 1/2" short. Happened to me last year! 

[BirdieBob]

 

[RH82]

Really curious about the X model compared to the LS w/ the heavy weight back.

Edited January 11 by RH82

[snagy2000]

48 minutes ago, BirdieBob said:

 

Went to PGASS today and hit the LS. With the heavy weight in the back I was getting faster ball speed, more control,  longer carry and total distance then with heavy weight in front heel position. Spin number were about 200 rpm higher with heavy in back. No problems either turning either positioned weights over into nice baby draws. Since they're available to purchase in store, next time I go, I'm going to bring my gamer Aerojet LS & shaft with me to compare. 

[WillieGnarls]

Feels like cobra is bringing the least innovation to their drivers this year.. Callaway and their AI face with the hotspots, TM and ping with the 10k moi face-off. I guess it’s just marketing.. but it just feels like the other brands is pushing more forgiveness and cobra is pushing.. aerodynamics and speed?
 

What cobra is winning is in the design race tho.. I want to stick a ventus into that LS head so bad and the design it self makes me crave it.. but then I begin to think about all the lost balls from last season. I need to get fit and I need something really forgiving lol.

Edited January 11 by WillieGnarls

[boggyman]

3 hours ago, snagy2000 said:

Be careful with Tour length, they count the Arccos sensor in their measurement and if you don't use it you'll end up 1/2" short. Happened to me last year! 

Good info. In the irons it says the sensor adds or subtracts only a 1/4 inch.

[eddiebigeddie]

1 hour ago, boggyman said:

Good info. In the irons it says the sensor adds or subtracts only a 1/4 inch.

Cobra doesn’t do the Arrcos grips as standard anymore…so the length you see is with standard grips. 

[snagy2000]

46 minutes ago, eddiebigeddie said:

Cobra doesn’t do the Arrcos grips as standard anymore…so the length you see is with standard grips. 

They do sensors on top of grips which they measure as part of club length. At least they did last year when I purchased my AJ LS. They still have sensors on their website and the sensors measure 1/2".

[eddiebigeddie]

Yes…I’m just saying the length shown on website is with stock grips and not the sensors added. They changed last year to “standard” measurement vs “arrcos” measurement like they did the previous few years. So ex. the new drivers says 45.5” length…that’s with a stock grip. 

Edited January 12 by eddiebigeddie
Spelling

[STank724]

Darkspeed vs Qi10 fitting today at an outdoor range in Seattle on Trackman.

 

Disclaimers:

- I fade the ball off the tee

- It was 35° smh

- Balls were "premium" Titleist range balls, whatever that means, but pretty tattered.

- Highest smash I could get was 1.44 despite absolutely nutting many shots out the middle of the face. I was on a Trackman last week and consistently at 1.48 with Prov1/X so take ball speed with a grain of salt

- No 9° in the Darkspeed LS

 

My takeaways:

Darkspeed LS - looked the best to me from address. Pretty much nailed the launch and spin I was looking for. Misses weren't off the planet. Didn't have a chance to tinker with weights or any other loft setting, but I'd probably only take the loft down one notch instead of two. I started off a couple high heel strikes that still got some decent ball speed. 

Darkspeed X - looked clunkier to me and I had to be more intentional about squaring the face. Front to back dispersion was like 5 yards. 

Qi10 LS - looked more pear shaped, which doesn't fit my eye. The 10.5 head was consistent dispersion wise, but the land angle was pretty steep. I moved on to the 9° head and just could not get on with it unfortunately.

 

Final data with 6-8 shot averages. Removed a couple outliers from all sets. This is the same order I hit the clubs - Qi10 9° was tested last, but removed because it was a disaster.

 

 

Edited January 12 by STank724

[cw1209]

56 minutes ago, STank724 said:

Darkspeed vs Qi10 fitting today at an outdoor range in Seattle on Trackman.

 

Disclaimers:

- I fade the ball off the tee

- It was 35° smh

- Balls were "premium" Titleist range balls, whatever that means, but pretty tattered.

- Highest smash I could get was 1.44 despite absolutely nutting many shots out the middle of the face. I was on a Trackman last week and consistently at 1.48 with Prov1/X so take ball speed with a grain of salt

- No 9° in the Darkspeed LS

 

My takeaways:

Darkspeed LS - looked the best to me from address. Pretty much nailed the launch and spin I was looking for. Misses weren't off the planet. Didn't have a chance to tinker with weights or any other loft setting, but I'd probably only take the loft down one notch instead of two. I started off a couple high heel strikes that still got some decent ball speed. 

Darkspeed X - looked clunkier to me and I had to be more intentional about squaring the face. Front to back dispersion was like 5 yards. 

Qi10 LS - looked more pear shaped, which doesn't fit my eye. The 10.5 head was consistent dispersion wise, but the land angle was pretty steep. I moved on to the 9° head and just could not get on with it unfortunately.

 

Final data with 6-8 shot averages. Removed a couple outliers from all sets. This is the same order I hit the clubs - Qi10 9° was tested last, but removed because it was a disaster.

 

 

 Nice review! Definitely interesting you got that much launch and spin with the Qi10 LS. Did you use the same shaft in all three? Definitely interested in the Darkspeed reviews, but just as interested in what people think of the Lin Q shafts. Plan on picking up a white and a blue when they hit the bay for cheap. Really nice stock shaft option. 

Edited January 12 by cw1209

[STank724]

33 minutes ago, cw1209 said:

 Nice review! Definitely interesting you got that much launch and spin with the Qi10 LS. Did you use the same shaft in all three? Definitely interested in the Darkspeed reviews, but just as interested in what people think of the Lin Q shafts. Plan on picking up a white and a blue when they hit the bay for cheap. Really nice stock shaft option. 

I was surprised myself to look up and see the launch and height of the Qi10. 

I used my gamer shaft, Diamana ZF 60x, in the Cobras and the fitter popped in a Tensei AV Blue Xlink 60x for the TMs. I figured whichever route I went I’d end up using the ZF because I’m so familiar with it (famous last words). 

[boomboxx]

15 hours ago, WillieGnarls said:

Feels like cobra is bringing the least innovation to their drivers this year.. Callaway and their AI face with the hotspots, TM and ping with the 10k moi face-off. I guess it’s just marketing.. but it just feels like the other brands is pushing more forgiveness and cobra is pushing.. aerodynamics and speed?
 

What cobra is winning is in the design race tho.. I want to stick a ventus into that LS head so bad and the design it self makes me crave it.. but then I begin to think about all the lost balls from last season. I need to get fit and I need something really forgiving lol.

 

Cobra has an AI hotface with hotspots as well...they arent behind in innovation at all, and in fact, I would say they should be ranked towards the top with innovation considering they are getting the best ball speeds of all manufacturers.

Edited January 12 by boomboxx

[btyh]

With TXG numbers on the ls, I was curious to test but man the elongated back is worse in person. Didn't even bother. 

[BirdieBob]

50 minutes ago, btyh said:

With TXG numbers on the ls, I was curious to test but man the elongated back is worse in person. Didn't even bother. 

 

That is why you need the 8* head.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[btyh]

51 minutes ago, BirdieBob said:

 

That is why you need the 8* head.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the 8*, toe to heel must be narrowed because it's very drastic to the eye. 

[SBH9458]

I found the Darkspeed LS to look great (saw it in person today).  I prefer the matte finish, and the shape is just fine by me… and the sound is great.  But to each his own. 

Edited January 13 by SBH9458
Typo

[halfsumo]

On 1/11/2024 at 7:16 AM, NNJ said:

Interesting that the shape of the 8 degree LS is different than the other two. I don’t think I need an 8 degree but now I want one lol

 

Does anyone have a picture of the 8 next to the 9?

 

edit found this on golf.com

Apparently it’s more fade biased 

8* on the left 9* on the right

[SBH9458]

I may well end up in a 10.5° @ 10° or 9.5° this season. Liking this from Cobra, and would be a first for me.