My Diablo Octane Tour Review

[golfin2]

I got my Diablo octane tour a few weeks ago and I've played a few rounds with it and I wanted to post a review. The club is a 10.5 degree tour version with the regular flex standard shaft.

 

My previous club was the ft-IZ tour at 9.5 degrees with a stiff shaft, so a lot of this is a comparison to that. I haven't tried a million other drives like a lot of you :)

 

My review is based on playing at my home course that I've played for 10 years so I've got an excellent feel for where I am usually at.

 

Distance - There's not any other way to put it than the octane is longer than my ft IZ by a significant amount. For me callaway's claim of 8 more yards is easily captured with this club. I've had multiple holes that have been record longs for me by AT LEAST 10-15 yards. Every other drive has been equal to my longest previous hits with much more ease. For me this is huge - instead of being 155 away I've been 140 for example, this is making a huge difference for me. The extra distance is probably a combination of things. The extra length certainly helps (.5 inches more than my ft iz) but there's no way that is entirely accounting for the distance gains I'm seeing. I would also put 3 more factors in play - one being the lighter head. Sometimes I barely feel like I hit the ball - the club is just so smooth hitting it that I barely notice the impact. Next would be the ball flight, I'm hitting it MUCH higher now with the octane. Also the shaft may be a factor, I believe a regular flex shaft is a much better fit for me than the stiff was. Third is the better launch angle I'm getting.

 

Accuracy - I've been insanely straight with this club. I hit 11/14 fairways in regulation last time. 2 were barely off into the fringe rough and one was a bad swing where I just pulled it. The rest were dead center. I wasn't coming close to this accuracy with the FT IZ. (I blame the stiff shaft for a lot of this) The octane though seems to really want to go straight, if you aren't straight it's definitely user error with this thing.

 

Looks - Tour head is sweet. I didn't like the look of the graphics of the non tour head. Solid standard black, perfect for me.

 

Shaft - I like the standard shafts with this club. They seem just fine to me. I'm not much of a shaft swapper though.

 

To me this club is just classic callaway and really nice. Would like to hear what other people think about this club.

[eppey]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad you clarified where your distance gains came from. As I was reading I was thinking that the driver you were hitting before had a different degree loft, different flex and length shaft.

[tinman]

Can i ask what you ss is/approx?What made you go from a stiff to a reg flex?I've been looking at those drivers too,but i haven't seen a tour model yet.How's the ballflight w/the reg. flex?Sorry for all of the questions,but that driver has me curious-Thanks.

[Jocephus1]

I hit one on the launch monitor yesterday in ATL and my numbers were better than my Supertri and the 910D2 I tried. I think Calloway has a winner with this composite forged stuff

[golfin2]

[quote name='tinman' timestamp='1292813964' post='2849179']
Can i ask what you ss is/approx?What made you go from a stiff to a reg flex?I've been looking at those drivers too,but i haven't seen a tour model yet.How's the ballflight w/the reg. flex?Sorry for all of the questions,but that driver has me curious-Thanks.
[/quote]

Unfortunately I'm not sure what exactly my SS is. It's borderline between regular/stiff but tends towards the regular side for drivers. I went back to the regular because I was dealing with a lot of snap hooks with such a stiff shaft. Those have completely disappeared. The ball flight is very high, at least for me and with this shaft and loft. It's higher than anything I've seen before. It seems to be helping me. I've heard people say that most people would be better off with a more flexible shaft and a higher lofted driver, this seems to be true for me.

[longbal30]

Uhhh, a stiffer shaft should produce a shot that finishes more right of the target, not left, and certainly not a snap hook, which generally is caused by a major flip at impact.

[bigbullym]

I'm sure the extra loft is responsible for much of the extra distance. I hit the octane tour and ftiz back to back into the monitor and both 10.5 stiff and results were almost identical distance wise. The ft-iz spun a hair more. My ss was between 100-105 in this session. Not knocking the octane tour because it feels great, looks great and performs well.

[TourSpoon]

The club is hot for sure...I have hit some bombs with my 9.5 Tour Stiff...ss @ 103-105. Just huge.

[craz-e]

Got to hit it quickly Saturday but with some tape on as it was the shops and not a demo. Even with the tape on I hit some very nice shots that are gonna make me want to hit them when the demo clubs arrive. This could easily be my driver for next year.

[herkyjerk]

I think I will have to wait on the extra 8 yard claim (which I think is nonsense really, and that's coming from a Cally guy). ALL drivers are at their scientific limits, so any extra distance would really have to come from a longer shaft I think. I will have to wait for warmer weather to really pound a few and make distance claims, no can do in winter. But it feels great, sounds great, and I love the looks. BTW I replaced a Cally Diablo Edge Tour which was great, nothing wrong with it at all. I'm just a whore with Christmas money.

[TourSpoon]

[quote name='herkyjerk' timestamp='1292876933' post='2850252']
I think I will have to wait on the extra 8 yard claim (which I think is nonsense really, and that's coming from a Cally guy). ALL drivers are at their scientific limits, so any extra distance would really have to come from a longer shaft I think. I will have to wait for warmer weather to really pound a few and make distance claims, no can do in winter. But it feels great, sounds great, and I love the looks. BTW I replaced a Cally Diablo Edge Tour which was great, nothing wrong with it at all. I'm just a whore with Christmas money.
[/quote]

I think the real difference is the shaft in this one...high, penetrating, and long...the ball just goes.

[Qegurezi]

What's the spin like gents?

[TourSpoon]

[quote name='Qegurezi' timestamp='1292935787' post='2851479']
What's the spin like gents?
[/quote]

I don't remember the numbers...but I had to get used to a slightly higher ball flight that I thought would start to balloon, but never did. The ball gets up and keeps going.

[puttitin]

[size="3"]Has anyone compared the DET and the Octane on a real side by side test.I mean same loft and same shaft? I'd not be surprised if the results would be identical. Personally I beleive that as the Diablo Edge products weren't too succesfull,Callaway just renamed these to Octane.[/size]

[haydos]

The Edge and the Octane are completely different technologies, nothing alike if what Callaway are saying is the truth.

[summerof]

I played a couple of rounds with the new Octane driver (9.5 standard stiff shaft), playing up against my FT Tour (9.5 stiff voodoo). My ss is between 105-110.
I had high expectations about the Octane but was completely disappointed. The FT Tour killed it distance wise. The stock shaft is average, as the ball spun too much and ballooned. THe Octane also wasnt any more forgiving - I hit my 3 wood (DET 13 deg with voodoo) past it a couple of times.
Would not be recommending this driver, particularly with the stock shaft.

[Will_Mac]

Amazing how a club can play so differently from one player to the next. My SS is also in the 110mph range and the 9.5 Octane Tour with the stock stiff PX shaft is an absolute cannon for me.

I've only hit the range with it so I can't really comment on overall distance (too much snow here in NY). But I seem to hit a flatter trajectory than what others have reported even though I usually hit a high ball with driver.

Great feel, love the look at address, the sole I could live without but that's a non-factor. I prefer drivers w/o alignment aids so I find this one very pleasing to the eye, love the shape.

I compared it to my Cobra S2 w/stiff Blueboard 73, neutral setting. The Cobra definitely launched it higher but they both carried the same distance. With the flatter trajectory of the Octane Tour, I'd expect greater overall distance with more roll-out. The Cobra feels very good in its own right, love the snap to the shaft, but it doesn't feel as smooth as the Cally. My typical flight with the Cobra is straight to draw, with the Cally it's straight to fade. Perhaps that's more to do with face-angle than anything else.

I have to get this thing on the course to evaluate it properly but I can say that so far I'm extremely impressed. Not denying they've consistently made quality stuff but it's the first Cally head that's suited me in a long, long time.

[32_blade]

[quote name='longbal30' timestamp='1292818086' post='2849273']
Uhhh, a stiffer shaft should produce a shot that finishes more right of the target, not left, and certainly not a snap hook, which generally is caused by a major flip at impact.
[/quote]

+1. Strong right hand grip flipping it at impact.

Almost all my playing buddies never ever take any notice of their grip and wonder why they sometimes snap hook from one tee and slice from the next.

[moonshine]

[quote name='summerof' timestamp='1294196087' post='2875646']
I played a couple of rounds with the new Octane driver (9.5 standard stiff shaft), playing up against my FT Tour (9.5 stiff voodoo). My ss is between 105-110.
I had high expectations about the Octane but was completely disappointed. The FT Tour killed it distance wise. The stock shaft is average, as the ball spun too much and ballooned. THe Octane also wasnt any more forgiving - I hit my 3 wood (DET 13 deg with voodoo) past it a couple of times.
Would not be recommending this driver, particularly with the stock shaft.
[/quote]
This is certainly not the norm, so everyone should not go by this statement at all.

[reg1900]

Tried this driver on a launch monitor last week, I have a Ping Rapture V2, 10.5 with a V2 stiff at 44.5in. The numbers from my driver were exactly, yes, exactly the same, distance, launch and spin, (280 yards, 11-13 launch, 2100-2700 spin) as a Tour Octane 9.5, Project X stiff at 45.5in. Accuracy was the same.

It was a nice driver to hit, but for a driver to be 1in shorter, 1deg less loft and 3yrs more recent than the Rapture V2 and produce the same distance I don't think is that great, or it shows how awesome the V2 is.

Further proof drivers have maxed out and it's all marketing BS.

The Tour Octane 3w was a pretty good club, was only 5-10y shorter than the driver. Which is pretty useless when your driver and 3w go the same distance.

Those asking about spin, I guess when a 9.5 can have same launch and spin numbers as a 10.5 you'd have to say it has a high launch and high spin.

[tbonetw]

I think those that haven't hit this club outside and are comparing in a launch monitor should refrain from judgement and don't just write it off. I hit a 905R within a few yards of all the modern drivers on a launch monitor. But outside I hit the Octane Tour 20 yards farther minimum. I found the Octane Tour to be mid-launch low spin. My SS is 105-107 and I was getting ball speeds in the high 150s and spin rates around 2500 on a launch monitor. Outside the ball simply stays in the air longer and hits the ground hot. That is on a grass driving range. I can't wait to get out to the course with it.

I've never been a Callaway guy, but I somehow have a set of Callaway irons and a Callaway driver in the bag. Go figure. It's good stuff.

[herkyjerk]

Yes feel is very subjective. I love players that take 4 cuts with it indoors, into a net, not warmed up, no ball flight, 4 different rock balls, and then determine that a club is poor based on that. I have seen many R11 posts with the same tone, it's gettng ridiculous. It's like looking up in the air, seeing a plane, and concluding that Delta sucks. Huh? So much of the club feel (woods) comes from the shaft IMO, and a properly fitted driver should feel great, then come the looks. I love Cally and hit the FT Tour when it came out, wanted to love it. Tried a 9.5* with the stock Voodoo at a demo day. It felt like a can of corn on a stick to me yet many players love it. Anytime I see somebody's opinion on feel I ignore it, too subjective. Sound, forgiveness, workability, durability, looks, features, I'm all ears. Feel is too individual.

[jmoore22]

Ok..... if the OP had the FT-IZ Tour with the same loft and shaft flex and same shaft the review would have been more informative instead I have learned not a thing, I have the FT-IZ tour 9.5 Stiff flex voodoo and was hopeing the op had an apples to apples review between the two....