Cobra L4V driver & TaylorMade R7 CGB Max

[MTK]

I just got done trying out a couple of new drivers, and figured I'd give a little of my opinion of both.

First, I'll go with the Cobra L4V F Speed. The one I got is a 10 degree with the Diamana Red Board 57 gram, stiff flex shaft.

Pros:

First hit off the tee went right down the pipe and carried a good 265+ and with the roll was just over 300 yds, not too shabby and right around my normal driving distance. The difference was, it was right down the pipe.

I played 18 holes with it on Monday, and I shaped shots with ease, and hit all but one fairway, and I just drove through the bend on the dogleg, but it was still very playable. I hit a couple of balls on each hole, and tried different shots, different trajectories etc... and the result was the same, shots I've always wanted to hit. Then I played 18 more on Tuesday just to make sure I wasn't having a really good day, same results....

I would've thought that with the huge sweet-spot on this thing, and the way it seemingly corrects shots for you that it would've been difficult to shape shots, but I didn't have any problem.

I've never liked the Diamana shafts as even the X flex ones seemed too loose for me, but this one is ok. I was going to pull it and put an Ozik X-Con 7 (X flex) in, but I'll keep this one in, it just hits too well.

The head is one of the coolest that I've ever seen. It's mostly comprised of carbon fiber (which is visible), and it has one of the most attractive address looks that I've seen. It also has red tint accents on the sole by towards the sides.

Cons:

It's loud, I mean very, very loud. I'd liken it to a high pitched lightning strike when you're too close for comfort. It hurts the ears a bit, but it lets you know when you've got a solid hit. I'll probably have a few grams of hotmelt added to deaden the sound a bit.

It does have a tendency to balloon a shot from time to time. If you over swing, you probably will get the balloon.

The head cover, while nice, is huge, I mean freaking huge.... Saving grace is that it's magnetic and easy to remove and replace. It also looks much better than the old covers, they finally got the aesthetics right.

The grip, as usual, they use the Golf Pride Tour Velvet. For me, that is just too slick, so it will go, and soon.




I also tried the TaylorMade R7 CGB Max 9.5 degree driver. I did have the stock shaft pulled, that thing was just too lite and flimsy, so it had to go. I replaced it with a Ozik X Con 7 stiff flex.

I'll start off by saying, I'm a huge TM fan and I've always loved their drivers (for the most part) and have owned about 20 different ones. However, I'm very disappointed in this one.

Pros:

It's a good looking driver with the redish crown and the gunmetal sole. It's got a good balance and decent sweet spot.

The head cover is slick. Very nice overall package, and the weight set/clamshell case is very cool as well. It comes with a 16 gram weight and (2) one gram weights.

I do like the 3 movable weights in lieu of 4 as it simplifies the weight configuration.

The distance on solid hits is good, much like the Burner and Burner TP. You're probably not going to hit it miles and miles, but the distance is consistent.

Cons:

It just under-performs. It's lifeless unless you add enough weight to get some real push behind your swing. I added a 22 gram Tungsten weight in the center port and (2) 2 gram weights, and finally got some pop out of the driver, but it still was way behind my R7 425 HT.

Shaping a shot is near impossible unless you want to hook the ball. The face is closed 1 degree, but it seems like much more than that.

The triangular shape is just plain funky on address. The look at address was more distracting than it was confidence bolstering.

Even if I shifted the weight to the toe, it still wouldn't fade the ball, but it would finally hit straight.

I tried this driver on the range, and over 36 holes, and it just wasn't working, at least for me....

Overall, the Cobra is going into the bag, and will stay there, the TM is out the door, and I'll just keep my R7 425 HT for a backup.

[bames]

Nice review, thanks for the post. I wondered about the Cobras, interesting to hear.

[MTK]

Yep, I've played a couple more rounds with it, and I still am having a love fest here. I've hit one "bad drive" in 4 rounds (not all the shots were ideal, but only one was terrible).

You kind of get used to the sound of it, but barely.........


MT