Today is Day 3 of our 3-Day Series the “Clash Of The Adjustable Drivers!”. Today you will find out who was the LONGEST & STRAIGHTEST!
It will be broken down into two separate posts…the first will be the “Longest Adjustable Driver Award” and a little later today you will get to see who won the “Most Accurate Adjustable Driver” award.
How Distance Scores Were Calculated
Although we provide a great deal of the information calculated by the 3Trak equipped simulators at Tark’s Indoor Golf in Saratoga Springs, NY, our distance scores are based solely on the total distance numbers produced by each club on a per golfer basis.
To determine a score, we look at the distance numbers for each of the 7 drivers our testers hit. For each golfer, the driver with the highest average distance is given 100 points. Each subsequent driver is then given the percentage of points corresponding to the percentile difference between it and the longest driver. We tally the results for each club, and the clubs with the point points respectively receive our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards for distance. It actually sounds more complex than it is.
With very few exceptions we’ve found that there is very little distance from club to club, and we believe this method accurately coveys the relatively small difference in distances between today’s modern drivers.
1st Place – Cobra S2
How It Scored
From a raw distance perspective, the S2 outperformed the competition, but as you’ll see from the numbers, with today’s drivers you’re unlikely to see a runaway winner. For 3 of our testers the S2 was the absolute longest of the bunch, and it finished in the top 3 for two others. Couple the distance with what our testers tell us is outstanding sound, and feel (not to mention good looks), and it’s no wonder why the S2 was perhaps the biggest talking point of our tests.
Cobra S2 Distance Chart
2nd Place – Nike Victory Red STR8-FIT
How It Scored
For those putting a premium on distance, it’s worth pointing out that the Victory Red was on average only 3 yards shorter than the 1st place finisher. As we’ve said a couple of times already in this series, distance-wise, most of the drivers we tested are within yards of each other. If you love the VR, there’s no reason to be put off by these distance numbers.
Nike Victory Red STR8-Fit Performance Chart
3rd Place – Callaway FT-iZ
How It Scored
What some may say the FT-iZ lacks for looks it more than makes up for with pure pop. Callaway’s unconventionally shaped offering. While it didn’t post as many first place results at Cobra’s ZL, based on averages it proved to be longer for more golfers than Cobra’s composite offering, the ZL. With the right head and shaft combo (and assuming you can stomach the triangular looks), we think the FT-iZ will offer all the performance necessary to back up the love.
Callaway FT-iZ Distance Chart
Cobra ZL
How It Scored
A damn close 4th, the ZL actually produced more average carry than our 2nd place finisher. For 1/3 of our testers Cobra’s Zero Limit (ZL) driver proved to be the longest of the 7 we tested. As you can imagine, I took a lot of swings with each and every one of these clubs, and for me the ZL was the longest. I can only imagine what I might be able to do if I were custom fit.
Cobra ZL Distance Chart
TaylorMade R9 SuperTri
How It Scored
For most of our golfers, the SuperTri was on average less than 5 yards shorter than their longest driver, which I suppose is on the leading edge of meaningful distance. For one tester, Blake, the R9 SuperTri proved to be significantly shorter than anything else he tested. To some degree his lower numbers may have skewed the SuperTri’s final distance results, even if the SuperTri was at best middle of the pack for our other testers. Still, it’s hard to look past great sound, and great feel. While we’re not blown away by the SuperTri, there’s enough here to make us really curious about the newer SuperDeep.
TaylorMade R9 SuperTri Distance Chart
Callaway FT-9
How it Scored
We came into this review fully expecting the Callaway FT-9 would prove to be the longest of the lot. While not completely shocked, we are admittedly a bit surprised that the numbers simply don’t bare that out. Never more than a few yards off the pace, the FT-9 quite simply wasn’t the longest driver for any of our testers (although you may remember from our previous post that many of our golfers absolutely love the FT-9). For distance, it’s 6th place finish was within points of everything but the S2. In fact, under our scoring system, the difference gap between the driver that finished 3rd and the driver that finished 6th, is less than 3/10 of one percent. This is yet another case where custom fitting will likely make all the difference.
Callaway FT-9 Performance Chart
Nike Machspeed STR8-Fit
How It Scored
As we discussed in our last post, not all of our testers were fans of the SQ Machspeed’s square looks. Testers also commented that driver lacked feel, making it difficult to discern the mishits from the solidly struck balls. Our tests show that in general Machspeed produce the largest discrepancies between the longest and shortest drives we counted. It also produced the highest spin rates, and the highest average launch angle. Overall, the Machspeed was the shortest driver we tested; measurably and meaningfully so.
Nike Machspeed STR8-Fit Performance Chart
RELATED ARTICLES:
– “Clash Of The Adjustable Drivers!” – MOST ACCURATE DRIVER AWARDS! – Day 4
– “Clash Of The Adjustable Drivers!” – USER’S CHOICE AWARDS! – Day 2
Bill
13 years ago
Distance from all these clubs appear to be great. All are good candidates for everyday play.
Comes down to a shaft/ clubhead combo that works for you. Picked up a Cobra ZL recently and hit the longest drives of my life. Accuracy isn’t as consistent as others I’ve had, but when locked in..Wow.