The Cobra Radspeed range offers three excellent drivers that are designed to deliver speed and forgiveness. The regular Radspeed is the fastest driver in the range, the Radspeed XB offers a high launching option, and the XD helps offer a draw-biased ball flight. On the whole, these are all awesome drivers that allow you to hit a long ball with plenty of forgiveness.
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Cobra Radspeed background
Before Cobra released their latest set of drivers, the word “rad” all but died off. Originally 80’s slang used to refer to something cool, with the latest driver release Cobra put their unique spin on the word rad; “radial weighting for radical speed”.
I don’t know about you, but speed is something I’d definitely like to add to my game.
Whether you’re a top-level golfer or just a weekend hacker, the ability to create more speed means the potential to deliver more distance.
Even for an average golfer speed can shave strokes off your scorecard. Longer drives off the tee mean shorter yardages into greens which directly correlates with the accuracy of your approach shots.
So is the Radspeed driver the secret weapon you need to unlock a few extra yards?
Cobra Radspeed drivers review
Cobra drivers are producing some of the longest drives on tour, the caveat of course is that Bryson Dechambeau has the muscle mass that most of us don’t. That said, he’s a man of science and if Cobra drivers weren’t the right tool for the job they wouldn’t be in his bag. So what did the tours king of driving distance have to say on the Radspeed Driver?
“The new Radspeed driver has enabled me to take my driving distance and accuracy to a new level. The performance afforded by rad weighting delivers lower cg for better spin control at high speeds while still providing stability on off-center hits.”
He clearly has faith in the new Radspeed drivers, but should you? Let’s take a look at the three new Cobra drivers available in the Radspeed range in a bit more depth.
Starting off with the lowest spinning driver in the range, the Radspeed driver has a 460cc head which looks awesome at address. With 28 grams of forward “Radial weighting”, this driver can deliver low spin and high ball speeds. The 8-gram weight in the back of the sole helps provide forgiveness for off-center strikes. Adjustable weighting allows you to tweak your setup to provide optimal performance.
This driver offers the lowest launch from the Radspeed range. It’s also got the smallest head profile which translates to faster speeds and is the most workable out of all three drivers. If you’re looking for a driver with a streamlined head profile that offers great shaping capabilities, the Radspeed driver is exactly what you are looking for.
The Radspeed XB stands for XTREME back, with an oversized head (still 460cc) and weight heavily biased towards the back. This driver is designed to produce long, forgiving drives while still offering low spin numbers.
At address this driver offers extra confidence compared to the stock Radspeed driver, thanks to its larger head profile. 20 grams of weight towards the back helps give this driver excellent forgiveness and if you’re looking for something to give you a higher ball flight you’ll be glad to hear this driver is designed to be high launching.
It’s a great driver for players who struggle with hitting the ball high or have issues with high spin numbers. If you want a driver that offers plenty of forgiveness and allows you to hit bombs, I’d highly recommend trying out the new Cobra Radspeed XB driver.
The Radspeed XD driver also features an oversized head profile at 460cc, the XD stands for XTREME draw. This is a driver designed to help those of you suffering from the dreaded slice. To help combat a slice the driver has heel biased internal waiting which helps you to deliver the straightest possible ball flight.
In terms of launch, this driver favors a mid to high trajectory. Furthermore, the draw bias means that for many slicers you’ll see more consistent drives that find the fairway and spend less time in the thick stuff.
Overall it’s a great driver for anybody looking for a forgiving driver and wanting to move away from a cut or a slice shot shape.
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- Who should use the Radspeed driver?
With several options available for the Radspeed drivers, I think it’s important to clarify which types of golfers are best suited to each model.
Mid-high handicap golfers
If you’re in the mid to high handicap range, you’re probably going to need a driver that offers you forgiveness as well as speed. That’s why I’d recommend the Radspeed XB and Radspeed XD drivers to players in the mid-high handicap category. You’ll definitely benefit from the larger head profile, which offers a ton of help with off-center strikes. The larger head also instills confidence when standing over those nerve-racking tee shots that you’re desperate to hit solid. Whether you go for the XB or XD driver will ultimately depend on your desired ball flight. If you suffer from a slice and want to start drawing the ball the XD would be a good choice. Alternatively, if you’re just looking for some extra launch I’d recommend the XB option.Low handicap golfers
If you’re a low handicap golfer you probably care less about having a large head profile and are more concerned with optimizing your performance. The regular Radspeed driver does just that nicely, with moveable weights that allow you to tweak and alter your setup in order to achieve maximum efficiency. If you’re a low handicapper obsessed with getting the best ball speed, reducing spin and shaping the ball, the standard Radspeed model is best suited to you.Radspeed drivers technology
Whenever a new driver gets released, the benefits to your game as a result of the technology are always a major selling point. Let’s take a look at some of the technology used in the new range of Radspeed drivers.
Cobra Connect technology
As someone who loves maximizing their efficiency with the power of technology, the Arccos Golf A.I system is a major selling point for me. You get automated tracking for each of your shots, a built-in caddie rangefinder, club averages, and much more. This technology allows you to get an in-depth assessment of your game with ease. This allows you to make smarter decisions, speed up your improvement, and ultimately lower your scores.Radial weighting
Cobra has managed to produce faster ball speeds while maintaining a forgiving face by increasing the distance between the front and back weights. Radial weighting refers to their strategic weight placement in order to optimize forgiveness, speed, and ball flight. The Radspeed driver has 28g of weight positioned as far forward as possible which helps deliver very low spin as well as the highest possible ball speed. 12g of the 28g is adjustable. The back of the driver has an additional 10 grams added (2 grams are adjustable) allowing players to tweak and optimize ball flights to their liking. Improvements to the club’s structure allow weight to be saved, such as the T-Bar Speed Chassis which saves 7 grams. Such savings allow the weight to be redirected elsewhere to further promote high ball speeds, less spin, and more overall forgiveness. I really like the idea of combining set weighting with adjustable weight placement. I feel too much adjustability can be detrimental in the wrong hands. Players shifting the entire center of gravity each time they make weight adjustments could do more damage than good. However, allowing Radspeed players to make minor tweaks to the weighting while maintaining the bulk of the initial weight placement helps make the driver foolproof.CNC Milled Infinity Face
CNC milling is something that’s often used on putters. The infinity-edge face design helps expand the milled surface by around 95%, which helps to increase the area of the face that produces maximum ball speeds. This technology was first introduced in the Coba King F8, and after seeing it on the Radspeed I think it has to be one of the coolest looking driver faces out there. What’s not to love about an enlarged sweet spot with beautiful milling that looks like it belongs on a sports car?Thin-ply carbon wrap crown
Another stand-out feature of the Radspeed drivers has got to be the beautiful-looking crown. Its light design consists of material that’s 30% lighter which allows another 6 grams of weight to be redistributed in order to create optimal performance. Not only does the crown aid how the club performs, you’ll absolutely love how this thing looks at address. This is something that I believe many golfers overlook, you need to look down at your club when you’re standing over a tee shot and feel confident. Even on the larger head profiles the crown just screams speed.How much is the Cobra Rad driver?
Golf isn’t exactly a cheap sport and the price of new drivers seems to be getting more and more expensive. Like anything, price plays a huge factor in your purchase decision and I’m not saying that the Radspeed is by any means cheap. However, it is worth noting that Cobra’s pricing for their premium driver works out at around $50 less when compared to what their competitors are charging for new drivers. Personally, I think Cobra has hit a great price point with the Radspeed. You’re getting your hands on the latest and greatest technology at a more competitive price than some of golfs other big names are offering.Looks
The previous releases of the F9 and Speedzone drivers were available in black/white and black/yellow colors, this isn’t a theme that’s been carried into the Radspeed lineup. This year’s release offers a turbo yellow/black option which reminds me of some of the older Nike releases (in a good way). The other option is Matte Peacoat Arsenal Red which looks awesome too. It’s worth noting that the black finish varies by model and if you get the standard Radspeed driver, it’s matte black, whereas the Rad XB and Rad XD have a gloss black finish.Performance
In terms of performance, I found that the regular Radspeed head offered the most overall distance. However, this was only by two yards when compared to the other drivers. You might be wondering whether this year’s Radspeed is a step up compared to the previous Cobra drivers. I found that the Radspeed driver outperformed the Cobra King Speedzone and the Cobra King F9 drivers too by about 5 yards in total distance. As expected, I found the XB and XD drivers to offer a little more forgiveness when compared to the regular Radspeed driver which still offered plenty considering its smaller head profile. The performance of the Radspeed drivers is solid, and as expected they’re competing with the numbers that are offered by drivers from the other big manufacturers.Shafts
Shafts are often an afterthought for many golfers, but they play a huge part in how the club feels when you swing it. Let’s take a look at some of the stock shafts available in the Cobra Radspeed drivers.Project X EvenFlow Riptide Blue
A high launching shaft designed to produce mid-spin.Fujikura Motore F3
A mid launching shaft that is designed to produce mid-spin.Project X HZRDUS RDX Smoke
A mid launching shaft that provides low levels of spin.Fujikura Motore F1
The is the lowest launching and lowest spinning shaft.Radspeed Driver review conclusion
If you’re wondering whether the Radspeed driver lives up to its name, I’d say it definitely does.
Cobra has managed to produce some great drivers over the past few years and the Radspeed range is a great addition to their collection of drivers. The Cobra Radspeed drivers are a great option for those golfers looking for low spin, and high ball speeds.
If you’re hoping to improve your swing speed and achieve greater distance the Radspeed is a great option to consider to help you achieve this.
