On my desk i've got two cobra f9 drivers [Music] so i've caught your attention right good because you need to listen to this on this desk i've got one of the drivers which is a cobra f9 that i received back in 2019 that i reviewed in fact i even put it in the bag. And also on this desk is a brand new cobra f9 s driver which i have bought brand new recently now let me tell you the story a couple of weeks ago it was brought to my attention that there was a new cobra f9 driver available to buy right now in a rapper brand new it's like what this is a driver back in 2019 surely this can't be quite right now simon smith sas golf if you've not checked them out on youtube dude i'll put a link down below kind of did a little bit of digging a bit of investigating. And he found out that yes there is a brand new f9 s driver available. But it's a bit different to the original f9 i also have a lot of comments from my podcast group of very eagle-eyed fans who had also spotted that there's a new f9 driver out but again it's a little bit different to the original one back in 2019 so you know me i love to buy golf equipment i love to give it a test to tell you guys the honest truth so i went down to my local golf shop which is the clubhouse golf. And i went in the store lo and behold on the shelf on the rack still in a wrapper was what looked like a cobra f9. So i was intrigued i picked it up off the shelf started looking at the bottom of it. And for me this looks exactly like a cobra f9 until it started to look a little bit closer now the big standout feature on this s model is the face isn't what we saw on the original f9 if you remember there was a big story back in 2019 about the cnc milled face. And to be honest i remember back then.
It being a huge story for cobra and to honestly it worked that driver back then.
Was phenomenal. So good they've continued with that cnc milling even into the latest model of the cobra drivers right now that you can buy. So they must think it's a good thing right well this s model doesn't have cnc middle face it has what looks like a normal titanium face. So next.
Thing i noticed was the shaft it comes in a stock ust helium shaft. And that's the only option you can actually get with this s model the other thing i noticed. And again rewind time a little minute to 2019 the big story about our costs our cost is our cost out in the grip end of the club the way you'd be able to track your performance out on the golf course get really good data to help you improve well the s model doesn't have that oh no it is a standard lampkin grip. So side by side these two drivers look identical by the face the shaft and the grip now i thought well let's go and ask what does this model s kind of mean because sometimes when we see in other industries let's say iphone when iphone comes out next.
Year they might bring out an s version. And often the s version has a few extra features that the original did not have. So it got me thinking does this s maybe even feature more things that i've not noticed. Yet well no it doesn't the guys told me it's an smu which stands. For special makeup and often manufacturers work with let's say a retail shop and they'll create an exclusive driver just for that particular retail store in other industries you see in trainers sneaker industries or even clothing and apparel and we have seen this in golf before i remember a few years ago callaway bringing out an x hot driver which was much lower price than the original x x-heart. But it was noticeably different it looked different the material they were using was different. But on these f9s that's not what i'm seeing they look absolutely identical bar on the sticker of the s on the shaft it does actually say kobe f9s the f9s also did come with a head cover. But it does look different to the original f9 i think the main reason. For that is actually the f9 head cover does feature at the top this kind of cnc milled face almost design. So considering the f9s doesn't have the cnc milled face they couldn't use the same head cover obviously but nowhere on the head is there an s nowhere does it say f9s it's not as if it's a different colorway everything else is the same bar those things are highlighted earlier now the price was interesting as well if you remember back in 2019 the original f9 i think it did. So unbelievably well because of the price it was being sold. For 350 pounds and stacked up against the taylormade or a color etc about 100 at least 100 pounds cheaper so the f9s brand new on the shelf was 249 pounds to buy. But it did sound sticker that was reduced from 379 pounds to be honest i don't think even the original was priced at 379 pounds i'm not sure why that was on there. So 250 pounds for what looks like an original f 9 driver so my big concern is if a customer goes into the shop. And sees one of these f9s drivers fully thinking it is the original f9 with the cnc milled face with a really fancy shaft with archos in the grip are they going to be let down on the performance well let's be honest there's only one way we can find out. So first up is the original f9 with the cnc milled face with the shaft i used in it a hazardous smoke shaft with the grip with archos which i'm going to use this shaft in the f9s head as well. And match up the loft exactly so this is as fair a comparison as we can possibly make i'm going to hit pro v1s on gc quad let's see what the old dog can do i love this driver i really did now. For me i'd typically look at average carrying 280 yards 160 ball speed and around about 110 miles per hour club had speed let's hit this first before we then.
Move into 9 s that was one of my better ones then.
That was 283 carry 111 miles per hour clubhead speed 158 ball speed 1900 spin feels good the old dog feels good [Music]. And it is why this driver was. So unbelievably popular great performance good looking certainly behind the golf ball and the price was really good reasonable 350 pounds brand new yeah no wonder i said this was the driver to beat in 2019 okay up next.
Though f9s 10.5 head one. And a half degrees less loft my math serves me correctly it's nine degrees weights are in the same 14s at the back two's up at the front you know what before hitting this i'm intrigued this could go one of two ways number one if it doesn't perform as good as f9 it's a little bit naughty because it looks like an f9 to the naked eye. But it's missing technology that could be one outcome the other outcome is it could perform just as good as f9 now. For a lot of people who bought this driver they'll be relieved but then.
That doesn't look great on cobra in the fact that they invested all this time energy effort in the cnc milled face when really just a regular face might just do the same job okay. So with this shaft and grip now this literally feels the same it looks exactly the same but the little bit of face you can see that's the only difference obviously this is just a smooth regular face let's say that's a good hit it doesn't look to naked eye like it went as far 109 clement speed 270 carry. So 10 yards less it's the first shot so i'll give it a little bit more leeway 2 500 spin it didn't sound the same it's not as much of a crack off the face ah the feel is just a little bit different it's not as nice it's not. So that was a re that was a really good hit that felt in comparison very similar in strikes than it did with the f9 wow again it's lacking 269 carry 2 500 spin. And i swung it again 110 miles per hour it's the spin it's in the same loft same shaft but that spin is definitely a little bit higher. And therefore. this is dropping about 10 yards shorter. And ball speed similar 155 i was probably getting a tiny bit closer to 160 with the f9 that was a more low spin one you know the one thing i've really interestingly seen though with the f9 i was consistently getting ball speeds very close to 160 like anywhere between 157 to 159 with this 155 has been my absolute best. And that strike i thought hit that well as only 153 miles per hour ball speed that's even like three miles per hour less than my bad ones on the f9 and i honestly thought that one was a good strike all right watch this one now come on [Music] yeah it was an okay strike not my best of the day because i look at these numbers. So my climate speed was 111. that's about what i've been swinging today.
So i'm happy with that watch this one five five ball speed and it's okay. But 270 yards of distance and 2 500 spin i mean i'd go as far as saying with relation to ball speed. And a little bit more spin with this head i would say i'm losing 10 yards of carry distance and you know what i'm gonna do just to again confirm what i've been finding i'm gonna take the f9s out i'm gonna put the f9 back in. And don't forget this was in 10. And a half degrees of loft take 1.5 so it's a 9 degree head this one is a 9 degree head as standard. And i'm going to set it up as standard loft weights at the back as you've seen with both models 14 grams at the back two grams at the front. So there's not a single drive of the f9s i got even really close to 280 never mind over 280 sounds so much different as well okay come on look believe it. Or not that wasn't my fastest clubhead speed that was a little bit lower look at this 281 carry lower spin ball speed was a tiny bit down on that. But kind of correlation with my club at speed i couldn't get even close to that with f9 s i couldn't last last last last last thing i'm going to soft it one more time. And go back into f9s so everything's the same loft weights the only thing that's different is obviously the cnc milled face is missing off this. Or is there more missing are there things inside that is not been included with this f9s that we just do not even know about makes you think done it just doesn't sound that's fast i mean look at this i mean that again wasn't the worst strike in the world 258 yards of carry well not even over 150 ball speed. So i feel like it's my duty to warn you i today.
In this test did not see this f9s perform anywhere even close to the original f9 it lacks technology therefore. it lacks performance if you go into buying this product knowing that because maybe the price suits your budget at the moment whatever it may be that's on you. But i think you need to be aware of it. And i'm going to be dead honest with you i think it's naughty from cobra i think it's naughty from the retail world to be selling the product look. So similar yet it's not the same be wary when you're buying golf clubs everybody we'll see you soon.
