Cobra King Radspeed Driver

I’m a longtime Cobra Golf fan, there’s no denying that and any loyal DRH/Bill Bush followers know it. My loyalites go way back to the “pre-Puma and Rickie years” by some considerable time. However, as a big time golf guy, I always choose the driver that gives me optimum performance. The brand on the sole doesn’t matter. Saying that, the 2020 season marked the return of a Cobra driver to my bag via my beloved King Speedzone. It won the gamer slot by a very clear and distant mile. Beating that club out of the bag was NOT going to be easy for anything from anyone in the 2021 season. Then I got my hands on the finely-tuned and precisely-engineered Cobra King Radspeed driver…

Designed to be forgiving, ultra low spinning, and long, Cobra really focused on optimizing the placement of weight throughout the club relative to its center of gravity (CG). Additionally, the front and back weights are placed further apart for more impact from adjusting weight placement. Cobra calls this “Radial weighting” aka RAD leading to their new branding of #RADSPEED. The standard Radspeed is designed for “faster swingers who want distance through faster ball speeds, low spin and trajectory control”. There are two other Radspeed driver models for players looking for more forgiveness off of the tee.

The Looks

From address, the Cobra Radspeed driver shape is easily the best looking driver profile Cobra has made since maybe the King LTD. Again, I can’t stress enough how much I loved the Speedzone driver, but I think the Radspeed looks even better behind the ball! I haven’t quite figured it out scientifically yet, but I really like how the Radpseed driver “grounds itself”. I know it might be a silly thing that not everyone looks for in a driver, but it seats itself in the address position just how I want to see it with a mild neutral-to-open face position. Additionally, Cobra’s CNC milled Infinity face wraps into the topline and really helps the look at address.

There’s one other interesting thing worth pointing out as you look over the club at address. You will notice a faint “T” of black paint from the topline to the back of the crown. This is because Cobra implemented their metal “T-Bar Speed Chassis” to make the driver head stronger for better energy transfer into the ball. This chassis allows the club to keep its shape at impact so all of the energy goes back into the ball rather than the head itself.

Should you prefer an alternative color scheme, Cobra also offers the Radspeed in a slick red, white, and navy look.

How Does it Feel?

I can’t remember any driver in Cobra’s history that has felt as solid and strong as the Radspeed does. It starts with the CNC milled Infinity Face. According to Cobra, each face takes 25 minutes to mill and allows Cobra to be much more precise with their tolerances and make it as fast as possible while staying within legal limits. Even on reasonable mishits, you can still feel the ball really popping off the face resulting in better than expected shots.

Now introduce the T-Bar I mentioned in the last section. The rigidity created by this structure across the head makes the club feel more solid and powerful through the ball with precise feedback. The first impression I had of this club during testing was that this is the most solid and powerful feel I’ve felt from Cobra. When you find the sweet spot, there is a lot of snap in it and you can really feel the ball get up and go.

Cobra has had adjustable front and back weights in multiple models before, but this was the most I’ve ever felt a major difference in the balance of the club. A major focus for Cobra was to create more difference in feel via the distance between the two weights and how the CG moves. In my opinion, this was definitely noticeable in the feel. With the 12 gram weight forward, along with the 16g of fixed forward weight, my performance numbers were lower in launch and feel, and the club literally felt front heavy through impact. With the 12g weight in the back, the club felt quite a bit smoother and proportionally balanced which worked better for me overall.

How Does it Sound?

As is typically expected, the Cobra Radspeed driver’s sound mimics the feel pretty well. Pretty much anywhere you make contact on the face results in a solid and assertive “snap”. I won’t sit here and try to tell you that the Radspeed is the most quiet driver, but isn’t the loudest on the range either. “Snap” genuinely feels like the right word for it, and it’s firm enough to let you know the ball is really shooting off the face. Find the generous sweet spot of the Infinity Face and there’s a little more “whip” that smooths out the tone out as well giving you a satisfying “whap”.

On-Course Performance

Before starting this section, I took a look at the numbers from my Cobra Speedzone driver review. Just under a year apart, it was really interesting how similar the two drivers performed for me. Here’s the difference, though – throughout my testing, I don’t think I’ve even gotten CLOSE to the Radspeed’s ceiling. I definitely launch the Radspeed lower and the spin wasn’t even flirting with going into the 2400s. I think once I get my old faithful VA Nemesys in the Radspeed, I’ll more consistently find the sweet spot with plenty of ease and control. But man, watching and feeling the ball jump off the face with automatic low spin has me really excited.

I want to quickly point out that the numbers above are with the heaver weight in the back. Historically, I’ve found pre-Speedzone Cobra drivers to be a little too spinny with the weight in the back position. By moving the weight back, the Radspeed felt better and more controllable in my hands, but I didn’t experience massive changes to launch and spin. It was just enough to get the ball launching and carrying a little better for me. With the weight forward, I was hitting some incredibly powerful ropes and seeing 60-70 yards(!) of roll. This was with the stock HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX shaft (which I spoke highly of in that review). So if you’re a forward CG player that loves a piercing flight and minimal spin, the Radspeed will definitely have you covered.

COBRA CONNECT – Powered by Arccos

Cobra continues to implement its COBRA CONNECT technology in stock grips across its club lineup. This technology gives you seamless integration with Arccos platforms throughout the entire bag to automatically track your stats on a mobile device during a round of golf. With this data, you’ll be able to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your game making your practice sessions more efficient. Not only that, the same data will help you make better decisions when it comes to equipment selection or setup. I’ve found COBRA CONNECT to be very useful and a nice added bonus to Cobra equipment since they’ve rolled it out across the board.

If you want to learn more details about COBRA CONNECT, you can check it out here on Cobra’s website.

Final Thoughts – Cobra King Radspeed Driver

It’s still a little early to make my final decision with all the other new driver models to come out for 2021, but I can easily see the Cobra Radspeed being tough to beat for me this season. (Don’t worry, I’ll follow up later this year to let you know.) I absolutely love how powerful the Radspeed feels, especially when you catch one dead in the center. Though it may sound ridiculously cheesy, it’s literally exhilarating how solid the Radspeed feels when the ball jumps off the face. It looks great at address and controlling such a powerful flight is impressively easy. I’m telling you, just give me a little more time and I’ll be ripping this thing even further than I already am.

To learn more about the concept of Radspeed’s Radial weighting, the key “Radius of Gyration” formula, as well as the other Radspeed drivers offered, click here.

Stock Cobra King Radspeed Driver Specs

Both lofts are adjustable: -1.5° / -1.0° / -1.0° Draw / STD° / STD° Draw / +1.0° / +1.0° Draw / +1.5°

Both lofts also available in 44.5″ Tour Length

Originally posted on Jan 4th, 2021.

Previous Next