In Praise of the Cobra Darkspeed Line

[ScooterMcTavish]

Have tried Cobra irons, drivers, and fairway woods in the past with mixed success. But after struggling with my last driver, I took a flier on the Darkspeed LS driver, based on feedback from the DS-Adapt WRX member testing.

 

Specifically, in asking questions of the testers, I received the feedback that the Darkspeed has the “trampoline” feel on well-struck balls.  And yes, it certainly has this.

 

So took my next flier on a Darkspeed X 3HF and 5W with the same excellent shaft that came in the driver (Lin-Q White).  And darn it, these FWs have the same great feel, with lots of straight distance.

 

Even better, Cobra is now selling these at a serious discount, with lots of Lin-Q shaft options.  Was able to get my driver with a 67g shaft, and the FW with a 70+ g shaft.

 

Very pleased with the clubs and think they’ll be in the bag for a very long time.

[T.B.]

Had the x and the max and both were very good.  I just got the adpt max 10k and it’s even better than expected 

[T Creer]

Cobra Darkspeed are fantastic when hit in the center. I hit bombs at times but the forgiveness was retched. 

Tried the DS adapt and it was night and day more forgiving. The DS are worth the extra $$$ in my opinion. 

[ScooterMcTavish]

30 minutes ago, T Creer said:

Cobra Darkspeed are fantastic when hit in the center. I hit bombs at times but the forgiveness was retched. 

Tried the DS adapt and it was night and day more forgiving. The DS are worth the extra $$$ in my opinion. 

 

Like I need any incentive to go pick up one of the Arnold Palmer models.

 

Which model of each were you using?  Can confirm that the DS LS requires a pretty on centre strike to ensure maximum distance.

[T Creer]

1 hour ago, ScooterMcTavish said:

 

Like I need any incentive to go pick up one of the Arnold Palmer models.

 

Which model of each were you using?  Can confirm that the DS LS requires a pretty on centre strike to ensure maximum distance.

Darkspeed LS was in the bag for a month but couldn't get the consistency. Got the Adapt DS max-K and it's sooooo forgiving and long. 

[BBO]

How is the sound? I picked up the LTDx for a great price last year and it plays well enough, but the sound is so muted. I don't know if it's due to the milled face or what. The last guy I played with said it sounds "dead" which I can agree with compared to others. I really like the look of the darkspeeds so I was gravitating towards giving it a shot. Being able to swap over my shaft is a plus for that as well.

[ScooterMcTavish]

13 minutes ago, BBO said:

How is the sound? I picked up the LTDx for a great price last year and it plays well enough, but the sound is so muted. I don't know if it's due to the milled face or what. The last guy I played with said it sounds "dead" which I can agree with compared to others. I really like the look of the darkspeeds so I was gravitating towards giving it a shot. Being able to swap over my shaft is a plus for that as well.

 

I guess it depends what driver you're coming from.  In modern drivers, I've mostly played Titanium, and I love the loud "tang" which often corresponds to the quality of the strike (R9 460, i15, 915D2 - all sounded good).  Last titanium driver was the G430 Max, and I certainly did not like its "tonk".

 

In fact, my biggest challenge with carbon drivers is the noise.  The sound itself is generally inoffensive (crack, pop, thunk), but it lacks that corresponding "sound to feel" that the old titanium ones did.  A toe hit may sound like a heel hit, even though they feel completely different.  And it is a bit disarming.

 

The Darkspeed (like the Aerojet) gives a very nice "pop" sound when nutted.  When off-centre, the sound can trend towards a "thunk" or a "crack" depending on the miss.  Is it my favourite?  No.  Still dream about my R9 460 which I had to finally give away to keep it out of bag.

 

However, I genuinely like the club.  It was a bit rough at the beginning, but I took it down 1", and added 8g of weight to the head and its now an exciting club.  Drives have straightened quite a bit, my dispersion has tightened, and I can hit it both high and low, something I have difficulty doing with other drivers.  Have also found it responds well to a stronger swing, and has me working on a stronger move than I've ever had driving, just as it hasn't punished me yet.

 

Of note, I also have mine with the Lin-Q White shaft, which is firmer at the tip allowing me to get more after the ball. 

 

And as a side note, the Darkspeed X FWs are fantastic.  Even at just 16*, I can get great elevation on my 3W, and my 5W (at 19.5*) can be played like a FW or a hybrid depending on the situation (choke up or down, hit low or high).  The set up slightly closed looking (which I like), and the sound is a really nice snap at contact.   Also ordered with the Lin-Q White.

[ScooterMcTavish]

52 minutes ago, T Creer said:

Darkspeed LS was in the bag for a month but couldn't get the consistency. Got the Adapt DS max-K and it's sooooo forgiving and long. 

 

Similar comment made by @adamwon84 in the DS-Adapt testing thread.

 

 

He is in love with his max-K.  And now I want to go order an Arnold Palmer one.

[596]

I love the Dark Speed Max with no weights.  I removed them and replaced them with 1.8g titanium bolts.  Took about 11 grams out of the stock head.  

[J-Walker]

DS LS is great and tested better for me this spring than the newer DS-Adapt X, but had some low spinners for me that would fall out of the sky.  I almost grabbed one, but the DS-Adapt LS (which was not available at my fitting) has now found it’s way into my bag. It is so long and forgiving for a LS model. None of the low spinners for me on this one and it is really consistent and straight for me. Very workable as well. 

Edited May 2 by J-Walker

[adamwon84]

On 4/30/2025 at 2:18 PM, T Creer said:

Darkspeed LS was in the bag for a month but couldn't get the consistency. Got the Adapt DS max-K and it's sooooo forgiving and long. 

The Max-K Driver is absolutely incredible and I cannnnnnnot stop recommending it to anyone that is even slightly interested. I got 3 friends to go out and swing the Adapt line because of my Max-K (one guy ordered it the same day he hit mine because of how much he liked it).

 

The forgiveness is just stupid, like it makes me laugh sometimes where I will just slog at it if I am tried and the ball still goes straight. I was worried about the distance because early tests seemed to say that it wasnt as long as the LS (which is probably the case depending on the persons swing) but my god the Max-K is so long for me its shocking. 

Edited May 2 by adamwon84

[mitchdoc]

I guess I am a bit of a naysayer. I love cobra I currently play the King tour islands in black and the original King Tec hybrid in five hybrid. I also own the darkspeed 3 wood. 

 

I so wanted to complete the set and get the new Cobra drivers. I was in the Callaway AI smoke Max driver last year and then migrated to the triple Diamond max halfway through the season. I was looking to trade the smoke Max towards one of the new cobra drivers. I did extensive testing and even had a full fitting with the Cobra rep and the truth is while maybe ball speed was a mile or so faster with the cobras I was seeing some shots that would fall hard left with significant spin drops and this was true with both the X and the K model and I just did not seem to find any consistency with them. I then tried the new Elyte from Callaway and it was significantly more consistent. There were no low spin hooks and ball speed picked up by three or four miles an hour compared to my smoke max.

I'm sure for a certain segment that this driver is really good but historically for me I have found that while Cobra drivers have been long they have not been consistent away from center. I have always found that the toe shots would deviate too far and spend too low and the heel shots while holding their line better would spin up too much and lose significant distance and this generation does not seem much better. The Callaway by comparison seems to produce almost identical results no matter where on the face I hit it.

[ScooterMcTavish]

6 hours ago, mitchdoc said:

I was in the Callaway AI smoke Max driver last year and then migrated to the triple Diamond max halfway through the season. I was looking to trade the smoke Max towards one of the new cobra drivers. I did extensive testing and even had a full fitting with the Cobra rep and the truth is while maybe ball speed was a mile or so faster with the cobras I was seeing some shots that would fall hard left with significant spin drops and this was true with both the X and the K model and I just did not seem to find any consistency with them. I then tried the new Elyte from Callaway and it was significantly more consistent. There were no low spin hooks and ball speed picked up by three or four miles an hour compared to my smoke max.

 

This is a really interesting comment.  I believe that to some extent we all have a brand bias, and if we've had success with a brand previously, we will look more favorably and potentially swing more confidently with the favored-brand stick.     

 

But hearing issues with mishits, I am wondering if there is an apples to apples comparison with the shafts?  I did not get along with my Aerojet driver, mainly due to the Kai'li Blue shaft being a bad fit for my swing, causing less consistent face contact.  In contrast, the Lin-Q White shaft is a good fit for my swing.   

[MountainMan]

6 hours ago, adamwon84 said:

The Max-K Driver is absolutely incredible and I cannnnnnnot stop recommending it to anyone that is even slightly interested. I got 3 friends to go out and swing the Adapt line because of my Max-K (one guy ordered it the same day he hit mine because of how much he liked it).

 

The forgiveness is just stupid, like it makes me laugh sometimes where I will just slog at it if I am tried and the ball still goes straight. I was worried about the distance because early tests seemed to say that it wasnt as long as the LS (which is probably the case depending on the persons wing) but my god the Max-K is so long for me its shocking. 

I completely agree. Darkspeed X beat out the AI smoke max last year. I liked both of them. Max-K though is on another level for me. 

[birddog1]

A month or so ago I bought the Darkspeed Max driver on a whim direct from Cobra, on sale plus 10% off for signing up.  I like it so much I then went and bought the 3, 5 and 7 woods plus 5 hybrid.  Good stuff

[1puttTUT]

9 hours ago, adamwon84 said:

The Max-K Driver is absolutely incredible and I cannnnnnnot stop recommending it to anyone that is even slightly interested. I got 3 friends to go out and swing the Adapt line because of my Max-K (one guy ordered it the same day he hit mine because of how much he liked it).

 

The forgiveness is just stupid, like it makes me laugh sometimes where I will just slog at it if I am tried and the ball still goes straight. I was worried about the distance because early tests seemed to say that it wasnt as long as the LS (which is probably the case depending on the persons swing) but my god the Max-K is so long for me its shocking. 

 

I just got the Darkspeed X a month ago damnit!

[mitchdoc]

On 5/2/2025 at 3:37 PM, ScooterMcTavish said:

 

This is a really interesting comment.  I believe that to some extent we all have a brand bias, and if we've had success with a brand previously, we will look more favorably and potentially swing more confidently with the favored-brand stick.     

 

But hearing issues with mishits, I am wondering if there is an apples to apples comparison with the shafts?  I did not get along with my Aerojet driver, mainly due to the Kai'li Blue shaft being a bad fit for my swing, causing less consistent face contact.  In contrast, the Lin-Q White shaft is a good fit for my swing.   

Always possible but tried about 12 shafts with fitter with Cobra and wanted them to be my driver. Tried Denali blue vs charcoal as well so similar shafts and Cobra just was not as good on mishits.

[mogc60]

DarkSpeed adapt Ls has been great for me. I’m a Cobra driver guy since the FlyZ plus and no matter what I try I end up back in a Cobra. I’ve loved the extra level of adjustments though because with weights and adapter I’ve got mine right where I want my ball flight. I also have the Ds adapt hybrids and I’ve been so impressed with them. They are consistent distance wise and the shape and ball flight are so good. Being honest I didn’t expect them to be this good 

[Phabs]

I’ll be going to hit the adapt heads this week or next.  More curious about the hosel adjustments than head designs.  My current standard Aerojet head has been amazing and isn’t going to be easy to kick out of the bag.  

Ive converted four of my playing partners over to Cobra over the last two years.  

Edited May 5 by Phabs

[ScooterMcTavish]

On 5/3/2025 at 8:35 PM, mogc60 said:

DarkSpeed adapt Ls has been great for me. I’m a Cobra driver guy since the FlyZ plus and no matter what I try I end up back in a Cobra. I’ve loved the extra level of adjustments though because with weights and adapter I’ve got mine right where I want my ball flight. 

 

Mine has taken a bit of trial and experimentation, but after my driving last night, I think I found the sweet spot.

 

12g in the back, 3g in the toe, and an aftermarket 8g in the heel, 10.5* adjusted to -1*D.

 

Weight in back provides a bit more forgiveness on mishits, but increases launch angle and spin just the bit I need.  A bit heavier in the heel still gives a little draw bias.

 

Hit two second shots last night from places I do not normally hit second shots from.

[Milk Diesel]

grabbed a darkspeed x 3 wood for $130 BRAND NEW. Wild how fast they discounted