Cobra King F8 Driver Review

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This year's Cobra King is the F8, which features loads of new technology, including a milled face that we often see more in putters, wedges, and irons. This has never been done before with a driver, and we are excited to see this technology come into play for drivers as well. One thing to notice is that the milled face has a clear "milled" structure for the sweet spot especially, giving you a better feel and view of exactly where to hit so that you hit that sweet spot and gain maximum distance.

We have seen in tests this year that this driver performs very well on hits around the sweet spot and high face hits giving massive distance. The one drawback we could see which has been an issue with Cobra drivers is the lower center hits, where they get a lot of spin and lose some distance. This is to be expected to some degree, but we feel Cobra could perhaps have done a better job with this part of the face. But then again, this driver performs beautifully on hits around and above the sweet spot, which is where most strikes go in any case for most golfers.

Another cool feature to notice is that the face allows for a bit of feedback to where you have hit the ball, leaving a small "mark", which obviously goes away with a swipe above the face, but this shows you clearly where you have hit the ball on your previous shot, and is great feedback that most golfers can use to improve their driver game. You can, in other words, see more clearly if you have hit a good or bad shot, in terms of hitting the sweet spot, and you can better analyze your faulty shots.

Distance & Forgiveness

This driver delivers great distance off the face at the ​​sweet spot and high face hits, giving you some extra yards, unless you tend to strike it low on the face. You really get the most out of this driver if you have a typical amateur golfer swing, where you don't hit up on the ball too much, leaving you vulnerable for low face hits. This kind of swing style is more common in more advanced players, and you are unlikely to struggle with this part unless you frequently hit too much up on the ball and hit the low part of the face. 

The King F8 really delivers on distance as it was tested against other drivers with a series of golfers, where this year, Cobra won 69 of 72 of the tests performed. Winning a test was defined as a gain of 4+ yards or more, compared to other options. Now these tests might be slightly biased, and not all players who participated might have been properly fitted with their other options, but it's a good indicator that people looking for distance gain in their driver should take notice of the King F8 and see what it can do for them. It is quite likely you will improve your distance by quite a few yards, as the average gain in the test was between 8 and 12 yards. I know more than a few golfers who would happily take that any day of the week, even if it meant switching driver.

As for the forgiveness part, this driver is more forgiving than its brother, the King F8+, which is geared more towards better players, as it has a slightly smaller head and offers less forgiveness as a trade-off for pushing the distance farther for players who have consistent sweet spot hits (higher level players and tournament players). If this is you, you are advised to have a look at the Cobra King F8+ and see if it could be a good fit. 

The Cobra King F8 seems to be very forgiving at high and mid-level hits, while less forgiving and producing more spin on lower center hits. As it is, these days, to bomb it long you really want to reduce spin and launch it high for maximum distance, so this driver is most suited for players who hit in the middle or high on the face. 

The maximum distance it gives on solid hits is quite impressive, as we have seen from tests performed on the F8. 

Forged CNC Milled Face & 360 Aero Technology

The most intriguing part of Cobra's technology this year is the never tried before Milled Face Technology, which in essence puts the face efficiency in creating ball speed closer to the limit of what is allowed for drivers, than what is normally achieved, without breaking the limit (making the driver illegal in the eyes of golf authorities and standards set by the USGA). Cobra is claiming that through the use of the Milled technology they are able to put every face at exactly the limit of what is allowed from the USGA, something most other manufacturers struggle to do due to less accuracy of technology and therefore less confidence in pushing it all the way up to the limit.

The Milled Face also helps provide the right launch for hits across the face with variations in pattern across the face, giving a more optimal ball flight that goes farther. The exception to this that we have seen in testing is lower face hits.

As for clubhead speed, Cobra has really pushed the boundaries of how fast the club travels with power and motion set in place by the golfer, meaning that the club will simply travel faster down toward the ball, and thus give more distance. This is achieved with their 360 Aero Technology, which I am sure Ricky Fowler would be thrilled about as well as he has a more or less permanent contract with the company, using their drivers.

The King F8 has not only aerodynamic channels underneath the club, as seen in other models before, but also on top of the head, basically 360 degrees around the driver, really pushing the limits of maximizing the efficiency of air flow, resulting in better clubhead speed.

So, in essence, if you put the same force and technique on this driver compared to other models, you will get more speed out of the King F8.

This year, Cobra also includes the Cobra Connect Technology in the rear end of the grip for all their clubs, including the King F8, making it possible to connect any of their clubs to the Arccos game and performance tracking system. You can connect this technology to an app where you see how far you hit your shots, among many other great features that will help you improve and analyze your game on a daily basis. For their drivers, you get access to Arccos Driver, while with other clubs you get access to Arccos 360. You can find more information about Arccos here.

Look, Sound and Feel

The Cobra King F8 really looks amazing. It has a dark finish with carbon coating at the top, clear lines of the Aero Technology around the top of the club and underneath, some on the sides. It's mixed with a cool grey color and black, with the classic Cobra mark over the sweet spot, to guide you to center hits, in addition to the already very well marked sweet spot by the Milling Technology. The milling technology kind of looks like a sun with circles in the middle, grooving the face, while the rest of the face has lines going each their way away from the sweet spot. 

As for the feel of the club, it's pretty solid. A club you can hit with confidence and receive good feedback on. The sound is slightly lower than the previous Cobra drivers, something they should be proud of, as you don't want to get a hearing issue over practicing too much with your driver.

All in all very solid and good feedback on sound and feel, as well as the visuals over where you have hit the last shot on the face.

Adjustability Options

The King F8 allows for adjusting the degrees of the driver with +/- 5 degrees, giving you your preferred launch angle and ball flight, if you tweak it a bit. Respectively this results in a difference in the spin of +/- 400 rpm. Ball flight is an important factor in hitting it as long as you can, and these options should allow for plenty of opportunities for most golfers to be able to choose a ball flight that fits their game the best. Generally speaking, it is advised to launch the ball high, and have slightly less spin. That way you will have the ball roll a good way, while still having great carry distance. The F8 allows for that.

You also have the movable weights, one of 12 grams and one of 2 grams, where you can move the center of gravity by using the weights. The two main ball flights Cobra have gone for here with adjustable weights is a high launch, long carry flight that is used with the 12 gram at the back. The other one is where you put more weight in the heel, which gives a lower ball flight with a draw bias. Depending on your style and level, these are both great options, and should you struggle with weak fades or too much slice, then you should definitely try the draw bias settings.

Specifications

The Cobra F8 comes in 9° / 9.5° / 9.5° Draw / 10.5° / 10.5° Draw /
11.5°  / 11.5° Draw / 12°  for the various loft options. 

Shaft length comes in 45.75 inches with the Cobra Connect for Arccos​ and without 45.50. This is fairly standard and should work well for most players. The c​​​​​lubhead is 460 CC, which is the norm these days for drivers.

The driver head swing weight is classified as D2. The stock shaft that it comes with is delivered in Stiff, Regular and Lite. Most average golfers swing well with a regular shaft, but if you are a senior and swing speed is way down, you might do all right with a Lite shaft. If you are slightly more advanced and have higher swing speed you should look into a stiff or in some cases x-stiff.

Shaft options:

Summary

This driver is ideal for golfers between 25 and 5 in hcp, with a medium to high swing speed. If that is you, you are safe to go with this club, and I think it will put a smile on your face once you hit it down that first fairway.

Cobra has come a long way in recent years and offering the Cobra Connect for Arccos included with the driver makes its price quite a bargain. I wouldn't be surprised if Ricky Fowler would gain some yards this season with this new driver as it seems to be a top performer when it comes to distance and forgiveness. Definitely one of the better drivers to come out this year.

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Cobra King F8+

This driver offers a few slight nuances in adjustability, shaft options and most importantly is offers a little more distance with the trade-off that the clubhead is 440 CC and offers a smaller but more effective sweet spot. All in all a fairly similar driver, but geared slightly more towards the high-level player who can hit the sweet spot consistently and is less dependent on forgiveness across the face.

If you are a better player and want to sacrifice some forgiveness for more distance, you can check out the Cobra King F8+ here.