The new Cobra Darkspeed irons are meant to be Cobra’s longest and best-feeling game improvement irons to date. So, how do they perform? Find out in our Cobra Darkspeed iron review.
Cobra Darkspeed Irons Review: NCG Summary
NCG SUMMARY
The DarkSpeed irons FLY! These were by far the longest of the 2024 iron sets that I tested, so if you are looking for distance with your new irons, then Cobra have certainly ticked that box.
As soon as you open the box to unwrap the Cobra DarkSpeed irons, you notice the colour of them. The dark grey effect is gorgeous, and looks amazing when it sits behind the ball.
That difference in colour from most irons is one of the qualities that sets the Darkspeed apart from other brands, and they should certainly be an iron that mid-to-high handicappers test when looking for a new set.
PROS
- Incredible distance
- Strong lofts
- Look sublime
CONS
- None
Cobra Darkspeed Irons Review: First Impressions
On the drive down to Worksop Indoor Golf Centre (which is where we tested these clubs due to the British weather in December), I was excited to see what Cobra would bring to the table with their 2024 irons.
As a golfer that uses Cobra woods – the King LTD Driver and a RadSpeed 3-wood – I was wondering whether the new Darkspeed irons would be the third Cobra addition to my golf bag.
From the outset, these clubs look fantastic. The dark stainless steel finish differentiates the Cobra DarkSpeed irons from most other brands, and it’s a gorgeous look. That drew me in straight away, and immediately, I wanted to hit these clubs. When the club is set behind the ball, you can see there is plenty of space for the ball to hit the middle of the clubface, which promises much.
NCG Verdict
I mention the size of the club face on the Cobra DarkSpeed irons for a reason. As a golfer who is currently struggling to keep his handicap in single figures, a slightly bigger club face can be the way to having a smaller dispersion rate.
Cobra has prided itself on being the longest irons in the game for several years now, and that has been one of their selling points. I knew that there would be an increase in how far I was hitting each club from the clubs that are currently in my bag – the TaylorMade M5s. However, I was very surprised at how much further I was hitting the golf ball! You can tell that the DarkSpeed irons have been designed and constructed with distance in mind.
Cobra has used a hollow body construction on the DarkSpeed irons, which gives an enhanced feel while also giving players substantially more distance with every club. The DarkSpeed irons feature a Pwrshell Hot Face. Hot stands for Highly Optimised Technology. The face insert takes ball speed even further to allow for greater distance.
That enhanced feel comes through from the very first shot as well, even with shots that were not hit out of the middle of the club face, which is something that mid- and high-handicappers struggle with. As a whole, the Cobra DarkSpeed irons feel great and look great, and through impact, the club feels good as well.
The long irons, from 4-7, all feature Pwr-Bridge and Pwrshell technologies. The Pwr-Bridge weight technology allows for the centre of gravity to be much lower in the longer irons, which allows for higher ball speed and launch. This is thanks to the weight being suspended within the hollow body of the clubhead, making it almost completely free-floating.
With my current irons, my average carry with a 7-iron is around 165 yards. With the Cobra DarkSpeed irons during this test, that pushed up towards 180 yards. One shot even carried 191 yards, but I do have to point out that that was an anomaly and definitely not something that I would trust to happen when standing over every shot.
However, the Cobra DarkSpeed irons did give me much more confidence with that extra bit of distance. It would mean taking a club less for those approaches, which should make it somewhat easier to not only hit the green but to hold it as well. The descent angles with shorter irons were all north of 40 degrees, which would give the ball more of a chance to stop and spin when required.
From 4-iron all the way down to the PW, every club went further than I expected, with even the PW adding an average of 8 yards. My normal shot shape is a slight cut or fade. That continued with the Cobra DarkSpeeds, and I felt confident that there would not be much of a change throughout the bag.
The dispersion was similarly erratic compared with the rest of the clubs I hit at testing (accuracy is not and has never been my strength) but the distance more than made up for that. It feels a lot better standing over a shot knowing you can reach with an 8-iron than having to pull out a 6-iron, that’s for sure! They are easily the longest of the irons sets for 2024 that I tested prior to Christmas.
Thanks to the prominence of one of their players – in Ryder Cup star Bryson DeChambeau – the Cobra DarkSpeed irons are also available in One Length form. The 2020 US Open champion uses irons that are all the length of a 7-iron, and you can also have the same with the 2024 offering from Cobra.
Cobra DarkSpeed One Length offer the same technologies and the same distance as the variable-length irons but with added consistency due to them all being the same length as a 7-iron (37.25″). The 4, 5 and 6 irons in the One Length sets feature wider soles and weaker lofts for better launch, with the rest of the set remaining much the same as the variable length irons.
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The Details
Available: 11th January (pre-sale) / 19th January (retail)
RRP (Variable): £849 for a steel shaft set (4-PW / 5-GW)
£949 for a graphite shaft set (5-GW)
RRP (One Length): £849 for a steel shaft set (5-GW)
£949 for a graphite shaft set (5-GW)
Shafts: 6 Featured shafts
More information: Cobra Website
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