Cobra King F8 Fairway Wood
Watch and read our Cobra King F8 fairway wood review
Pound for pound, this has to be one of the best fairway woods on the market, offering great feel, flight and looks that we're sure will make it very popular.
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There is no doubting that this club packs a lot of power thanks to its lightweight design and explosive face. At less than £200, we also think it offers real value.
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The grey crown detailing slightly reduced the premium feel of the overall look, while the shallower face design means its stronger off the fairway than from the tee.
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Watch and read our Cobra King F8 fairway wood review to see the launch monitor data we experienced, plus our thoughts on the looks and overall performance
Cobra King F8 Fairway Wood Review
Key Technology
Sitting alongside the more compact, workable and lower spinning King F8+ model, this standard King F8 fairway is designed to provide maximum launch and forgiveness.
Cobra's Dual Baffler Rail system now has tighter-spaced rails with a centre of gravity (CG) centred between them. This design reduces twisting for forgiveness and helps maintain head speed upon contact with the turf, so your heavy strikes aren't as punishing.
You will also spot aero strips in the picture below around the perimeter of the face. These help to reduce drag and in turn increase head speed for more distance, while a larger address profile also increases forgiveness.
For the first time, Cobra has also introduced a carbon fibre crown that is nearly 13g lighter than the previous steel version that, alongside a back sole weight, moves the CG even lower to aid a high launch from a variety of lies.
Rounding out technologies is a forged steel face insert with a variable thickness face construction that creates more hot spots away from the centre to enhance distance on heel and toe strikes, plus the adjustable MyFly8 hosel returns with eight loft settings in each of the three models below.
* 3-4 model (13o, 13.5o, 13.5o Draw, 14.5o, 14.5 o Draw, 15.5o, 15.5o Draw, 16o), * 5-6 model (17o, 17.5o, 17.5o Draw, 18.5o, 18.5o Draw, 19.5o, 19.5o Draw, 20o) * 7-8 model (21o, 21.5o, 21.5o Draw, 22.5o, 22.5o Draw, 23.5o, 23.5o Draw, 24o).
Cobra King F8 Fairway Wood Review
The first thing you'll notice about this fairway wood is the look of the club. With only black, white and grey used, it has the feeling of a more serious fairway than perhaps the more colourful Cobra offerings of the past.
The carbon fibre crown certainly delivers a really premium look akin to the TaylorMade M1 or Callaway Epic fairway woods, but unfortunately the light grey detailing around the edges slightly hindered the overall look in our opinion.
Looking at the crown image above, you'll also notice the aero strips and these, combined with the weight savings, certainly helped us to achieve some impressive GC2 launch monitor numbers as you'll see below.
Our 10-handicap tester saw his ball speed increase by 3mph and his spin reduce by around 700rpm on average. This combination gave him an overall carry gain of 10 yards, which puts the Cobra King F8 fairway wood into the category of being a must try club.
It also flew on a nice piercing flight and felt very powerful off the face, while the stock shaft - an Aldila NV 2KXV Blue - felt stable throughout our day of testing.
Trying it across a range of lies it was also clear that the Dual Baffler Rail system does its job in making traditionally tough shots more playable. This will be a big bonus for every golfer from the tour pro right down to the beginner.