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Cobra to Release BiO Cell PRO Driver (finally)


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Cobra Golf has finally announced the driver I've been waiting for since the BiO Cell line was first introduced.

 

The new (available 5/1) BiO Cell Pro is 440cc version of the BiO Cell driver (obviously), and if you want to extended that out, the logical inference is that that BiO Cell Pro is the direct replacement for last year's awesome Amp Cell Pro. Like I said...finally.

 

I played a blue Amp Cell Pro most of last year, and quite frankly, I love it so much (both the way it looks, feels, and performs) that I dropped it back in the back for my round last Saturday. I still love it (almost unnaturally so).

 

bio-plus-spec.png

 

Anyway...unbeknownst to most the BioCell Pro driver has been the driver of choice this season for Rickie Fowler, Jesper Parnevik, and now Greg Norman.

 

Hey Man...Where's the CG?

 

Because we all love a good CG story these days, here's the BiO Pro's: Not only does BiO Cell Pro offer the lowest CG in the Cobra family, it's the lowest in golf. 

 

And about that...

 

At the heart of all of this CG stuff is the relationship between CG placement and the neutral axis. So what is the neutral axis? 

 

neutral.png

 

That line that extends 90° perpendicular to the center of the face, that's the neutral axis. To maximize performance engineers like to place the CG as close as they can to that neutral axis. The closer CG is to the neutral axis, the less gearing occurs, and the more efficiently energy is transferred at impact.

 

So now that we understand that, let me drop some numbers on you.

 

Distance from CG to Neutral Axis

Cobra BiO Cell+:  ~2.2mm
TaylorMade SLDR: ~2.2mm

Big Bertha Alpha (Low CG Position): ~1.9mm

Cobra BiO Cell Pro: .5mm

 

 

More Numbers:

For those looking for some insight into performance expectations, at the same loft, BiO Cell+ produces roughly 350-400RPM less spin that BiO CELL.  The expectation is that BiO Cell Pro will spin another 350-400PRM less than that while launching slightly higher (.5°), with a more penetrating trajectory.

 

With respect to MOI (forgiveness), the BiO CELL Pro is only slightly more forgiving than the SLDR and Big Bertha Alpha, and realistically most players probably wouldn't notice, but it's enough that Cobra can boast of offering the most forgiving better player driver in golf.

 

So Who is BioCell Pro For?

 

I asked Jose Miraflor that exact question, and his initial answer was Shane Bacon. Really...that's what he told me. To clarify...Shane is a really good player. He's a plus handicap that generates quite a bit of spin.

 

So BiO Cell Pro is for better players seeking less spin, a flatter trajectory, square face, and of course, good looks. It's definitely not a driver that's going to fit the majority of golfers, and it's not in Cobra's nature to oversell it. As a company, they're genuinely interested in helping people enjoy the game, and that means putting the right club in the right hands.

 

Miraflor believes that BiO CELL Pro is "one of the best drivers that nobody will know about".

 

Let's see what we can do to change that. 

 

bio-pro2.png

bio-family-compare.PNG

 

 

The BiO CELL Pro will be available in Orange, Blue, and Black for $399.

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I traded in my Nike Covert two weeks ago at Dick's....They were giving 150% of trade in value, so I traded in a set of Mizuno JPX800HD's for the Cobra Bio Cell Driver & 3 wood. Then I traded in my Nike Covert Driver & 3 wood, along with the VRPro CB irons for the Bio Cell 5 wood & 2 hybrid........all of course came in Wildcat Blue.

 

They look sweet and perform even sweeter.

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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If this is anything like the bio cell + fw, I cannot wait to see it. That fw is hot!

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If it's truly that low spin of a head, do you foresee any issues with only offering up to a 10 degree loft?

Driver: :taylormade-small: SLDR w/ Fujikura Ventus Black

3w: :taylormade-small:'16 M2 hl w/ Diamana D+ 82

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If it's truly that low spin of a head, do you foresee any issues with only offering up to a 10 degree loft?

 

In this case, no. Cobra has no intent of marketing BiO Cell Pro to the masses. They won't be talking about adding loft or anything like that. This is a driver that's definitely not for everyone...probably not even for most, and Cobra is being very upfront about that. If you're a good fit for the driver that's awesome, but if you're not then you should be looking at regular BiO Cell or BiO Cell+.

 

It really is designed for the higher spin player and that's a guy who usually hits optimum numbers for his AoA and Ball Speed at 10° of loft or less. 

 

To an extent it comes down to the argument between what's optimal and what's achievable. TaylorMade is right...17/1700 is optimal. As you've probably read, I've run the numbers through independent trajectory models, and 17/1700 is the average number. TaylorMade says that's ideal, people's misunderstandings aside, they never said SLDR gets you there.

 

The practical reality is that most of us can't get there with today's technology..I can't get close. For me 9.5° is lofting up. For the market the BiO Pro is designed for, 10° should be plenty.

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Quick question....I am a 2 hdcp, swing speed of driver 115. I cannot for the life of me get my spin down under 3000.

Anyone have suggestions?

I swing a taylormade SLDR, I have had the stock shaft, fujikura motore speeder tour spec7.2, and the fujikura fuel....still no luck.

 

Anyone?

 

Thanks

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So here's my question.  Since the neutral axis is perpendicular to the center of the face like the illustration shows, wouldn't that line change based on what loft the driver is?  So if they're saying the CG is the closest to that line, if the loft goes up or down, doesn't the neutral axis also change with it?  What loft is the CG closest to that line.

 

Oh and what shaft is this club coming with?

My bag is a revolving door!

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I would imagine that in terms of the stamped loft of the club, as that changes yes the neutral axis of the driver would change, but so would the location of the center of gravity as the physical structure of the driver changes.

 

In terms of changing the loft via the shaft tip in adjustable drivers, that would not change the location of the center of gravity in relation to the neutral axis as the nuetral axis does not move.

 

I hope that comes through clear enough, is kind of hard to explain without a white board lol

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So here's my question.  Since the neutral axis is perpendicular to the center of the face like the illustration shows, wouldn't that line change based on what loft the driver is?  So if they're saying the CG is the closest to that line, if the loft goes up or down, doesn't the neutral axis also change with it?  What loft is the CG closest to that line.

 

Oh and what shaft is this club coming with?

Matrix Red Tie 6Q3

Diamana D+ 72

Project XV Tour 52

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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According to a Cobra, the cost is the same as the Bio Cell+ at $399, with 3 color choices, black, orange or blue in right hand only.

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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IMG_20140219_190403_587.jpg

 

This has been my impact pattern with my Amp Cell Pro with good results. The D+ Mitsubishi Rayon shaft has been great for me. I really want to try the Bio Cell Pro now. I can't find hardly any Cobra equipment in Albuquerque to even look at though. For some reason they don't pay attention to Cobra in the shops here. I sure would like the blue BC Pro. I like the fact it doesn't have the white perimeter. I'm not crazy about that on the Plus.

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Quick question....I am a 2 hdcp, swing speed of driver 115. I cannot for the life of me get my spin down under 3000.

Anyone have suggestions?

I swing a taylormade SLDR, I have had the stock shaft, fujikura motore speeder tour spec7.2, and the fujikura fuel....still no luck.

 

Anyone?

 

Thanks

Tough to diagnose without seeing some LM data...  If I had to guess, I would say that AofA is probably a bit steep..

Driver - Ping G430 Max 9° | Ventus Blue TR 
Hybrid - :srixon-small: ZX 16° & 18° | GD Tour IZ S

2 Iron - :srixon-small: ZU65 17° | AeroTech SteelFiber 110icw S

Irons -  :srixon-small: ZX7 MKII  4-Pw | TTDGTI S400, std length  1° flat
Wedges - :cleveland-small: RTX 6 Tour Rack 50° 54° 58° | TTDGTI S400, std length 1° flat

Putter -  L.A.B. Golf Link.1 | LA Golf P135 shaft | Garsen Quad Tour grip
 

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Quick question....I am a 2 hdcp, swing speed of driver 115. I cannot for the life of me get my spin down under 3000.

Anyone have suggestions?

I swing a taylormade SLDR, I have had the stock shaft, fujikura motore speeder tour spec7.2, and the fujikura fuel....still no luck.

 

Anyone?

 

Thanks

What does' your ball flight look like?  High/Low   Fade/Draw

 

How is your contact in relationship to the center of the face?

007

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What does' your ball flight look like?  High/Low   Fade/Draw

 

How is your contact in relationship to the center of the face?

In my experience I have had more success in lowering a players spin by addressing contact issues.  AOA is important for maximizing distance through launch angle but I've found all else being equal that it doesn't affect spin as much as say hitting lower on the face.  I have had players that hit up as much as 7 degrees that have high launch  high spin because the strike it below the cg and under the bulge on the face.  

 

Get some deodorant spray and bring it with you for your next monitor session.  Spray the face after every few shots and record your contact pattern.

 

what unit are you using to measure your spin rates currently?

007

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We had a demo day this weekend, so I was able to hit this against my Alpha. The Cobra product has been growing on me over the last couple of years, so I was excited to hear about this offering. The head shape was very nice, solid feel and weight to it. The club performed well for me, it has a very solid feel at impact and the ball really feels like it jumps off the face. The trajectory was nice, a penetrating flight that stayed on line even with a slight left to right breeze. I didn't feel as comfortable with it as I do with my Alpha, but getting the right shaft in it I feel I could easily play this driver.

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Ping G410 LST 3 Wood Oban Tour Prototype V430
Titleist U500 3 & 4 Oban Kiyoshi Purple Tour Reserve
Titleist 620 MB 5-9 Oban CT 125
Titleist Vokey 47* Oban CT 125, 51*, 55*, and 59* Shimada Tour Wedge Black
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  • 1 month later...

I can't play like Shane Bacon, but so far I love this driver a bunch. Range sessions have put it in the bag for the weekend.

attachicon.gifbluecobrapro.jpg

Dave, 

 

Bumped your ping huh?... I'd be curious to hear how this stacks up against the PING, SLDR etc.  I loved the ACP sorry I got rid of it right now.

 

Would really like to get my hands on a demo but my guys here in KC metro area say its doubtful they get any.

007

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The i25 is still lurking for me. The Fujikura Fuel 70 that I put in it is such a good fit. At least right now though, the BCP seems hotter and more forgiving. Like all drivers, I may light it on fire after the third hole, but the weighting and performance seem so good right now.

 

SLDR was maybe more fun to hit, but I really need to spend time with a 10.5* head and not the 14* to know for sure.

That head and a 757 Speeder could also get going by summer's end.

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The i25 is still lurking for me. The Fujikura Fuel 70 that I put in it is such a good fit. At least right now though, the BCP seems hotter and more forgiving. Like all drivers, I may light it on fire after the third hole, but the weighting and performance seem so good right now.

 

SLDR was maybe more fun to hit, but I really need to spend time with a 10.5* head and not the 14* to know for sure.

That head and a 757 Speeder could also get going by summer's end.

 

Ha.  Never ends does it. 

 

Well keep my posted. I would love to get one of these on a monitor.

 

As for the SLDR i'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.  But if you do well with the 430 440 sized heads I'd give the 12.5 SLDR TP a shot.  Personally got more consistent and much more desirable numbers with that setup over the 460 head in any loft.  The feel is more muted and "hot" as well.

 

Good luck out there this weekend.

007

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  • 4 weeks later...

I kept hoping that MGS would post a review on this club but as you all know they are busy and haven't gotten around to it yet.  The trouble with  this particular club, at least I am told, is that it is geared toward such a small niche that the big box stores in my area (golf smith, Edwin Watts, etc ) aren't bothering to get demos. * I think the bigger reason is that Cobra golf , at least in the midwest, doesn't get a lot of play anyway.  If this were a callaway or TMAG club with the same specs I bet I could have gotten my hands on one....but anyway back to what I was saying.

 "Too low launching and too low spinning to put on the shelves"  Well when i hear statements like that I have to see it for myself.  Not that I needed any convincing.  The Amp Cell Pro remains one of my favorite clubs to date.  I have filtered dozens of club and shaft combinations in and out of my bag over the last 4 years but that particular driver stands out probably more than any other as the epitome of feel and sound perfection. Subjective opinion of course...but if you disagree just know that I am right and you are wrong.   :rolleyes:

 

So a couple of weeks ago  I  made the decision to do some testing on my own and wanted to share my experience with this club for those of you that are interested.

 

Before I start I think it always helps others understand the performance of a club if I give a little background.  

 

Me

  • 33 yrs old and getting older
  • play around scratch 
  • current driver SLDR 430 12 with 7.2 MTS X
  • Swing speed ...up and down depending on the workout day...from 110  to 115 according to Tman and SC100
  • Positive AoA 3-6 degrees
  • In to out path bordering on extreme at times ( this causes a lot of issues for me, severe left missed from hooks occasionally but more often my miss is a push)  
  • My stock shot is a push draw  which I chose to play due to the low spin high launch it produces
  • My tempo, if you believe a mizuno shaft optimizer, is on the smooth side.  A fact that I find hard to believe but the shafts that tend to fit me best now seem representative of that general group.

The club arrived last Wednesday right before I left for the holiday weekend to visit my Wife's family in western Kansas.  I was able to get out a little early and head over to the shop to do some quick numbers checks and get an initial feel for the performance.   I switched out to a midsized grip and while the tape dried I warmed up a bit like I always do.  

 

Pro specs

-black head set to 10 degrees

-stock Red Tie shaft in Xflex

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

 

The looks of this club are ok. I was a big fan of the Amp cell line for looks.  Clean, sharp, and sleek.  The bio cell line as a whole has been a step back in my opinion.  I personally don't care for the snake skin shadow or for the  thin white line that traces the outline of the head.  It's better than the plus by a long shot but it seems kind of tacky and toyish in comparison to last years line. Maybe I'm just so partial to the old one that i have trouble being objective about the new...I cant be sure.  

The white shaft to the head still looks pretty cool.  I cant prove that the lighter brighter shafts help my swing but whenever I use them I seem to feel more aware of what path my club is taking in the back swing.

 

FEEL

 

The balance of the club was the first thing that i noticed.  I am coming from clubs that feel to me much more head heavy ( Covert 2.0 and SLDR 430 )  The bio cell pro seems to feel much more neutrally balanced.  I dont feel any sort of heavy point in the club.   In warming up I and taking a few practice swings I really liked the feel but I was concerned as to how this would affect my ability to sense the clubs positions in my swing and how it would affect my contact. 

 

I think that feel by far the hardest thing to describe.  My best description is surprising but if I left it at that might as well not say anything at all.   I thought or hoped that the 440 head driver would be reminiscent of the Amp cell pro in most ways.  That club felt hot of the center, very connected at impact, definite feedback on a miss that you weren't dead on.  When you did hit it right it had a sound that too my ears equated to crushing a ball flat on the face and springing off like a rocket.....The  BIO PRO is not the same driver.  The difference was that I didn't feel as connected, more of a remote soft clicky contact that felt pretty good and from anywhere on the face. I often found myself looking at the black face to see exactly where I had a hit any given shot.   To compare it to another club i would say its like hitting a G25 with a "springier but soft" face and more quiet sound.   I wouldn't call it dead it actually feels really nice.  But much more like a game improvement feel than a 440cc players club.  It took some getting used to but by the end of the session i was enjoying it so much I had a hard time putting it down.

 

 

Performance

 

There are some major pluses and a few definite cons when it came to the numbers on the monitor.  

 

Forgiveness - Major plus.  I didn't seem to matter what i did with this club It just wanted to go straight.  My usual misses where all  nonexistent and this club seemed to be "left proof".  That being said if you tend to struggle missing to the right I could see this club not working out very well for you.

 

Flight / distance- As I said in the "about me" section I play a stock high push draw to kill spin on my drives.  It became quickly apparent that this technique was not not ideal for this club.  My shots averaged good ball speed.  164 ish ( a little low but i was hitting everything in my bag that way on this particular day), good launch, 12-14, but the spin of sub 1500 rmps :huh: .  Basically hitting knuckle balls out there resulting in a big loss of carry. I either needed higher launch, higher spin, but most likely both.

 

Bio Pro Matrix X 10 loft (2).jpg

 

The number on foresight Gc2 look OK but I know that this system tends to be overly forgiving on low spin.  If you take these numbers and plug them in to Flightscopes trajectory optimizer you will see that the carry is not what it could be.

 

Dispersion - This is the part of the club test that I could not ignore.  The screen shot above represents a  single group of data points with out a single dropped shot.  There has not been a club I have ever tested that can match this grouping.  The best part is that I did this several times deleting a group and starting over.  I have had longer clubs but nothing with this accuracy.  The largest factor in the dispersion were the 2 short shots and the two longest that for some reason got cut off of the screen.  The longest two were the last two that I tried hitting a cut.  The shortest two were complete misses that were forgiven almost to the point of being unfair.

 

 

 

 

The results of this session were not ideal but they certainly warranted more testing.  My theory was that I could work on changing my setup to play a cut to add the needed spin and play the stock push draw in to the wind.  So I packed the club up with my things to play it for three rounds over the weekend.

 

Friday came and it was time for the first test.  I tried my stock shot on the range and as expected it went out, and little higher launch than I expected but more or less dove for the ground.  A few setup tweaks and I was hitting some pretty decent high straight to straight-cut shots.  The range hits in to trees at about 270 so i couldn't tell much till I got on the course.

 

Its funny how hard it is to line up for a shot you haven't been playing at all.  My first few drives were right .  But after that things really started looking up.  Once I got in the groove I was right in the middle as many or more times than I can remember on that course.  Distance with cross wind was great using the cut shot, again not the longest ever but the extremely consistent.  Distance in to the wind was outstanding several shots dead in to the western Kansas wind were out there 290 plus.

 

By my third round I was getting longer and more confident playing the straight shot.  The winds died down and I actually ended up shooting the lowest round I have ever managed.  You have to make a lot of other shots in this game but it was due in part to the Bio Pro.

 

Wrap up

 

This club is not for everyone.  I'm still not sure its going to work out for me.  I would like to try it in a slightly higher launching shaft to see what sort of results I get. I know that I could play it as is and hit more fairways than I am today and for that reason alone its in the bag.

 

I think this club could actually benefit a lot of players that have decent club head speed,  don't have problems getting the ball in the air, but need help controlling spin.  

 

It is without a doubt the lowest spinning driver I have hit to date and one of the most forgiving for its size.

007

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