Cobra has color cornered in its new line of BiO Cell drivers, fairway woods and hybrids, which are available in club heads painted blue, red, silver, orange and black.

Also see the new for 2014 Cobra Bio Cell + Fairway Woods and the New for 2014 Cobra Bio Cell + Drivers.

That makes the company the clear-cut leader in personalization among the major equipment manufacturers, a definite feather in Cobra’s many-hued cap. But Cobra leadership is hoping that the performance of the new line, not the five color options, will leave the biggest impression on golfers in 2014.

BiO Cell Driver

The BiO Cell drivers are longer than last year’s AMP Cell drivers thanks to their 50 percent lower center of gravity (CG), which makes the new model launch an average of 1.2 degrees higher than AMP Cell with about 300 rpms less spin, according to Cobra testing.

The lower CG was made possible through Cobra’s “BiO Cell” technology, changes to the walls of the 460-cubic-centimeter driver head that were inspired by strong, lightweight structures found in nature such as spider webs and beehives.

Similar webbed patterns are prominently displayed on the crown and sole of the 6-4 titanium driver, evidence of the cellular approach Cobra engineers took to moving as many grams of weight as possible from the higher, more-frontward parts of the driver head to lower, more-rearward areas.

Much of the weight savings came from driver’s crown, which is 0.15 mm thinner than last year’s model. It now measures a slim 0.5 mm, creating a weight saving of nearly 2 grams. The driver’s Forged E9 “BiO Cell” face was also made lighter and thinner, resulting in a two-fold improvement. It gave engineers another 2 grams of discretionary weight to move low and deep in the head, and the thinner face is also more responsive on shots hit off center, increasing the size of the driver’s sweet spot.

Those changes add up to a driver that is not only longer than the AMP Cell, but also more forgiving, with an impressive 4250 moment of inertia (MOI).

The BiO Cell driver also has Cobra’s new MyFly8 adjustable hosel, which adds two more settings than its predecessor. (Note: The new hosel design will not accommodate shafts with the company’s original MyFly tips).

The MyFly8 hosel gives golfers five different loft settings, 9, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and 12 degrees, as well as three draw (D) settings, 9.5D, 10.5D and 11.5D, which make the club more upright to promote more draw bias. Those eight settings work with the company’s Smart Pad, a 1.5-cm strip on the sole of the driver that helps keep the driver head square throughout its 3-degree adjustable range. In its lowest loft, 9 degrees, the BiO Cell will sit about 0.5-degrees opened, while in its highest loft, 12 degrees, the driver will sit about 0.75-degrees closed.

Also see the new for 2014 Cobra Bio Cell + Fairway Woods and the New for 2014 Cobra Bio Cell + Drivers.

The Cobra BiO Cell drivers will hit shelves on Jan. 15 and sell for $299. They’ll come stock with a 45.75-inch True Temper Project X PXv shaft, a co-engineered design available in lite, regular, stiff and x-stiff flexes. The stock swing weights are D3 (lite flex) D4 (regular and stiff flexes) and D4.5 (x-stiff flex).

Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about Cobra’s new BiO Cell line.

BiO Cell Fairway Woods and Hybrids

Cobra’s BiO Cell fairway woods and hybrids take the same dedicated approach to moving weight low and deep in the head as the company’s BiO Cell drivers.

The bodies of the fairway woods are made from 17-4 stainless steel, but the clubs have high-strength 455 Carpenter steel faces, which along with the fairway woods’ slightly more forward CG creates about 2 mph more ball speed than the AMP Cell fairway woods.

The faces of the fairway woods are also 4 mm shallower, or shorter, making them easier to hit from the ground and light rough.

According to Jose Miraflor, director of product marketing for Cobra-Puma golf, golfers should expect the BiO Cell fairway woods to launch about 0.5-degrees higher than their AMP Cell equivalents with 500 rpms less spin. Those launch conditions, combined with the clubs’ faster ball speeds, should give golfers an average distance gain of 9-to-11 yards.

Photo above: Note the weight mass on the front of the sole of the BiO Cell fairway woods. That gives the clubs a more forward CG than the AMP Cell fairway woods, but it’s not so far forward that it negatively affects the clubs forgiveness, says Jose Miraflor, director of product marking for Cobra-Puma Golf. 

Like the BiO Cell drivers, the fairway woods have Cobra’s MyFly8 adjustable hosels and Smart Pad sole designs. They’re offered in two different heads, a 3-4F and a 5-7F.

• The 3-4F woods measure 43.5 inches, and adjust to five different lofts: 13, 13.5, 14.5, 15.5, and 16 degrees. They also have three different draw settings: 13.5D, 14.5D and 15.5D. Stock swing weight is D3.
• The 5-7F woods measure 43 inches, and adjust to lofts of 17, 17.5, 18.5, 19.5 and 20 degrees. They have draw settings of 17.5D, 18.5D and 19.5D. Stock swing weight is D3.

The BiO Cell hybrids share the same construction as the BiO Cell fairway woods, with 17-4 stainless steel bodies and high-strength 455 Carpenter steel faces. They are offered in three different heads with MyFly8 adjustable hosels and Smart Pad sole designs:

• 2-3H Lofts: 16, 16.5, 16.5D, 17.5, 17.5D, 18.5, 18.5 D, 19, Length: 41 inches, D2 swing weight.
• 3-4H Lofts: 19, 19.5, 19.5D, 20.5, 20.5D, 21.5, 21.5D, 22, Length: 40.25 inches , D2 swing weight.
• 4-5 Lofts: 22, 22.5, 22.5D, 23.5, 23.5D, 24.5, 24.5D, 25, Length: 39.5 inches, D2 swing weight.

The Cobra BiO Cell fairway woods and hybrids will be available at retailers on Jan. 15. The fairway woods will sell for $219, and the hybrids will cost $189. Each comes stock with a True Temper Project X PXv co-engineered shaft, available in lite, regular, stiff and x-stiff flexes.

BiO Cell Irons

Large unsupported faces, deep undercuts and a multi-material construction are all staples of a distance-driven game-improvement set of irons. But Cobra engineers took those measures to the extremes with their new BiO Cell irons, creating a set that Cobra officials hope golfers will soon know as the longest irons in golf.

The long irons (3-7) are cast from 17-4 stainless steel, and have a undercut that plunges deep into their soles. It causes the sole of the BiO Cell 4 iron to be as thin as 1.49 mm, which according to Miraflor tested the limits of just how thin Cobra could make an iron sole and still have it meet durability standards.

The deep undercut and thin iron faces, which are taller and wider than their predecessors, create the largest unsupported faces of any set of irons Cobra has ever created.

The long irons also have two 10-gram tungsten weights (one in the heel, one in the toe), which lower the center of gravity of the irons for a higher launch and increased ball speed — key ingredients for more distance. But their position in the outer-cavity ports of the irons also make the iron heads more stable on mishits, boosting forgiveness.

The more accuracy-driven short irons (8-GW) are cast from a softer 431 stainless steel, and have their tungsten weights positioned in the two inner-cavity ports on the back of the iron. That more inward positioning decreases forgiveness, but it improves feel and workability, more valued attributes for game-improvement short irons. However, both the long irons and short irons have multi-material badges adhered to the back of the irons’ extremely thin faces to help increase sound and feel.

The BiO Cell irons will be available on Jan. 15 in four colors (blue, black orange and red), and cost $699 (4-PW, GW) with True Temper’s Dynalite 85 steel shafts (regular and stiff flexes). The full iron specs are listed below (click to enlarge).

Also see the new for 2014 Cobra Bio Cell + Fairway Woods and the New for 2014 Cobra Bio Cell + Drivers.

Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about Cobra’s new BiO Cell line.