51 replies to this topic

[mac2lad]

Specs:  http://www.callawaygolf.com/Global/en-US/Products/Clubs/Drivers/DiabloOctaneDriver/Specifications.html

"8 yards longer than titanium.  Based on average total distance at a 95 percent  confidence level from 2010 Callaway player testing against the Diablo  Edge Driver."

[asualum]

mac2lad, on 11 October 2010 - 01:14 PM, said:

Specs:  http://www.callawayg...ifications.html

"8 yards longer than titanium.  Based on average total distance at a 95 percent  confidence level from 2010 Callaway player testing against the Diablo  Edge Driver."

Just saw this. I actually like the looks...just wonder what type of player it's aimed at.

[Goldenhawk]

I dunno........I hate to call out Callaway (since I carry a mostly Cally bag), but the standard length of these drivers is 46 inches, which is 1 inch longer than a standard Cally driver.  That extra inch of shaft length may have something more to do with the distance gain than the forged carbon composite.

[jones137]

Goldenhawk, on 11 October 2010 - 02:13 PM, said:

I dunno........I hate to call out Callaway (since I carry a mostly Cally bag), but the standard length of these drivers is 46 inches, which is 1 inch longer than a standard Cally driver.  That extra inch of shaft length may have something more to do with the distance gain than the forged carbon composite.

I agree.

[dcb2821]

its a new trend. longer shafts to say the driver is so many yards longer. anyone notice a trend....everyone is doing what TM does. the thing that everyone used to dog TM about was coming out with new clubs all the time. now cally and nike are doing it too, the others will follow.

[Zunes]

My Cobra ZL is 46", has helped my distance without hurting accuracy.
The Diablo Edge is actually 45.5 standard. Callaway has had some 45.5 shafts for years.
Can't wait to try the Diablo Octane next month,

[dcb2821]

45.5 is not too bad, im def gonna try this out, it looks nice

[ml43]

i've tested one out for 18 holes

these things are long, I doubt anyone will be disappointed with them

hit it side by side with a friends FT-Tour with a Mamiya Axiv-V(like a more stable Attas)

both drivers had the same shaft length(45.5")

hit them both the same distance, but the diablo octane tour was way more forgiving, with a larger sweet spot and a tad higher spin


I'd say when fit correctly, this driver will yeild better results for most than the FT-Tour

[Aogolf]

The crown looks like the 07 TM Burner.  If the Diablo performs anything like the Burner,  it's worth a shot.

[jwfgolfpro]

Goldenhawk, on 11 October 2010 - 02:13 PM, said:

I dunno........I hate to call out Callaway (since I carry a mostly Cally bag), but the standard length of these drivers is 46 inches, which is 1 inch longer than a standard Cally driver.  That extra inch of shaft length may have something more to do with the distance gain than the forged carbon composite.

Carbon Composite makes the head lighter and that lets them go longer in length thus longer in distance.

[dcb2821]

i always feel like i can get more club head speed on a shorter shaft, it must just be a feel and not the truth, lol

[jick]

jwfgolfpro, on 12 October 2010 - 02:07 PM, said:

Carbon Composite makes the head lighter and that lets them go longer in length thus longer in distance.

How much lighter?  Would you know the exact headweight?  Drivers in Japan have been going on at around 193 to 195 grams for years now.  Wonder what the exact weight is since Callaway doesn't seem to indicate it in their product literature.

[score72418]

I'm interested to see how the carbon composite head sounds at impact.  Looks like a sweet stick!

[willpeoples]

they are pretty good... nothing extraordinary long. but longer than a lot of previous callaway clubs

[Mizunofan]

score72418, on 12 October 2010 - 08:26 PM, said:

I'm interested to see how the carbon composite head sounds at impact.  Looks like a sweet stick!

Just hit it today, given that it is a carbon composite head, it makes a very soft sound at impact. It does not generate the metallic "twang" we have all gotten used to hearing from titanium drivers.

However, it is very long, longer than previous Callaway drivers. The ball gets up in the air very quickly and sailed past the 250 yard marker with ease.

[punchdrunk]

HIt one in the Santa Ana Roger Dunn today, felt good but not quite as revolutionary like Cally thinks it is. Good looking club though

[Goldenhawk]

I've been carrying the Octane Regular Driver and Tour Fairway for a week now.  I must say that both are better than the DE products.  The driver does come with a 46 inch long shaft and I'm still getting use to it.  The DOT fairway is definitely an improvement over the DET in terms of distance.  BTW, the DOT and the DET uses the same stock shaft.  Here's some pics:

The driver head cover:


The driver sole:


The driver face:


The driver's forged composite top:


The driver at address:


The DOT Fairway Wood headcover:


The DOT Fairway Sole:


The DOT 18* Fairway at address:

[Goldenhawk]

punchdrunk, on 04 November 2010 - 01:14 AM, said:

HIt one in the Santa Ana Roger Dunn today, felt good but not quite as revolutionary like Cally thinks it is. Good looking club though

The forged composite top does lighten the head.  Overall, the Octane does feel lighter than the DET, even at a 46 inch length.  The Diablo Octane will do for now.......until I can get my hands on a RAZRHAWK.

[ays21886]

A few answers to some questions IMO from my fitting in Carlsbad a few weeks ago.

1) The driver is aimed at the "better" player but at a lower price point according to Cally reps @ their testing facility.  
2) The clubhead is extremely lighter.  To the point where I didn't feel like I felt it at all in my swing (which I don't like) and gave it back to the rep as I didn't like it at all.
3) Regarding sound, higher pitched, tinny.  I didn't like it.  I compare the sound btw the Octane Tour and the FT Tour w/ the Octane sounding like a Honda car horn (high, puny sounding) to the FT Tour being like a muscle car (deep, strong).  
4) The shape of the head was fine.  Nothing crazy.  Shallower face than the FT Tour which I didn't like.  I am going to stick w/ the FT Tour for 2011.

Recommendation: If the FT Tour is too difficult to hit due to its smaller sweet spot, the Octane is probably the next best fit for someone of a stronger caliber player.  The lightweight and shallower face allow it to be played by players with a little less skill than what the FT Tour would be geared for.  I would say, 0-5 handicapper =FT Tour, 0-15= Octane Tour.  It's all about personal preference.

[TMBob]

Aogolf, on 12 October 2010 - 12:45 AM, said:

The crown looks like the 07 TM Burner.  If the Diablo performs anything like the Burner,  it's worth a shot.

If it performs like another club that cost much less, why buy the new one?  

[Puppetmaster]

Thanks for those pics, the DOT FW looks interesting. I may have to give it a go. I had a DET 15* and 18* which didn't work out, so hopefully I'll have more luck with these.

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Just saw Ernie was gaming the tour driver

[enduro]

Sounds pretty much like a rehashed FT9 driver with different cosmetics and name . And instead of retaining the easy to reshaft hosel of the DET. Callaway chooses once again to produce a driver that will be a PITA to reshaft.

Looks like a gigantic step backwards IMO, this driver will be a sales dud just like all the other diablos were.

[onlyonfridays]

Tried it out today at work.... and it's not that impressive. The clubhead looks fine, the sound is a bit muted as well. The ball speed is fairly low (for a 110~ swing speed) in comparison to other drivers (stock retail comparisons such as VR Str8-Fit and R9). I imagine that the "tour" version will be pretty nice, but this driver just isn't that great in my opinion. It doesn't perform as well as drivers that are and have already been available.

[rob8]

Tested it yesterday against my fitters advise and just like he said it launched way too high for me.  If your a high launch player this is most likely not the club for you.

[Bob57]

Sounds similar to their claims with their all graphite version of a driver and we all know where that went.  Too much fiddling that goes on in these tests that can never be confirmed.  High limit or low limit COR in each driver tested, calibration of monitors, use of one player, ball used (high limit vs. low limit), type of ball used soft hard spin low spin.  All of these things put together could easily result in those yardage differences if the pluses were used on the new driver and the minuses used on the previous ti old driver.  Probably have to call a Barbara Streisand on these claims of extra yardage.  What's next all the LDA guys switch to this technology and leave the other manufacturers behind?  That would be more of a testimony than some "test".  The tour model and regular model I demoed had no noticeable yardage associated with them, in fact they were shorter than many of the new drivers just due to the extremely high launch angle they produced (8.5 used).  The 910 D3 in 8.5 was noticeably longer in a short test using the same balls and project X shafts in both.

Edited by Bob57, 06 November 2010 - 09:42 AM.

[Goldenhawk]

Callaway's FT series drivers produced the highest ball speeds in any driver I've played.  Like I said earlier, the distance gain with the Octane is probably due to the longer shaft.

[easyyy]

Interesting posts. I talked to a tour rep for a shaft company the other day and he said it was hot. Said the octane tour was working great on tour. Thy were getting a lot of requests from the players to fit the octane head in the gamer shaft.

As i said in another thread, I have been waiting for the chatter to start about this head being real good. We will see. I don't know how they could ever go backwards after they made the holy Grail ft-9ta/ft-tour retail.

Also if this is a lower price point for drivers, what will the high end head be?

[ml43]

easyyy, on 07 November 2010 - 08:48 AM, said:

Interesting posts. I talked to a tour rep for a shaft company the other day and he said it was hot. Said the octane tour was working great on tour. Thy were getting a lot of requests from the players to fit the octane head in the gamer shaft.

As i said in another thread, I have been waiting for the chatter to start about this head being real good. We will see. I don't know how they could ever go backwards after they made the holy Grail ft-9ta/ft-tour retail.

Also if this is a lower price point for drivers, what will the high end head be?

believe the razr hawk will be around $399, no?


The octane tour is a great head imo, really bridges the gap between the FT-Tour & the FT-9.

plus it has a very classic look from address

I think if they made a smaller/deeper faced version, it'll give the FT-Tour a really hard rub,
especially from a cosmetic point of view since it wont have a seam on the crown like the FT-Tour/FT-9

[studatnu]

I've had an FT-9 in the bag for over a year now and love this thing.  Golf Galaxy in my area is demo'ing the Octane next friday and giving away sleeves of balls to give it a shot, I'm gonna go head to head and we'll see what happens.