H E A D T O HEAD WILSON STAFF CORTEX Loft: Shaft:
We found out which of these two new wallet-friendly drivers for 2019 offers the best value
8° (neutral, low-spin weight setting) Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec 6S
LOOKS
At address, you’re greeted by quite a rounded shape. The carbon fibre weaving brings it up to date and the lighter face colour makes it easy to align at address. It’s one of the best-looking drivers around.
FEEL/ SOUND
Cortex has quite a loud ‘clang’ sound at impact that reverberates for a little longer than we’d have liked. It still feels solid overall, and when you hit one out of the screws you really know about it.
BALL FLIGHT
Admittedly the slightly softer shaft contributed to a higher, spinnier flight that climbed a touch too much overall, but you can add draw bias via the 2g and 8g sole weights, something you can’t do on the Cobra.
FORGIVENESS
Both drivers have ‘forgiving’ weight settings and the Cortex was user-friendly overall. That said, low-faced impacts lost a little more distance than we’d have liked, although the direction seemed easy to control.
OVERALL APPEAL
Unquestionably Wilson’s best looking and performing driver. Through a fitting, Cortex can be tuned for golfers of all abilities via the more varied adjustability, but in our test it fell just short of the Cobra.
FEEL/ SOUND
The Cobra offers up more of a ‘pow’ sound – a little lower in pitch and one that we marginally preferred. It also seemed a little more powerful, and felt like more speed was being transferred from club to ball.
BALL FLIGHT
The lower spin with more speed on a similar launch produced a stronger, more accurate flight. Switching the sole weights was effective, altering spin by around 400rpm and the peak height by three yards.
FORGIVENESS
The Gcquad suggested that off-centre impacts were marginally more efficient in the low-spin setting. We actually got more ball speed in the more forgiving high-spin setting, which will help on the course.
OVERALL APPEAL
Pound for pound, it’s arguably one of the best drivers for 2019. The looks take some getting used to, but everyone will enjoy the combination of ball speed, forgiveness and effective sole-weight adjustability.