S2

I've become a bit of a Cobra driver afficianado - from SS430, through Comp 454 and 414, SZ, M-Speed LD, L4V, L5V and Cobra ZL. This is by far the best looking of the bunch and will deliver the extra yards but, personally, I'd prefer to give up distance for the feel the ZL gives me.

Looks

The best-looking driver that Cobra has ever produced with a sun-burst sole and classic head shape that oozes quality and generates confidence at address. Whip the head cover off and puff out the chest. This is a real head-turner on any first tee with its black, yellow and grey paint work.

The standard version also comes with its own torque wrench to enable you to set the head to your preferred specifications: open (+1.5 deg), neutral (0) or closed (-1.5 deg). The offset head version doesn't have the adjustable flight technology - imagine the problems you'd have if it did though it might be handy for hitting round corners!

Feel/performance

Feel off the clubface is the key to this first impression when I tried both the standard and offset versions in the range at Wentworth in early December. The titanium face made the feel much harder than the Cobra ZL, presumably due to Cobra's '9-position hotter' impact points on the clubface (that's hot spots, not sweet spots), the unique selling point on previous Cobras, including the SZ.

The feeling - both with the standard and the offset - was similar to hitting other drivers high on the face. Not necessarily that pleasant an experience but in performance terms, quite outstanding. I'm normally a low ball hitter but with almost every shot, the ball flew longer and higher than I'd hit most clubs - perhaps due also to being able to handle the 46-inch shaft. But it just didn't feel comfortable.