Vapor Fly driver review
From red to green to blue. Nike has never been afraid of employing bold aesthetics with its drivers over the years.
It’s the first thing you notice when taking a club off the rack, and Nike has understood the importance of designing a club that can be recognised hanging out of bags at your local course, and more importantly in the hands of professionals on the television.
From red to green to blue. Nike has never been afraid of employing bold aesthetics with its drivers over the years.
It’s the first thing you notice when taking a club off the rack, and Nike has understood the importance of designing a club that can be recognised hanging out of bags at your local course, and more importantly in the hands of professionals on the television.
From the top, the new Vapor Fly oozes class. The crown and sole is dominated by a beautiful “photo blue” colour, while a slither of silver can be seen on the sole, and Nike’s famous green volt colour fills in the Swoosh on the crown and features on the sole.
While the older Covert 2.0’s simple red and black design was a personal favourtie of ours, and is still probably the best looking driver Nike has produced, the Vapor Fly is not far off, and is an improvement on the former Vapor Speed, which divided opinion because of the volt green sole.
Nike's latest driver has a more pear-shaped profile when looking down on the ball compared to the Vapor Speed, and it sits behind the ball appealingly. The simple design on the crown is satisfyingly uncluttered, while the 460cc head inspires confidence.
When it comes to the big dog, most players are typically concerned with distance and forgiveness, and these are two areas the Vapor Fly excels in.
On centre hits we were getting up to five yards added carry distance on average compared to the Vapor Speed.
The new "Flightweight" crown reduces overall weight by 30%, and boasts a lower centre of gravity. This culminates in a higher-launching ball flight with less spin, resulting in more yards. Nike says it produces a driver to “fly higher, fly farther” and it has kept its word.
While it’s one of the longer drivers on the market, the Nike Vapor Fly also impresses in the forgiveness stakes.
The sporting mega-brand’s engineers in its "Oven" discovered a way to make the "HyperFlight" face thinner around the perimeter, and in conjunction with the new "Compression Channel", which creates a springboard effect, and the fourth generation "FlyBeam Reinforced Covert Cavity Back", there is an impressive amount of help on off-centre hits.
As you would expect for a driver that boasts a good deal of forgiveness, the Vapor Fly is not the easiest to work, but if that is what you are craving, we would direct you towards the new Vapor Fly Pro, as currently used by Rory McIlroy.
The Vapor Fly driver has a more lively feel compared to its predecessors. While the Covert 2.0 and Vapor Speed each possessed a soft, buttery feel, the new driver is slightly harder and more responsive, which we prefer.
The "thwack" sound at impact remains, too. It's not particularly overpowering but still lets the golfer know they have hit a golf ball.
Nike's "FlexLoft 2.0" technology allows the user to benefit from five lofts (8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, 11.5°, 12.5°), at three different face angles (Neutral, Left and Right), which effectively offers 15 different settings. Nike touts this as “a Tour van in a can”, and we can see exactly why. If you like to tinker with your driver, you will not be disappointed.
Verdict
Nike has produced a driver boasting two of the most desirable attributes - distance and forgiveness. Add to the mix awesome aesthetics and we very much expect the Nike Vapor Fly to fly off the shelves in 2016.
