Drivers. Everyone wants the one that goes the farthest, sounds the best, and looks the baddest. I mean you may use a driver four times in a round or as many as fourteen times in a round so why not make those shots count right? Behold, the Cobra S3 driver. Cobra’s latest driver offering dips its hosel into the world of adjustability combined with some unique technology too. Was I snake bitten by this sleek snake? Check it out.

From the Company
- E9 Face Technology™ creates a 30% larger Sweet Zone® and with Adjustable Flight Technology consistently delivers long distance and accuracy.
- A taller, elliptical face and beveled perimeter for increased distance, accuracy and forgiveness.
- Cobra tested thousands of golfers and found that they hit the ball in an elliptical pattern across the driver face, not just around the center like everyone thinks.
- Titanium 6-4 head and face with aluminum hosel sleeve.
Look
The S3 is a sneaky club which is a theme you’ll read about later. The looks, while not striking, definitely grow on you after spending some quality time with this driver. The head is 460cc, however, due to strategic design and weight positioning it appears smaller than that which I quite liked. It made me feel like I had to put a consistent/controlled swing on the ball to hit it rather than just blindly swing at the ball with a mass of metal at the end of a stick. The color is not your traditional ‘matte black’ that many drivers of today have on their crowns. It’s almost a ‘gun metal gray’ that has some sparkle to it when the sun hits it just right. The alignment aid is simple as well as effective. The snake coiled and ready to attack on the crown immediately gives you an aggressive feeling that lends itself to attacking the golf ball.
The adjustable hosel blends in well with the head and shaft profile and looks very much like a tour level driver. Perfect, right player? You don’t even notice the hosel like other driver offerings out there that offer adjustability. Creating this sleek profile offers the player a simple driver that doesn’t clutter your mind with ‘I want to kill this ball with all of this mass.’ I found this led to more consistent ball striking and promoted a smooth, in tempo swing, which was rewarded mightily.
The shaft that comes with the S3 is a 45.5” Fujikura Blur that has a lot of gray, silver, and gun metal gray to it with a hint of yellow. It definitely pairs nicely with the driver giving it a sleek, continuous and aggressive look. Basically it’s a sexy assassin of the golf ball which I sure would not have pegged this driver to be when I first received it for this review. The grip is a basic Golf Pride offering that I found to be slick after a short amount of time. Both the shaft and grips can be customized and changed through Cobra themselves if you decide you want to change either of these items.

Technology
Cobra did a massive amount of consumer testing which helped in constructing this driver. Cobra determined that 99% of the shots hit by golfers miss the center of the face in an elliptical pattern from low on the heel to high on the toe. The results of this testing is a taller and more elliptical face shape. The new beveled perimeter reduces the overall thickness of the face and the weight saved from the face is in turn put into the lower rear of the club to increase that ever important MOI factor. This increases both distance and accuracy for the S3. This is designed to give the golfer increased distance, accuracy and forgiveness. Not bad for an all titanium head and face with a hosel sleeve that’s aluminum right?
This is where the E9 Face Technology comes into play. Literally. While other companies tout their ability to give you 69 different way to adjust your club, Cobra gives you a grand total of THREE. Pretty simple right? You can remember open, neutral and closed right? Rather than potentially overwhelming the golfer with many different options, Cobra is banking on the golfer being able to find a solution and fit for themselves rather quickly and thereby getting their swing on rather than continuing to tinker. Not everyone will need the adjustability that the S3 has but it’s nice to know that some simple tweaking of the club is possible for those days where your swing is not so fresh.

Testing
Full disclosure for a moment here. I’ve never hit a Cobra club until this review came along for me. Ever. On paper, this driver seems like it was made specifically for me. I don’t always have a consistent driver swing and my misses can be anywhere from the heel to the toe with the toe miss being the most common for me. After spending some time with this driver I quickly realized that I was glad I was chosen to review this stick. The Cobra S3 is a sneaky and stealthy performer. The face doesn’t feel overly hot, the shaft doesn’t feel like it loads for my swing, and it’s not the longest driver out there waiting to be hit.
That being said, this club is very consistent. I noticed my shot dispersion was very tight, some of the tightest I’ve seen myself ever hit. Accuracy? Yep it’s got that too. Do I want consistency over length? Interesting choice that a golfer usually faces at least once in their lives whether it be with a driver, a set of irons, etc and this driver sure made me consider this choice. In fact I still ponder it even after my testing has run its course.
While testing this driver I was always finding myself asking a couple of questions. One was ‘where did that shot come from?’ and another was ‘is a miss supposed to go that long?’ I mentioned before that the face doesn’t feel overly hot. It seemed to feel ‘thicker’ than other driver club faces I’ve hit where the ball seemed to almost sit on the club face a tick too long instead of springing off the face like it was just bit by the snake on the crown of the club. Before I go on let me say that this driver is not a cure all for mis-hitting the ball off the tee. It just adds a different level of forgiveness and performance that I haven’t experienced in a driver before. My misses on the heel and especially out on the toe still suffered distance loss as compared to a shot hit on the sweet spot but the ball still went farther than it probably should have. The correlation of the E9 face technology to the results I saw are hard to ignore. There is definitely something to this driver that made me want to keep hitting it and hitting it to see if I could reproduce the previous results.
I think the Fujikura Blur shaft is a nice, solid offering but I think it may be holding this driver back a bit. I think the Blur shaft has a nice feel to it but on occasion with toe misses I felt what seemed like a little extra flex in the shaft which made it feel soft and whippy every now and then. Although this was a rare occurrence, I think it’s worth noting. If you’re a fast swinger this shaft may require some extra attention.

Overall
Cobra isn’t necessarily one of the sexiest names in golf. It doesn’t always have the hottest products, it doesn’t have the household name players always playing their equipment, or the best marketing campaigns. What it does have is a loyal following that are some of the fiercest out there in the golf world. I’ve been remiss in my not hitting a Cobra club over the years and I’m here to say that the Cobra S3 driver is a pleasant surprise to me. Sometimes a club comes out of nowhere and grabs your attention. That’s exactly what this club did and continues to do so for me. Has it won a spot in my bag for 2011? Hard to say right now as I still want to gather some more data but the prospect of joining my club rotation is exciting.
For more information on the Cobra S3 driver, click on over to www.cobragolf.com. Retail price for this snake is $299 so do yourself a favor and add the Cobra S3 to your driver shopping list. You can find the Cobra S3 driver at retail shops and online stores such as www.blind9golf.com. Don’t make the same mistake I did in not hitting a Cobra club before it’s too late. For those of you who like things a little different it’s also available, albeit in limited numbers, in white as well. Ssssssssuper!
T. Hanks
I don’t know,”Cobra” is a pretty sexy name to me…
i wanna demo it… i wonder if its as loud as its cousins or is it more muted
This is a driver that I really want to try out this year. The e9 technology really has me interested. With the limited amount of adjustibility, I wonder if it is even necessary to add to the club, but maybe it will be useful to some.
Thorough review, packed full of some good information. Well done Hanks!
I am also a bit curious about the sound, as russ above me askes. I think Cobra makes a fine product and it’s nice to see them implement some techonological advancements of their own into a golf club.
Great review. I am quickly becoming a Cobra fan. Based on your review, I owe it to myself to demo this driver again. My misses are off the toe too
Great review Hanks!!!!! Sounds like this club has a lot to offer to those seeking forgiveness.
As always a great review Hanks! I had the chance to see you hit this club on the range and course and I think you’re review is spot on. The different shape of the face and sweet spot have me interested because of where my miss if usually on the driver face.
Great review. I will have to check this club out next time I am at the Golf Store.
A very complete and well done review Hanks!!! This driver is on a very short list of drivers I am looking forward to hitting at the outing. I hit it every time I got to the golf store and it always shows great numbers, now looking to see what it does outside. I am impressed with the way Cobra is bringing it with their club offering this year and I will definately check them out when it is time to relace my Driver and/or irons.
Excellent write up T! I witnessed your first round of testing with this club and I knew right then that you’d find that you liked it quite a bit. Well done buddy, well done!
Very nice and informative review. I enjoy my baffler hybrid (overlooked as well, imo) a lot and will be adding the s3 to my demo list of drivers.
Great review Hanks! I’m going to have to give this one a few swings at the Outing! Cobra really seems to have brought it for 2011.
Nice write up. Im wondering if that “whippy” feeling you describe on some balls off the toe is more a product of shaft torque rather than flex.
Nice review Hanks. I’m quite impressed with the S3 lineup from Cobra this year and I’m looking forward to spending more time with this driver and the fairway’s shortly
VERY Enlightening review ! Gonna’ give it a try. However, I agree with JNRadio, I think the ‘Cobra’ name is sexy, plus the logo is So COOL ! otherwise, take a look at the SI full page ad featuring Blair O’Neal. That should get the name noticed more.
Nice write up. Forgiveness is why i went with the ZL too.
Good stuff T. Hanks! Another club everyone can demo at the THP demo day.
I’ve played Cobra drivers and hybrids for the past 8 years and have to say that nothing that I have tried is as accurate and fun to play. The biggest advantage to these clubs is they keep me in the fairway. I have a 11 handicap and I have to say that Cobra has played a big part in getting there. When I am off a bit on a drive I am still playable most times and the distance doesn’t suffer as much as with other drivers I have used. Cobra may not be the sexiest name in drivers but I’ll take them to the dance every time.
this is real good cant wait to read more
I have the white version and beleive me with the RIP shaft it is long very long
The cobra range is excellent. I have a set of Callaway razr black and nike vr pro . I also have cobra s3 irons and white s3 driver.
Very long and consistent. Cobra are underestimated .Same as nike.
Thoroughly recommend this driver and the hybrids. The 3 wood is excellent to. Ball gets in the air quickly off the fairway
Just traded in a Callaway Razer X Black that I got last year for this S3 last week. The Razer X Black has a stock shaft that is way too whippy at the bottom. (I swing a stiff shaft at 95 to 99 mph). I really had to lean into it to get 250 yrds out of a drive. I’ve played three rounds with the S3 and I’m impressed. The miss hits low on the face was the only issue…too much distance loss. I now average 270 yrds and get 280+ if I lean into it. I like the simple adjusting of the AFT…remove the screw and set the loft. Closed = 1.5 deg lower loft and Open = 1.5 deg higher for taller or more upright players. The shaft and head work well for me, sounds great and I am now hitting long and consistant drives. The S3 three and five woods have somehow also found their way into my golf bag. 🙂
While golfing for 50 years, the most reliable in the fairway driver I ever came across was the Cobra L4V. It had loud noise but that did not bother me. I could hit a baby draw at will with it. Best part, my contact was in a tight circle near the sweet spot. I have never been able to do that with any other driver. My L4V just plain wore out after 5 years and 1000 rounds. Just ordered a used S3 driver in excellent used condition from a major internet retailer. Hope it will be just as good if not better than my L4V.