Cobra LTDx Vs. Taylormade Stealth Irons Comparison Overview
The new year is upon us and for golfers, that means new gear. Cobra and Taylormade are some of the juggernauts of golf club companies and they have both come out with new iron lines for 2022. We were very excited to get our hands on the LTDx and new Stealth irons.
After we tested both of these iron sets against one another, it was clear that although they utilize very different design elements, they were still both constructed for the same type of player. If you’re looking for a good set of game improvement irons for 2022, check out the following comparison.
Cobra LTDx Irons Overview
The Cobra LTDx irons have a feature that we haven’t seen before.
There is a steel bar that spans the length of the hitting area and that steel par is encapsulated by a polymer wrapping. This is supposed to put more power behind your shots and yield more distance. We must say that you can feel the impact that this bar has on the performance of these irons.
They all have a very solid feel on full swings and you can feel that the heads are a bit stiffer than normal irons. The feel in general is unique and you will have to take some time to get used to it; but overall it’s not a bad feel.
Taylormade Stealth Irons Overview
The Taylormade Stealth irons are marked by a sexy design and very resourceful use of head mass.
The first thing we have to say about these irons is that they look incredible. With a near muscle back design and very unique lines in the back of the head, these things look like irons from the future; but in a good way.
The new Cap-Back design actually shaves mass off the back of the toe and repositions it right under the sweet spot in the sole. As you can imagine, this increases forgiveness and helps with distance on shots made more or less dead center.
And as with any proper set of Taylormade clubs, the Stealth irons feature the Speed Pocket that increases flex on low-face misses.
We liked both of these clubs for mid handicappers but we would go with the Cobra LTDx irons if we could only choose one. That’s because the milled grooves give the shorter irons better near-the-green control and accuracy.
Cobra LTDx Irons
Category: Game-Improvement Irons
Taylormade Stealth Irons
Category: Game Improvement Irons
Cobra LTDx Irons – First Impressions
Even though these irons are new, they sport the same chunky sole that we have seen in previous Cobra models.
This was a comforting site for all the testers in our party. There’s no doubt that Cobra looked to make a stronger foray into the game-improvement iron market than they ever have before with the Cobra LTDx irons.
They launch high, increase forgiveness on low face misses and they flex to a high degree. What we were most impressed with though was that these irons still give you that Cobra players iron short game performance.
The grooves in the faces of the short irons are incredibly tight so you get an exceptional amount of short-game control from irons that fall into the game-improvement category.
Taylormade Stealth First Impressions
The Taylormade Stealth irons have a striking design that we didn’t really know what to make of at first.
These are some of the most uniquely designed game improvement irons we ever tested. The cap back system that wraps around the rear toe area looks striking but it didn’t make sense to us at first.
Then we started playing with this set. One of the first things we noticed was that even with the 4 iron, it was very easy to find the sweet spot. The offset helps yes, but more than anything, that extra mass in the sole beneath the sweet spot helps to square up.
It’s like a giant target for your alignment. And since the face was designed to flex to a ridiculous degree, you don’t need a fast swing speed to get decent distance out of these irons.
With the 5 iron in the Taylormade Stealth set, our testers were able to establish an average distance of 161 yards. Of course, as game improvement irons, they suffer from the typical short-game pitfalls.
With the shorter irons, spin is very hard to control. Roll distance was a problem on short approaches and if you are playing a particularly fast green, you will need to rely on your wedges for longer shots.
Cobra LTDx Irons Selling Points
- An expansive milled face area
- Tightly-etched and milled grooves
- New face cup design
- Beefy sole to promote higher launch
- New steel bar placed behind the sweet spot
Taylormade Stealth Selling Points
- They have an innovative cap back design
- They do work to soften harsh vibration to a moderate degree
- Reduced toe mass
- Increased sole mass under the center of the face
- They feature Taylormade’s inverted Cone Technology (ICT)
- 450 stainless steel face
Who are the Cobra LTDx Irons for?
The new Cobra LTDx irons are some of the most complete game-improvement irons we have seen from Cobra in a long time. As such, they would fit well in the bags of mid to high handicappers; but they have a little bit to offer low handicap players as well.
The Cobra Family of Irons
If you are looking for a pure player’s performance iron, you may want to check out the Cobra Forged Tec irons. The Forged Tec irons feature a muscle back design and of course, forged faces. The Forged Tec irons also feature a hollow-body design that allows room for foam microspheres that sweeten the feel of the forged faces. To top it all off, the Forged Tec irons feature a tungsten tow weight that positions the center of gravity closer to where most players mis-hit.
Distance: 93/100
Accuracy: 93/100
Forgiveness: 94/100
Feel & Control: 94/100
Overall Score: 94/100
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Who are the Taylormade Stealth Irons for?
The Taylormade Stealth irons would primarily benefit high handicap players who are struggling chiefly with distance.
While they offer a moderate degree of forgiveness, it’s clear after testing these irons that most of the R&D went into improving ball speed and distance for players with slower swing speeds.
Most of the testers in our party with swing speeds under 90MPH were keeping up remarkably well with testers with faster swing speeds. Just don’t expect impeccable feel from these irons.
While Taylormade claims that the polymer cap back material gives these irons a “forged feel” we would classify this as a dubious claim at best. At the end of the day, there is simply no mistaking a forged iron and these are not forged irons.
The Taylormade Iron Family
While the Stealth irons are a stand-alone class, Taylormade makes a ton of iron sets. One of the most notable for beginners and high handicappers is the SIM2 Max irons that sport an oversized face profile so that it’s much easier to nail the sweet spot.
The SIM2 Max irons also feature the predecessor to the cap back system, the Speed Bridge. The Speed Bridge is a rear brace that connects the crown and sole, allowing the face to be disconnected from the body just like the Taylormade Stealth irons.
The result is the same: higher degree of flex and ball speed. However, the SIM2 Max irons will do more for you if you are struggling with iron accuracy. They offer comparable distance to the Taylormade Stealth irons; but with a higher emphasis on forgiveness.
Distance: 94/100
Accuracy: 92/100
Forgiveness: 93/100
Feel & Control: 89/100
Overall Score: 92/100
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