New Drivers 2025: More distance, forgiveness and accuracy
New Drivers 2025: More distance, forgiveness and accuracy Manufacturers are using aerodynamic shapes, exotic materials and adjustability to make drivers that can provide golfers with more distance, straighter ball flights and better spin control.
As more and more golfers are working with custom fitters to find the club that best fits their swing and game, equipment manufacturers are making a wider selection of drivers so they can offer clubs that appeal to a broad range of players.
In most cases, brands offer a standard version of their latest driver and design it to be a club that offers a blend of distance, forgiveness and accuracy, but other versions often put a greater emphasis on one particular aspect or quality. For example, for 2025, Ping is offering the new G440 driver and feels it will be a good option for a wide range of players, but it also offers the G440 LST for golfers who need a low-spin club and the G440 SFT for golfers who need a driver that reduces the effects of a slice. Similarly, TaylorMade has the standard Qi35, which boasts a blend of stability, ball speed enhancement and forgiveness, but it also released the low-spin Qi35 LS, the ultra-forgiving Qi35 Max and an ultra-lightweight version for moderate and slower-swinging players called the Qi35 Max Lite.
Cobra has taken this concept to the extreme for 2025 by not only offering four versions of its DS-Adapt driver (the X, the LS, the Max and the Max D), but it has also developed a new 33-position adjustable hosel mechanism that players and fitters can use to fine-tune the drivers and produce a better fit.
So that's the good news, the fact there are more drivers and more versions of drivers on the market than ever before. The bad news is all those choices can create a lot of confusion when it comes time to buy one. But as much as drivers have changed over the years, one thing has stayed the same: The best way to find your perfect driver is to work with a custom fitter and hit different clubs while collecting data with a launch monitor.
Below is a list of many of the newest drivers from leading manufacturers that you will see in pro shops and golf specialty stores throughout 2025. It is not designed to tell you what to buy, but it can give you a starting point in your purchasing decision and help you learn what clubs could be worth trying.
Callaway Elyte
Price: $599.99 (Elyte, Elyte X, Elyte Max Fast) with Project X Denali shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips; $649 (Triple Diamond) with Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black shaft Specs: 460-cubic-centimeter titanium head and face with carbon fiber crown, moveable weights and adjustable hoselAvailable: NOW
Who they're for: Golfers looking for a balance of distance and forgiveness. The standard Elyte likely will fit most golfers, while the Triple Diamond is a spin-killer for heavy hitters, the Elyte X offers more stability and the Max Fast is ideal for moderate-speed and slower-swinging players.
What you should know: The four Elyte drivers feature updated faces that generate more ball speed and protect it on mishits, enhancing forgiveness across the lineup. Read the full review.
Shop Callaway Elyte drivers
Cleveland HiBore XL, HiBore XL Lite
Price: $399.99 with Aldila Ascent shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 gripSpecs: Titanium face and chassis with adjustable hosel
Who it's for: Mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want a blend of distance and forgiveness off the tee.
What you should know: Cleveland used artificial intelligence to develop a triangular head shape that optimizes forgiveness, ball speed and sound. Read the full review.
Shop Cleveland HiBore XL drivers
Cobra DS-Adapt X, DS-Adapt LS, DS-Adapt Max-K, DS-Adapt Max-D
Price: $549 with Project X Denali, Fujikura Pro Black, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue shaft and Lamkin Crossline grip Specs: Titanium frame and face with carbon fiber crown and sole panels, moveable weights (X and LS), and updated 33-position adjustable hosel.
Who it's for: Golfers who want a blend of distance and forgiveness (X), low spin (LS), ultra-high stability (Max-K) or help with straightening a slice (Max-D).
What you should know: Cobra made the DS-Adapt drivers more aerodynamic and added different internal weight systems based on each head's loft to blend speed with ideal spin and launch conditions for a wide range of golfers. Read the full review.
Shop Cobra DS-Adapt drivers
Mizuno ST-Max 230 driver
Price: $500 with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX, Mitsubishi Lai' Li Blue or UST Mamiya Helium NanoCore 4F1 shaft and Lamkin ST Hybrid gripSpecs: 460-cc head with a forged titanium face and chassis, carbon fiber crown and sole panels and adjustable hosel. 9.5, 10.5 and 12-degree head options.
Who It's For: Golfers who prioritize forgiveness and who want to hit straighter drives.
What you should know: The new ST-Max 230 takes the weight saved by using a large carbon fiber crown and sole panel and redistributes it to the back of the head to boost the forgiveness and make the club Mizuno's most stable driver. Read the full review.
Shop Mizuno ST drivers
Ping G440 Max, G440 LST, G440 SFT drivers
Price: $650 with Alta CG Blue, Ping Tour 2.0, Project X Denali Red or Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. Specs: Titanium face and chassis with carbon fiber crown, tungsten weights and adjustable hosel.
Who They're For: Golfers seeking more stability and better performance on mishit drives without sacrificing ball speed or distance.
What You Should Know: Ping designed all three G440 drivers with carbon fiber crowns and new weight-saving adjustable hosels, then used the saved weight to enhance stability and increase ball speed. Read the full review.
Shop Ping G440 drivers
PXG Black Ops, Black Ops Tour-1 drivers
Price: $599.99 (Black Ops), $649.99 (Black Ops Tour-1)Specs: Carbon fiber crown and sole panel with titanium alloy face, moveable weights and adjustable hosel.
Who They're For: Golfers who seek more distance and forgiveness (Black Ops), along with players who want a low-spin driver that allows players to shape shots (Black Ops Tour-1)
What you should know: PXG is using a new titanium alloy that allows designers to make the variable-thickness faces hotter, while the combination of moveable weights boosts forgiveness and lets players tweak the launch angle and spin rate. Read the full review.
Shop PXG Black Ops drivers
TaylorMade Qi35, Qi35 LS, Qi35 Max, Qi35 Max Lite drivers
Price: $629 with Mitsubishi Kai'Li, Mitsubishi Diamana T+, Fujikura Ventus Blue or Fujikura AirSpeeder shaft and Golf Pride Z GripSpecs: Carbon fiber face, crown and sole panels with adjustable weights and adjustable hosel
Who they're for: Golfers seeking high stability with more ball speed (Qi35, Qi35 Max, Qi35 Max Lite), and players looking for enhanced ball speed, low spin and shot-shaping adjustability (Qi35 LS).
What you should know: TaylorMade has modified the center of gravity in its drivers to produce more ball speed while maintaining high levels of stability and forgiveness. Read the full review.
Shop TM Qi35 drivers
Titleist GT2, GT3, GT4 drivers
Price: $649 with Project X Denali Red, HZRDUS Black 5th Generation, or Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue shaft and Titleist Universal 360 grip.Specs: Forged titanium face and chassis with thermoform polymer crown, adjustable hosel and moveable weight (GT3).
Who it's for: The GT2 is made specifically for players who want to maximize stability and forgiveness. The GT3 was made for players who want left-right adjustability, and the GT4 is for golfers who need a low-spin driver.
What you should know: To improve the aerodynamics of the GT drivers, Titleist engineers elevated the back portion of the sole to reduce drag and improve the way air flows over the club. However, using the new shape in an all-titanium club elevated the center of gravity (CG) location, resulting in more spin, a lower launch angle and less distance. To use the aerodynamic head shape but lower the CG location, engineers decided to use a thermoform polymer to design a crown piece that wraps over the heel and toe and into the sole. Read the full review.
Shop Titleist GT drivers
Wilson Dynapwr Max, Carbon, LS drivers
Price: $499.99 (Max) with UST Mamiya LIN-Q shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips, $549.99 (Carbon, LS) with Project X Denali Black or Fujikura Ventus TR Blue shaftsSpecs: Titanium chassis and face with adjustable hosel (Max), carbon fiber crown (LS) and carbon fiber crown and sole panel (Carbon).
Who it's for: Golfers who want more distance and forgiveness off the tee (Max), a blend of workability and distance (Carbon) and fast-swinging players who generate excessive spin (LS).
What you should know: Wilson's first three-driver family is made up of clubs designed to meet the needs of three different types of players, thanks to the use of different materials, the location of movable weights and slightly different design features. Read the full review.
Shop Wilson Dynapwr golf clubs
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[This article originally appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of MotorTrend Classic] Given the giddy brew that comprises 1976's 'The Gumball Rally'—dream cars in an illegal race from New York to California (all for glory and a gumball machine), authentic high-speed zooming and vrooming, plenty of anti-establishment gags, plus a steady stream of spectacular stunts and pulchritudinous ladies in shrink-wrapped attire—it's a wonder the movie didn't sweep the Academy Awards. But Gumball took home not a single golden statuette. (In an obvious anti-auto conspiracy, also winning nothing was that year's other big car picture, 'Taxi Driver.') The New York Times, probably put off by Gumball's lack of subtitles, called it 'nothing but one long exhaust pipe.' 0:00 / 0:00 Hel-loooo? We've carefully watched all the big Oscar honorees for 1976—films like 'Network' and 'All the President's Men'—and haven't found a single scene involving a Ferrari Daytona Spyder or a Shelby 427 Cobra. And therein lies the guilty pleasure of 'The Gumball Rally.' For auto aficionados in the Seventies, watching Gumball was like spending 107 minutes inside Willy Wonka's Cheater Slick Factory. After all, owning a car in late-1970s America was a lot like being locked in your room by your parents—without the dirty magazines hidden under your bed. There seemed no end to the things we couldn't do. We couldn't drive over 55 mph—not without Fuzzbusters, anyway. We couldn't buy gas without a reservation. We couldn't own high-horsepower cars without feeling the static cling of Jimmy Carter's cardigan sweater. We couldn't even turn on the car radio, because the Bay City Rollers or Barry Manilow might be on it. Then the first reel rolled on 'The Gumball Rally,' and within 15 minutes the cast had raised a prerace toast that swept aside all societal fouled plugs: 'To internal combustion. And wind in the face.' Okay, 'Macbeth' it isn't. But Gumball fairly glistens with breath-snatching wheels: the sensuous Ferrari, the bulging Cobra, a black Porsche 911, a hopped-up Camaro, a vintage Mercedes 300SL roadster, a Rolls-Royce worth an astronomical '$40,000.' The dialog boasts a few 'Casablanca'-caliber gems, too, including perhaps the most immortal line in car-movie history—when Italian race champ Franco (the late Raul Julia) yanks the rearview mirror off the Ferrari as he declares to teammate Smitty (the late Tim McIntire): 'And now, my friend, the first rule of Italian driving: What's behind me is not important.' Above all, Gumball took our catalyst-choked, fuel-shortaged souls along on a vicarious thrill ride in which the only rule was 'there are no rules.' Who among us hasn't dreamt of doing naughty things with a Porsche right through midtown Manhattan? Who hasn't fantasized about outrunning a police helicopter in a Ferrari that 'must be doing 180 mph'? And who didn't go envy green over the classic, climactic duel between Franco's Daytona and the Cobra of Michael Bannon (Michael Sarrazin) down the semi-dry L.A. River to the finish line at the Queen Mary in Long Beach? Do the pictures on these pages look familiar? They should. That's the same L.A. River you see in Gumball, and those are the actual two cars that appeared in the movie (we look exactly like Sarrazin and Julia, too—at least if you're reading this while seated on a paint shaker). Drive the actual Gumball Rally cars? Who said youthful fantasies never come true? Enthusiasts will recall, of course, that the idea for an illegal cross-country race was hardly original. 'My agent sent me a clipping from the Los Angeles Times about this race from New York to L.A.,' says Chuck Bail, 70, Gumball's producer and director. 'And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, 'What a great idea for a comedy.'' Not finding the idea quite so amusing, though, was then-Car and Driver writer Brock Yates, whose notorious Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was the illegal race in question and who had plans for his own movie version. 'I was furious about it. Really pissed off,' Yates said. Yet Gumball rolled on. 'I picked every car in the movie,' Bail says. 'The studio tried to force me to use star actors, but my feeling was, the cars are the stars.' Then Bail laughs. 'Also, I wanted to keep the budget down!' Bail remembers the first time he met his 'Franco Bertollini.' 'My agent said, 'You've got to meet this guy, Raul Julia.' And I said, 'I need an Italian!' But unbeknownst to me, Raul had already been prepped on the part. So he auditioned and he was just so Italian, so wonderful. But of course he was a New Yorker. He couldn't drive!' Bail had more difficulty finding his 'Michael Bannon.' 'Finally the studio president said, 'How about Michael Sarrazin?' And I said 'fine,' 'cause we started shooting in three days! But I gotta tell you, Michael was a wonderful choice. While we were filming, though, so many people thought he was Peter Fonda. Used to drive him nuts!' 'Michael was an even worse driver than Raul Julia!' laughs Linda Vaughn, the omnipresent motorsport beauty queen who appears in Gumball as the dishy 'Emergency Plan Alpha' to distract the amorous Franco from the finish line. 'Raul was such fun. I brought my Ferrari 246 to the set to show him how to shift gears, and I think it made Michael jealous—he wanted to go out with me. But the man could not even drive the Cobra! Raul got the hang of it. I was so impressed with how he handled himself. I still have the silk scarf he wears in the movie.' For his four-wheeled stars, Bail had backups. 'We had two of everything,' he says. 'You don't dare do a movie with just one of each car.' Bail's vehicular Noah's Ark included two authentic Cobras (plus one replica that appeared on screen briefly) and two authentic Daytona Spyders. The Cobra you see here, serial number CSX3255, is one of the two genuine cars; both were painted Guardsman Blue during the filming (CSX3255 has since been restored, repainted in red, and fitted with a new hood that lacks a scoop). While shooting, one of the two Cobras (it's unclear which) suffered nose damage during a crash into the L.A. River's concrete wall, forcing Bail to finish filming with the second car (look closely near the movie's end, and you can see the Cobra switch from damaged to undamaged and back again). Like the other film Cobra—CSX3243—the red car is now in private hands in California (see 'Ask the Man Who Owns One'). Gumball also used two genuine Ferrari Daytona Spyders. 'My stuntmen got to dicing with each other while we were filming the night race in Arizona between the Ferrari and the Cobra,' Bail says, 'and the Ferrari driver went off. Totaled the Daytona—and a Panavision camera. Somehow they found me another car in Scottsdale, and I wrote a check for $35,000 so I could finish shooting. At the end of the movie, the studio reimbursed my $35K. Can you believe it? I should've kept the damn car!' The Spyder you see here, serial number 14829, graciously loaned to us from its permanent home at L.A.'s Petersen Automotive Museum ( is likely the second car. According to the best available information, the wrecked Spyder, serial number 16467, was rebuilt, 'crashed' on screen by Kris Kristofferson in 1976's 'A Star Is Born,' and then converted into a 'NART Spyder' (however, one of 14829's earlier owners, former Ferrari racer and repair-shop owner Joseph Crevier, claims his was the Ferrari that appeared in both Gumball and 'A Star is Born'). Eventually, 14829 joined the collection of Noel and Mel (the voice of Bugs Bunny) Blanc before moving to the Petersen seven years ago. Since Gumball, 14829 has been restored and repainted, including new cockpit trim by famed interior specialist Tony Nancy. Both cars are gorgeous. Looking at the two of them side by side on the concrete of the L.A. River, just as they appeared in 'The Gumball Rally,' adolescent memories come flooding back. Why, we drooled over these very machines three decades ago. It's like climbing aboard a time machine and spending a day in 1976 with Farrah Fawcett and Lynda Carter—except the cars won't smack you if you put on a Barry White album. Unexpected for an exotic of its vintage, the Ferrari is a polished jewel (on reflection, perhaps that isn't surprising; this being the model that in the premiere issue of Motor Trend Classic our expert panelists ranked number two on the list of greatest-ever Ferraris). The engine starts easily, the five-speed slots gracefully through the pattern, and the steering quickly shrugs off an initial heaviness to become, as speed builds, quite light and fluid. The four-cam, 4.4-liter V-12 revs like a turbine, and the horses awaken smartly as the tach climbs. Beyond 5000 rpm or so, all 352 of them are racing hard for the 7500-rpm redline, emitting a howl that makes grown men weak in the knees and teenage boys stand in line to watch car movies. Franco and Smitty chose well—you can feel the Ferrari's long legs, its comfort with speed. For an illegal dash across the country, the Daytona would make a brilliant accomplice (and, in fact, in 1971 a Daytona coupe carried Brock Yates and racing legend Dan Gurney to a win in the Cannonball, averaging 80 mph over nearly 2900 miles and once reaching 176 mph). Gun this beauty through the gears, listen to it sing the high notes, and you can only smile and say, as Franco would, 'She is happy.' If the Ferrari is from Venus, the Shelby 427 Cobra is a beast from Mars. Climb aboard the Cobra, and you're tying yourself onto a rodeo bull—hell, this thing might even kick you if you try to climb back out. Twist the ignition, and the race-bred 7.0-liter big-block V-8 crackles and shudders, the flimsy aluminum body quivers like an overgrown Chihuahua, and soon your toes are slow-roasting against the firewall. You're still in neutral. The four-speed shifter juts out of the floor like a crooked cactus but finding the gear notches is effortless. Press in the clutch pedal (precursor to the Nautilus calf machine), tickle the throttle, and…sorry. We unintentionally clenched shut every bodily orifice just remembering how the Cobra charges off the line. All the acceleration clichés come to mind: aircraft-carrier catapults, NASA rockets, teenage girls catching sight of Leonardo DiCaprio. Driving this thing across the country would be pure masochism, but, man, even after four decades the Cobra has lost none of its famed bite. There's so much torque you can start off in fourth gear if you want. Put it in first, and it'd humiliate almost anything made today (it feels way quicker than the 5.3-second 0-to-60 time we recorded on skinnier tires—and with two aboard—in 1966). Legend has it that the Cobra could rocket from 0 to 100 and back to 0 in under 14 seconds—and from the way this one crushed our eyeballs, we believe it. Which car wins our Gumball Rally rematch? Without Emergency Plan Alpha on hand to bust loose a clear victor, we're happy to call it a draw, a question of taste—the Ferrari's Toscanini virtuosity versus the Cobra's shattering heavy metal. Besides, as Franco says in Gumball when yet another young lovely diverts his attention, 'Some things are more important than winning.' 1972 Ferrari 365GTS/4 Daytona Spyder Expect to Pay: Concours ready: $750,000 (perhaps $800,000 or more with Hollywood connection); solid driver: $600,000; tired runner: $500,000 Join The Club: Ferrari Club of America; Our Take Then: 'The Daytona Spyder will provide all the thrills a sane man could want and do it with full security at a level where lesser machinery might feel as though it were reaching escape velocity.'—Chuck Queener, Motor Trend, December 1971. Now: As scene-stealing as it ever was. And rare to boot: This car is one of only about 120 genuine Daytona Spyders built from 1969 through 1974 (thanks to abundant coupe-to-convertible conversions since then, of those original Spyders about 250 exist today). Still feels seriously fast, still feels robust. We'd gladly take one on a cross-country race tomorrow. Currently in the collection of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles ( 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra Ask The Man Who Owns One The Cobra's owner, a businessman and attorney in California's central valley who prefers not to be identified, says he didn't learn his car was used in 'The Gumball Rally' until after he bought it in 2002. 'It was a nice surprise,' he says, 'but really I'd always just wanted a Cobra. I used to own a replica, but when I had enough money I started looking for an original.' Why He Likes It: 'Running through the gears! I probably put 300 to 400 miles a year on the car driving it through the twisties. I've had it up to about 140 mph. But the handling is pure 1966. I can't imagine how anyone raced these cars on a road course.' Why It's Collectible: Shelby built only 348 427 Cobras (including 21 competition cars) from 1965 to 1967. Without question, the baddest automobile of the 1960s—it's a dream for many enthusiasts just to see one. Restoring/Maintaining: 'I have my Cobra maintained by a very talented guy named Brian Frick,' says the owner. 'When I bought the car it had already been restored, so I really haven't had to do anything major to it.' Expect To Pay: Concours ready: $700,000; solid driver: $550,000; tired runner: $400,000 Join The Club: Shelby American Automobile Club; Our Take Then: 'Although amazingly tractable and untemperamental for such a powerful machine, this is clearly not a car for everyone. If you want to pretend that every stop light is the grid at Nürburgring or every freeway the Mulsanne straight, forget it. You can't afford the tickets.'—Bob Schilling, MT, September 1966. Now: Still one of the most visceral and exciting rides ever put on four wheels. Fast, loud, unabashedly primal. Might want to go on a low-residue diet before you start it up.
