At Golfalot we've been increasingly impressed with Wilson's iron launches in recent times, a number of them have done a great job to elevate the brand from it's historic routes.
In particular the D9 Forged, Staff Model CBs and the D7 Forged irons have all helped to create a more desirable reputation for the equipment stalwarts.
But, we know Wilson can make good irons, right? They always have, and tour players have always trusted them. The metalwoods category however is a whole different beast, where truth be told Wilson have sometimes struggled to really put their name in the hat with the big boys.
Last year, Dan was very impressed by the Wilson D9 Driver due to it's forgiveness, looks and affordability. This year Wilson are rolling back the years and delving into the archives in an attempt to bring the same amount of buzz around their irons, to their metalwoods.
The Tech
There are two different models in the new Dynapower driver range, the more standard, mid-spin, forgiving Dynapower driver and the lower spin, better-player offering, the Dynapower Carbon, being tipped as 'one of the most adjustable drivers that they have ever created.'
Like many other OEMs in the last few years, Wilson has relied on artificial intelligence to add ball speed and forgiveness to this driver. With Dynapower AI they have analysed thousands of permutations to create a variable thickness for each section of the club face, very much like we've seen in Callaway's metals since the game-changing Epic Flash from 2019.
To deliver the lower spin lightweight carbon panels feature on the crown and sole to move the CG low and forward, creating a lower spinning driver head with neutral ball flight tendencies.
The adjustability then comes in the form of a new 6-way adjustable driver sleeve allowing for more launch and spin adjustments.
Wilson Dynapower Carbon Driver Review
Looks
At address, the Dynapower Carbon offers a nicely rounded shape behind the ball with a matte-carbon finish on the crown. A little like we've seen with the likes of the Callaway Paradym driver the alignment aid then sits on a separate piece of material at the front of the head. On the Dynapower, this aid sits slightly towards the heel as you'd expect with a better players club.
On the sole of the club, you see see more carbon on the toe and apart from that a fairly simple black matte finish with some flashes of the iconic Wilson red, I assume a nod to original Dynapower branding.
I liked the looks of the Dynapower overall and you get a nicely presented good quality headcover to go with it, however I just think where Wilson sometimes fall down is with their branding. The sole of the Dynapower is a little confused in my opinion, with modern and legacy logos clashing and somewhat effecting the overall shelf appeal.
Feel
The Dynapower Carbon produced a fairly loud, hollow sound at impact which you may think would sound like a Ping driver but actually it was low pitched and nowhere near as metallic. I liked how the Dynapower sounded, it gave a modern and thick feeling at strike.
As you'd expect from a better player driver offering, the face also felt pretty responsive - there was good feedback to notify me straight away how I'd struck the ball, and centre strikes felt pretty fast.
Performance
The usual numbers I look to achieve with driver are around 260 carry, 2500 rpm spin and 150 ball speed. From some thorough indoor testing at HUKD Bury I achieved the following:
Unfortunately during testing I was struggling with the launch of the Dynapower Carbon and therefore wasn't getting the carry I would usually expect. Although there was some impressive total numbers with my longest of 273 yards, unfortunately this wasn't consistent.
With a swingweight of D3 I also found the head to be a little too heavy meaning I wasn't able to swing my best, confidently and consistently, my most common miss with the Dynapower was low and left, which is a shot I hate to see out on the golf course.
Having said that, the low spin claims were clearly there to see as my spin was consistently low - a little too low in my opinion...
Wilson Dynapower Carbon Driver Verdict
Unfortunately, I've found that I'm a golfer who sits a little inbetween two driver categories; in terms of optimum launch, spin and speed you would say that I should really use a low spin offering like the Dynapower Carbon, however in terms of consistency of speed and consistency of strike I feel like I need the extra forgiveness of more standard driver offerings - I was therefore a little torn.
There was a lot about it that I liked but as I've mentioned I found the swingweight a little heavy and was struggling to get the club in the position I wanted to create consistent strikes.
The Dynapower Carbon is a step in the right direction for Wilson in the metalwood category and although I didn't fall in love with it I can see a lot of golfers being impressed by it's combination of price and performance, it's good to see them really having that better player, premium offering.
Who Are They Aimed At?
Given the responsiveness of strike and the consistently low spin throughout my testing Wilson have certainly succeeded in there mission to create a better player offering here. However I can't imagine that many better player, avid golfers, would choose Wilson over for example the likes of TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist or Ping as the performance and overall design just doesn't quite stack up.
Would I Use It?
No, probably not. I liked the driver at first and was excited to see how it performed but unfortunately I think I need a little more forgiveness to get more carry and better launch.
Wilson Dynapower Carbon Driver Pros & Cons
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