XXIO 14 woods, irons: What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The new XXIO 14 lineup of woods and irons, again with a lightweight construction geared to those with moderate swing speeds and smoother tempos, is the company’s most expansive yet. That includes a first-ever range (XXIO 14+) targeting drivers with swing speeds 100 miles per hour or less, well in line with the average range of male golfers. The lineup also introduces a new titanium alloy for the driver and irons faces to go along with super-lightweight sub-40-gram driver shafts and sub-50-gram iron shafts.
PRICE: Drivers: $800; Fairway woods: $450; Hybrids: $350; Irons: $240 per club (graphite); $215 in steel (XXIO 14+ only).
3 Cool Things
1. A new way for the slower to go faster. While XXIO’s tradition relies heavily on lightweight clubs (more on that later) and helping moderate swing speed players optimize their distance potential, what sometimes gets lost are its breakthroughs in its use of specially developed titanium alloys. This year’s upgrade, its first in nearly two years, reveals what the company is calling VR-Titanium (technically named “Super-TiX 52AFS”) in both its driver and irons. This new alloy, developed for applications in the aerospace industry, changes possibilities because of its higher strength to weight ratio than the TiX-51AF used in previous models. It uses silicon to add strength and hardness while also distributing stress better for a more resilient face that deforms consistently under impact loads. That’s just fancy talk for a better trampoline effect across a broader area of the face. It also means an increased range in the variable thickness designs used in both the XXIO 14 woods and irons.
According to the company, the new alloy is 42 percent stronger than conventional titanium alloys. Its resiliency increases face deflection for both on-center hits and off-center hits, nearly doubling the area with the highest ball speeds. As well, the strength allows for a thinner crown structure that helps with the overall flexing of the face, a technology introduced several years ago known as “rebound frame.”
The saved weight also helps to decrease the weight of the face in total, freeing up mass to add stability (perimeter weighting in the form of a rear weight screw in the sole) and more importantly add an adjustable hosel that wasn’t part of past XXIO drivers. The lightweight connector allows the user to tweak loft by plus/minus 1.5 degrees.
One other cool aspect of how VR-Titanium is used on the driver face: It allows for a new milling pattern on the heel and toe side of the face that aims to modulate gear effect so heel and toe misses curve more appropriately back to the target line. The cross-hatched pattern is laser milled onto the face to prevent the ball from slipping on the face. The theory is the slipping, particularly in rainy or otherwise damp conditions, can negate the way the gear effect is designed to work. This pattern makes for a cleaner, more effective flight that works back toward center.
Meanwhile, on the iron faces, the high toe side has been considerably thinned to further reduce the weight of the face and create a lower center of gravity, along with more face deflection. The saved weight is redistributed to the low toe in the form of a heavy nickel tungsten weight on the 5- through 7-iron. The weight is positioned lower than in previous XXIO irons. The face also wraps around the sole with an L-shaped cut designed to make the lower portion of the face more pliable for better ball speed and higher launch.
2. The lighter side. Of course, make no mistake these XXIO clubs are still going to push the boundaries of lighter weight. The total weight of the driver on the standard XXIO 14, for example, is 283 grams. That’s some 42 grams lighter than the company’s Srixon ZXi drivers. The key is a stock shaft that weighs as little as 36 grams, or a little more than a slice of bread. The iron shafts are as light as 50 grams, or half the weight of typical steel shafts on game-improvement irons today, helping moderate swing speed players to develop more control of face angle and build more potential speed for the same effort.
The drivers also continue the company's speed and face-angle stabilizing appendage known as ActivWing. Built to enhance the specific aerodynamic needs of moderate swing speed players, the XXIO 14 design modifies the slight step features on the crown and the sole. The sole feature is more pronounced than on previous models to reduce aerodynamic drag by 27 percent compared to conventional models.
3. Not just your grandfather’s XXIO. For their entire history, XXIO’s lineup has focused on seniors and women, but the XXIO 14 woods and irons have added an option targeting more players with swing speeds closer to the average speed of male golfers. The XXIO 14+ lineup features shafts and weighting that should work for players with driver swing speeds nearing 100 miles per hour. For perspective, according to Trackman data the average driver swing speed on the LPGA Tour is 96 miles per hour.
Designed to produce lower driver spin and notably a quieter sound than the standard XXIO 14, the XXIO 14+ driver doesn’t feature the closed face angle of the standard model, and its higher rear side of the crown is designed to produce a high but flatter trajectory at the higher speeds.