Maximia Type V review.

[Mjr. D]

So at long last I received my Maxima with an Ahina 70x flex shaft, tipped one inch and playing at 45".

First things first. It's a stunning looking driver. From the paint to the gold weight, everything reeks of top quality. Same can be said for the Ahina Ion flowerband shaft.

I'll cut to the chase. It's long, it's quite long. Probably as long as anything I've played and the longest driver I've played on mis**ts, without question. I can assure you, don't base your decision on distance. Distance is definitely not a concern.

Feel - I've played Crazy 435, Epon 460ZR, RAZR FITs, SMTs, Egg 7, Nike Covert Tour (nice feeling!), Cobra, Titleist 905, 983, 910, R9 SuperDeep, on and on. This is my second favorite feeling driver of all time. I love it. I think it's a perfect combination of crisp and soft. The sound is perfect and, at least with the Ahina, so is the feel. The only better feeling driver I've hit is the Epon 460zr with a Roddio shaft (also my first JDM driver so there may be bias, but it was unreal!).

Ball Flight - I have absolutely no idea what anyone is talking about regarding high ball flight. I s**t you not I haven't hit a ball higher than pine tree height with this thing, yet. This is as low launching and low spinning a head as I've ever played. Launches lower than the SuperDeep, lower than the Crazy 435 with Crazy 50 and only slightly higher than the Egg7 with Matrix Ozik 7m2 XX. I'm thrilled with the ultra low spin and launch. The ball just explodes off the face and bores like hell, through the air/wind. Which brings me to my next point, this is the best driver i've ever hit in wind. Surprisingly there is little distance loss in wind. I've never seen anything like it. Not sure why, I'm not biased, I'm not brainwashed. It's just bizarre.

Control - This unfortunately, is the bad part. Is it forgiving? Absolutely! Like I said, the most forgiving driver I've ever played when considering smash factor/distance. Can you work the ball? I have no idea, I don't try to. The one issue (and it's unfortunately it's a big one and quite frankly i'm pretty bummed/pissed off) is that this driver, the V-spec at 8.5 is definitely NOT square at address. It's at least closed 1* and possibly more. It's hook central off the tee. I played two days ago and I literally hit one fairway. Every other drive was a gnarly hook. This wasn't the case with my RAZR-FIT/Diamana X nor my Tourstage 12.5* fairway/Crazy Sigma. Unfortunately this was only with the Maxima.

I tried adjusting the face at address but that just leads to inconsistency. I'm really actually pretty pissed off considering I was assured this driver was totally neutral. I was also assured the Egg 7 was totally neutral. It's also absolutely not. It's closed. I had it measured at Cool Clubs in Scottsdale and it's 1* closed. The problem is, us people in N. America unfortunately don't have the luxury to demo clubs before we buy them, so we rely on forums and Chris/Tario for feedback (which is almost always superb!). I don't know if both PRGR or Ryoma claimed these were both neutral face drivers or if things are measured differently in Japan than over here (I can't see how) but this is now the second driver in a row that I can't use because the face isn't as advertised. Really sucks considering this is probably the best overall driver I've ever hit (when I adjust the face properly and fluke a straight shot).

So bottom line, if you want or need a new driver and care about looks, feel, ball flight, forgiveness and distance, don't even think twice... this is it. However, I would HIGHLY caution anyone who tends to hook the ball to at least get a demo before purchase.

I'm going to spend some more time with this thing to see if I can figure out some way to use it effectively and I'll definitely update this if and when I do.

P.S. No hocus pocus. This photo is of the Maxima V 8.5 on the left, resting on the ground, shaft totally vertical next to the Callaway RAZR FIT 8.5 on the Neutral setting. The camera makes the shaft look a little angled but I assure you it was not.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Mjr. Diarrhea

[+TourSpecGolfer]

Mjr D, that sucks man. Your photo shows about 6* closed!! Thats the photo though, when you line up two drivers the one on the right always looks way more square. That said if it was measured at 1* closed by cool clubs Its should be as they aren't idiots, what exactly did they say it came out at?

I'll double check whats going on with Ryoma but I've been pretty disappointed with this club compared to the D-1. Based on the tech and description I thought it would be the king of kings. It took me 4 shafts to get her dialed in which took over a month before it landed a spot in the bag then to get knocked out by an old favorite the CRZ435 not because of the head but because of the way shafts play in the head.

Here's something interesting though, we have had a couple of customers complain about ordering square and getting 1* closed. Ok send it back, we have it checked by Ryoma... square then we have it checked by a 3rd party shop...and it's square!?!?

Mine is square and looks closed. Now when it comes to hooks, I strongly believe its not the face angle as much as it is the way your shaft plays with this clubs hosel depth. 1* closed doesn't equal hook city, especially for a good player like you. Lets say you had a Crazy 435 with the same face angle as your Maxima and the same shaft + specs. I bet you would hit that straighter than this one.

PM me lets get you some help.

[supo]

ill chime in here right now.........

my 8.5 is actually real loft 10* and 1* closed.

ive sent it back to ryoma for a square one and and 8.5* one which im getting today.

they assure me, the new one is sqaure.

i was shocked by the closed face as well.

the diamana X is goin into mine.playing it sunday, salivating at the thought!

[nobmontana]

Perhaps a common issue with 8.5 loft?

I do not have actual specs on my head but compared to my other square drivers,

the Maxima certainly looks more closed than square.

Stew,

Please let us know how your new head looks and plays.

[wmclarenf1]

Wow, mine is a type d and supposed to be closed and is closed but it sure doesn't look anywhere as closed as yours D. Hope something can be worked out.

[nobmontana]

Man, that Ahina shafｔ really looks cool on the Maxima.

[+TourSpecGolfer]

Wow, mine is a type d and supposed to be closed and is closed but it sure doesn't look anywhere as closed as yours D. Hope something can be worked out.

Its the pictures that make it appear very closed. anytime two drivers are side by side the one on the left always appears much more closed even if its more open than the driver in the right.

if it's bad specs we will take care of it, so no worries there for Mjr. D at all but the hook problem isn't coming from the closed face. It's a couple of things the first is having its CG so far back. We went over this with Mr Kobayashi as he explained why in many of his designs he prefers to put the CG much closer to the face. The other thing is how the hosel depth and distance angle from head makes shafts play weaker.

[supo]

hmmmmmmmmmmm

so chris shud i tip my X

befroe inatlaaiton or maybe put a tip weight in it?

[+TourSpecGolfer]

hmmmmmmmmmmm

so chris shud i tip my X

befroe inatlaaiton or maybe put a tip weight in it?

Your a tinkerer so I think straight is fine then if that fails tip or try a different shaft. I'm shocked about your specs man, we will get to the bottom of this.

I'm starting to not to fit myself by flex anymore and am shifting to shaft profile and most importantly timing. Game has improved leaps by doing this. IMO timing is everything and how the bend and kick works with my swing I've found to be so important. Now with the Maxima IMO it changes the timing a bit for me making it hard for me to fit shafts that have worked for me in the past.

That said and this is weird but guys who hit center get mad results from this head which is odd because this drivers main attribute is forgiveness. That goes back to the CG up back deep vs up front IMO.

[supo]

well i know how good the diamnana X is i n the v-spec.

its irrepalaceble in my line up.

so it was an automatic choice for the maxima.

ill go normal to start , same specs as the v-spec 9.5*

hopefully i get it tonight and i can have a game with it on sunday and a range session agaisnt the v-spec,

that will make some very interesting compasions. same specs ,same shaft

[sundowner]

As I´m also one of the guys who tend to hook (e.g. the older Ryoma D1 was a hook machine for me), I looked this time for a straight head and the right shaft.

Crazy LY01 R in Ryoma Maxima V 9.5 gave me to high trajectory / sometimes hooks.

Decided next to install Nippoin Regio Formula 55 s in Maxima.

The shaft is really great. Soft, kicking but stable enough for a "hooker" like me. Trajectory is depending on the weights (sometime with counterweight in the grip) higher or lower. Dispersion is brilliant.

Nippon Regio plays softer to flex. The 55s is a butt 6.3 (compared to a LY01R = 6.4). The 65s is a 6.8 and the 75x is a 8.1 for example (measurements from another internet side).

Another observation I made: In the beginning I had a lot of mis**ts. Tried to check a lot of parameters (ball position, tee height, swingweight...).

I found out, that balls with low compression (for my swintgspeed) doesn´t work with the Maxima. Measured it a lot of times.

All low compression balls sending to the left / some spraying. The balls with higher compression straight as an arrow.

So check your balls..??

[Craig]

Great review Mjr

Given the arsenal of Drivers you have tried this is certainly a big wrap for the Maxima.

Particularly the wind comments.

Hope they sort out the closed face issue.

For that sort of dough you expect to get what you order

[gocchin]

Hi Rob,

Chris pretty much took the words right out of my mouth but...

There are two things here to consider, how closed the face actually is if at all? Ryoma have a tendency to look that way and simply laying it on the ground is not an accurate measure by eye. I had a customer get a driver that was spec'ed square from us, he insisted it was closed, and said the people at Golf town and golf galaxy "eyed" it as 2* closed. I had it sent to Gary Gooden and he measured the top line as perfectly square... this happens a lot with drivers as new designs and multi level soles and even the way people take photos, can make a driver seem closed. Rob I don't mind you sending it to Gary to be checked. As you all know, lower lofts typically equal square to open faces. An 8.5* with a 1* closed face is rare. Stew's was a rare case, Ryoma actually told me about it. If its in fact closed that much we would complain as well.

Secondly the truth is, you are not the main target audience of the Ryoma. It is not an anti hook driver, in fact it is more anti slice than anything, and as you know forgiveness is its main strength. The guys at Ryoma probably did not design it for an aggressive swinger who swings over 130mph. However you said it yourself, besides the hooks it could very well be the best overall driver you have hit.

Even if it was slightly closed you would be able to figure out a way to use it "effectively", we will figure it out together.

[Duffer19]

As an experiment, M.D., swap the position of the two drivers (with Maxima on the right side) and take a picture at the same angle. Compare two pictures and see you have the same visual result. I personally hook the Premia more than my Maxima with the same shaft.

[jimmieboi]

This is very strange. My Type V is dead square. The original D-1 seems closed but the Type is not. I hit it dead straight and no hook. I even have it measured at club fitting and it's exactly 9.5 with square face angle.

[Miuramaniac]

This is very strange. My Type V is dead square. The original D-1 seems closed but the Type is not. I hit it dead straight and no hook. I even have it measured at club fitting and it's exactly 9.5 with square face angle.

Mine too. 9.5* sits dead square. Not sure if I really like it or not, but it does sit square. That sux if yours doesn't when they said it would. Here's a pic of my 9.5 at address:

Edited July 26, 2013 by Miuramaniac

[Mjr. D]

Mjr D, that sucks man. Your photo shows about 6* closed!! Thats the photo though, when you line up two drivers the one on the right always looks way more square. That said if it was measured at 1* closed by cool clubs Its should be as they aren't idiots, what exactly did they say it came out at?

I'll double check whats going on with Ryoma but I've been pretty disappointed with this club compared to the D-1. Based on the tech and description I thought it would be the king of kings. It took me 4 shafts to get her dialed in which took over a month before it landed a spot in the bag then to get knocked out by an old favorite the CRZ435 not because of the head but because of the way shafts play in the head.

Here's something interesting though, we have had a couple of customers complain about ordering square and getting 1* closed. Ok send it back, we have it checked by Ryoma... square then we have it checked by a 3rd party shop...and it's square!?!?

Mine is square and looks closed. Now when it comes to hooks, I strongly believe its not the face angle as much as it is the way your shaft plays with this clubs hosel depth. 1* closed doesn't equal hook city, especially for a good player like you. Lets say you had a Crazy 435 with the same face angle as your Maxima and the same shaft + specs. I bet you would hit that straighter than this one.

PM me lets get you some help.

Thanks man, I appreciate the support.

Ya the photo definitely accentuates the closed face but it's still at least 1* closed, in the flesh.

Interesting you're a little disappointed. I never hit the original but everything I read regarding this one has been positive up until this point (other than the high launch, which I'm not seeing at all). Like I said, the few times I have hit a straight drive it's been fantastic! Love everything about it.

Cool Clubs measured the Egg 7 - 1* closed.

I've used a Ahina before, in a Titleist 910D3 and it was great! Hit it beautifully! That's why I decided to go with it again (and the fact it was low spin/low launch and the weight was where I wanted it).

Not really following you on the shaft install part...

[Mjr. D]

ill chime in here right now.........

my 8.5 is actually real loft 10* and 1* closed.

ive sent it back to ryoma for a square one and and 8.5* one which im getting today.

they assure me, the new one is sqaure.

i was shocked by the closed face as well.

the diamana X is goin into mine.playing it sunday, salivating at the thought!

Yep. My club builder at UST (great guy) built my club and I asked him and he said the 8.5* was actually closer to 8.7*. Doesn't bother me because it's launching perfect and every single USD driver has, I'm sure, been inaccurate when it comes to loft.

My point is that if Japanese companies, especially highly regarded ones such as Ryoma, are supposed to be extremely precise with their lofts, and they're not, it's not surprising the specified face angle isn't exact as claimed, either.

[Mjr. D]

As I´m also one of the guys who tend to hook (e.g. the older Ryoma D1 was a hook machine for me), I looked this time for a straight head and the right shaft.

Crazy LY01 R in Ryoma Maxima V 9.5 gave me to high trajectory / sometimes hooks.

Decided next to install Nippoin Regio Formula 55 s in Maxima.

The shaft is really great. Soft, kicking but stable enough for a "hooker" like me. Trajectory is depending on the weights (sometime with counterweight in the grip) higher or lower. Dispersion is brilliant.

Nippon Regio plays softer to flex. The 55s is a butt 6.3 (compared to a LY01R = 6.4). The 65s is a 6.8 and the 75x is a 8.1 for example (measurements from another internet side).

Another observation I made: In the beginning I had a lot of mis**ts. Tried to check a lot of parameters (ball position, tee height, swingweight...).

I found out, that balls with low compression (for my swintgspeed) doesn´t work with the Maxima. Measured it a lot of times.

All low compression balls sending to the left / some spraying. The balls with higher compression straight as an arrow.

So check your balls..??

Thanks, I'll try some different balls but I've had no problems with smash factor and this club. In fact, I've only hit one ball that wasn't extremely explosive feeling, off the face. Unfortunately 90% of them have been hooks. Ball absolutely explodes off the face though! Exactly the reason I so badly wish I could hit it straight!

[Mjr. D]

Hi Rob,

Chris pretty much took the words right out of my mouth but...

There are two things here to consider, how closed the face actually is if at all? Ryoma have a tendency to look that way and simply laying it on the ground is not an accurate measure by eye. I had a customer get a driver that was spec'ed square from us, he insisted it was closed, and said the people at Golf town and golf galaxy "eyed" it as 2* closed. I had it sent to Gary Gooden and he measured the top line as perfectly square... this happens a lot with drivers as new designs and multi level soles and even the way people take photos, can make a driver seem closed. Rob I don't mind you sending it to Gary to be checked. As you all know, lower lofts typically equal square to open faces. An 8.5* with a 1* closed face is rare. Stew's was a rare case, Ryoma actually told me about it. If its in fact closed that much we would complain as well.

Secondly the truth is, you are not the main target audience of the Ryoma. It is not an anti hook driver, in fact it is more anti slice than anything, and as you know forgiveness is its main strength. The guys at Ryoma probably did not design it for an aggressive swinger who swings over 130mph. However you said it yourself, besides the hooks it could very well be the best overall driver you have hit.

Even if it was slightly closed you would be able to figure out a way to use it "effectively", we will figure it out together.

Thanks T.

The reason I'm so adamant that it's closed is because a) the hooks and b) when I've lined it up next to other drivers that are square it absolutely is more closed. I played a round with the provincial ladies champ, a former male provincial champ and a former nationwide player the other day and asked them if thought it was closed at address and they all absolutely thought so. Not saying that means it is, if measured but to the eye and at address, it seems to set up that way.

True, I'm probably not the targeted golfer for this club but that can be said for almost every club on the market, save Krank and Callaway's HOT long drive clubs. I had no problems with the Crazy 435 or the Epon 460, though...

I'll try it at the range and in a few more rounds before I decide to send it to Stew (I'm in Canada right now so knowing customs sending it now will probably tie it up for weeks).

Thanks man.

[Mjr. D]

As an experiment, M.D., swap the position of the two drivers (with Maxima on the right side) and take a picture at the same angle. Compare two pictures and see you have the same visual result. I personally hook the Premia more than my Maxima with the same shaft.

Will do, when I get home. I'll take a few pics.

[+TourSpecGolfer]

So cool clubs never checked the Ryoma face angle?

Yup send it to Goodsie! we will take care of you!

[Mjr. D]

No they only checked the Egg 7 which was 1 or 1.5* closed. I can't remember exactly.

I didn't have the Ryoma when I was there, last.

I'll try to figure the thing out until I'm back in the US in a month, then if it's still a hook machine, I'll send it to Goodsie and go from there.

Thanks Chris.

[Mjr. D]

Here are pictures on there own, of the Maxima (top) Callaway (bottom)

Edited July 27, 2013 by Mjr. Diarrhea

[Mjr. D]

Both were positioned in the exact same spot shafts at the exact same angle. Callaway is on neutral setting. Maxima appears to be closed a degree or so.