Nike reveals Vapor Fly drivers

• The Vapor Fly range features three drivers

• McIlroy and Casey already have them in play

• The designs are replacements for the 2015 Vapor 

Nike has unveiled its newest driver line-up that it says is ‘distinguished by its bold blue crown and iconic Volt colour’. Three new drivers have been launched in total, with the Vapor Fly, Vapor Fly Pro and Vapor Flex 440 replacing the original Vapor range from this year.

Already put in play by both Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey, the new Nike range has made an immediate impact on tour as McIlroy used it en-route to his fourth success of 2015 at the season-ending DP Tour World Championship in Dubai.

The model in McIlroy’s bag is the Nike Vapor Fly Pro and it features three key technologies that have helped to achieve the Northern Irishman’s wishes of a driver that is higher launching and similar spinning to this year’s version.

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It has a familiar 460cc pear shape head with a crown that is 30% lighter than in 2015. Nike has called this technology the Flightweight crown and it has allowed the brand’s engineers to lower the centre of gravity and increase forgiveness.

The new Hyperflight face has been thinned out around the perimeter to give extremely high ball speed across the full face. It has also been tuned with the Compression Channel, which returns from the previous design, and has been re-engineered to create more consistent performance across the face.

Nike’s driver designs in recent years have been characterised by the cavity in the sole and it returns in its fourth generation for the 2016 family. Wider in design, the flybeams have been reinforced to make the chassis stiffer, while moving more weight to the heel and toe to help with both forgiveness and the sound of the driver.

Adjustability comes from Nike’s FlexLoft 2.0 technology, which allows you to choose from 15 different settings, including five lofts and three face angles.

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Casey, on the other hand, put the standard Vapor Fly driver in play and it has been designed to fly high and fly long. Like the Pro version, the Fly features a Flightweight crown, Hyperflight face, tuned Compression Channel and FlexLoft 2.0. It differs from the Pro version because it is higher launching, lower spinning and has more forgiveness.

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The final driver in the range is the Vapor Flex 440. An advance on the original Vapor Flex, it is a more radical change than the other two and has the lowest spinning head.

Nike has described it as a breakthrough in head construction, with 60% of the Vapor Flex 440 built out of carbon fibre reinforced RZN, a proprietary material used in Nike’s clubs and balls, to allow for more adjustability and stability.

It has much of the same technology as the others, as well as FlexFlight technology, which features a RZN tube with a 9g weight on one end and a 0.5g weight on the other. By flipping the tube into the ‘mid position’, you can get higher launch, more spin and more forgiveness, while putting in the ‘low position’ will give mid-launch, low spin and more workability.

Nike Vapor Fly drivers – specs and availability

Vapor Fly

• FlexLoft: (8.5º, 9.5º, 10.5º, 11.5º, 12.5º)

• Shaft: MRC Tensei CK Blue 50 (X, S, R, A, W)

• Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

• RRP: £249.99

• Retail: February 2016

Vapor Fly Pro

• FlexLoft: (8.5º, 9.5º, 10.5º, 11.5º, 12.5º)

• Shaft: MRC Diamana S+ Blue Board 60 (X, S, R); and MRC Diamana D+ White Board 60 (X, S)

• Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

• RRP: £299.99

• Retail: February 2016

Vapor Flex 440

• FlexLoft: (8.5º, 9.5º, 10.5º, 11.5º, 12.5º)

• Shaft: MRC Diamana S+ Limited 60 (X, S, R)

• Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

• RRP: £379.99

• Retail: February 2016