One of the most impressive performers in our 2014 Gear Trials: Best Drivers club test was Cobra’s Bio Cell+ driver, even though it didn’t crack the top-5 in our “Distance-First,” “Forgiveness-First” and Balanced Performance” categories.

How do we explain that? The No. 1 reason for the snubbing of the Bio Cell+ was the solid performance of the Bio Cell driver, which offers more forgiveness than the Bio Cell+ thanks to its 20cc-larger head size, as well as a very similar launch and spin.

For some players who struggle to keep their spin down, however, the Bio Cell+ driver will be a better choice. Its smaller head and Venollum alloy crown insert lower the driver’s center of gravity, which can knock off about 300-to-500 rpm of spin depending on a golfer’s swing characteristics and contact point. That can lead to quite a few more yards if the driver is properly fit.

Click here to read our review of Cobra’s Bio Cell and Bio Cell+ drivers, which scored an impressive 4.6 out of 5 rating.

Above: A stock Bio Cell+ driver in orange. 

Although looks don’t play a factor in our Gear Trials testing process, several members of our panel of custom fitters expressed concern over the look of the Bio Cell+’s dual-colored crown. That’s why Cobra’s new Design Lab makes so much sense. It allows the minority of players who need the Bio Cell+’s low-spin performance — they ones who are usually the pickiest about the looks and shafts in their driver, by the way — to customize the head, shaft and grip of the driver to their preference.

Choosing a blue Venollum insert resulted in Cobra adding blue paint fill to the sole of the driver. 

Pricing starts as low as $449, which allows golfers to choose two different head colors (white and black), as well as eight different Venollum insert colors. Those insert colors can be customized to have different patterns as well, such as “Matte,” “Bio Cell,” “Matte DigiCamo” and “Marble.”

Cobra also offers 39 different grips options and 58 different shaft options, some of which have an upcharge. There’s even a special requests section, where golfers can specify how much the want the shaft tipped and how golfers would like Cobra to align the driver’s shaft and grip logos (logo up, logo down, and if golfers want those alignments to correspond to a specific MyFly8 loft and lie angle setting).

Cobra sent me a custom Bio Cell+ to show off just how detailed the Design Lab is. I opted for a Bio Cell+ with a black crown and a blue marble Venollum insert. The shaft is a Mitsubishi Rayon Kai’li 70X ($150 upcharge) tipped 1 inch at 45.5 inches, which is 0.25 inches longer than Cobra’s stock loft. The shaft and Golf Pride Z-Cord grip ($5 upcharge) are alignmed to be logo down in the driver’s 9.5-degree setting.

To experience the Cobra Design Lab for yourself, click here.

Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about Cobra’s Design Lab in our forum.