-Long and straight

-Ballflight is easy to control

-Head shape and sound are a little different than the other stuff out there

The first driver I ever had was an old Callaway Great Big Bertha Hawkeye Titanium. I went away from them for a while, but I'm glad I've gone back. The FT-9 Tour I-mix is awesome. Callaway puts a ton of R&D into their drivers, and the results speak for themselves. This club is long and straight. I work at a golf retail store so I had a chance to try pretty much everything out there before making my final decision. The FT-9 was the longest and straightest of everything I tried: Ping, Titleist, Taylormade, Cleveland, you name it. I've got an Ozik x-con 6 in a 9.5 neutral head. I play to a 0.7 handicap at the moment and this club allows me to do whatever I want when it comes to ballflight. Working the ball both ways is no problem. Keeping it low on windy days and getting it high in the air when hitting with the wind are both no problem also. The control with this head and shaft combo is great, for me. Different types of swings obviously will suit different specs, but if you are looking for something you can bomb down the middle, I would definitely give this driver a try. The head shape and sound are a little different compared to the other stuff out there. That said, both are easy to get used to once you see the results. With the draw option available in the standard head, I would recommend this driver to any level of player. The I-mix is a cool option also, because it allows you to change shafts or lofts without having to buy a whole new club. I'm not a huge fan of all the Callaway products out there at the moment, but this driver is too good to pass up.  

Good distance when hit on the screws

Only driver I can hit off the deck

Very high launch

Mid Spin even with low spin shaft

The FT-9 is very easy to hit and looks great at address. At impact if hit on the screws if feels similar to the legendary 510TP. It launches the ball very high with mid spin. Mishits definitely suffer in terms of distance but still go very straight. For some reason, the paint on the crown doesn't hold up very well and scratches easily. I still prefer the FT-5 as it's more mid launch and has a different sound and feel at impact.

- Lots of loft options

- Easily customizable with I-Mix

- Still not 100% sold on the sound

To find a perfect driver this year, I went to a company that a previously hadn't like.  The selection of I-Mix shafts and the availibity of these shafts in fitting systems everywhere made it easy for me to get the exact launch/spin numbers that I was looking for.  Ended up with the perfect fairway finder for me; a Ft-9 11d with a Bassara Hawk 53 Stiff shaft.  Can't hit a fade, but don't miss many fairways when I don't fight the consistant natural draw that I hit with this club.  Love this club (and shaft)

-Greatly improved sound and feel over the FT-5

-Slightly better setup

-Lack of hosel still a little odd

-Face seems a touch smaller

First the background - I'm a 1.5 handicap who had been playing the FT-5 9.5 w/ Blueboard 73x for a couple of years and really liked it.  About a month ago it broke on the driving range before my 2-day mens club championship.  Something broke off on the inside of the head as it started rattling.  Talked to the pro, and he let me borrow an FT-9 9.5 w/ Whiteboard 73x.  I didn't have a chance to hit it before playing with it, but it really set up nice, better than the FT-5, and inspired confidence.  Ended up winning the tournament with it, called Callaway on Monday and they sent me out that exact club as a replacement.  Great customer service.

The feel and sound of the club are very different from the FT-5 and the most noticeable change.  It sounds and feels very solid, quite unlike the hollow pop can sound of the FT-5.  The change in launch was probably more due to the shaft, but it was lower with a flatter flight.  This improved my distance by an undetermined amount.  I hit the ball well over 300 here in Colorado, so it's hard to make comparisons with so many variables, but it cerainly seems to be longer, probably due to some better roll.

Overall I highly recommend the FT-9.

Great looking club, muted sound, long.

none

I have the Tour, i-Mix version.  This club is very muted sound-wise.  Compared to my Cleveland XLS, which is one of the loudest drivers on the market, this thing is whisper quiet.  However, do not mistake the lack of loud sound to mean that this driver face is not hot.  Distance is very, very good.  I much prefer the Tour version as it suits my eye much better and I don't need the anti-right qualities of the non-Tour version.  I think i-Mix is one of the best creations of all time.  I have 3 i-Mix shafts that I can swap out depending on course conditions and wind.  Very happy with this purchase.

Distance

Ball Flight

Clubhead Size/Shape

I'm using the 8.5* imix tour head with Fubuki 63 x shaft in standard callaway length and it's a great setup

Very easy to hit and easy to work the ball.  Probably one of the longest drivers that i've hit in a while

Long, Looks Great, Forgiving, solid sound

no hosel makes reshafting difficult.

I have hit almost every driver released in 2009 by the big OEM, and the FT-9 is my favorite.  It has the perfect combination of sound and feel for me.  It is plenty long and seems to go very straight, even on less than stellar swings.

Very forgiving and straight.

Size of the head at address is rather large. 

First of all, this is a great improvement over the FT-5, the sound is much better than its past fusion family predecessors. This is one of the most forgiving clubs I have hit. The distance is great, almost anywhere I hit it on the face, the ball seems to go not much shorter than my solid hits. 

Very forgiving head. Many options. Even the draw models look good at address.

None, as long as you choose the right model (draw, tour, neutral, etc....)

This is a very good product from Callaway and I'd recommend to anyone. I have hit longer drivers (e.g. Ping) and some that are just as straight, but non have a better combination of the two. The head shape is a little less traditional than some, but the performance is nice.  But make sure you get the right head model.

The draw version is very nice if you tend to lose shots to the right. If you need a bit of lift in your drives (i.e. spin) then go with the regular model; however, if you need a boring trajectory, make sure you go with the tour versions, since the non tour version does spin a little.

If you fall into both categories, then don't ignore the tour draw version. It sets nice and the performance is noticable.

All in all, if you pick the right head for your game, you'll probably love this club.

LONG, Good sound

Good dispersion, sets up square

Semi shallow compared to ft-3

I have hit all the Callaway ft series. Ft-3 was my previous favorite and I still game a ft-3/diamana blueboard 63 stiff combo that I bought new back in the day. I gave the ft-5/diamana 63 a run, but couldn't get on with it. I held off on the ft-9 until the prices came down a bit, and wanted to try out the IMIX stuff. I have to say, I'm impressed, the ft-9 tour head sits square to me, feels very hot off the face, and I love the ability to swap out shafts on the range to see what works best for me. I hit the xcon5 stiff imix, wanted to love it, but no dice, next was the diamana 63 that I am near and dear to, and well it was good, but didn't feel as solid as it did in my ft-3. I then went to a VSPROTO 60s and it is money. Tight and long, verified the best on Trackman. I would say don't hesitate to try out the ft-9. You can get a good used head on golfwrx for 125 or so, and then try out some shafts and sell the ones that don't make the cut.

-Long and straight

-Solid feel/sound

-none

I had a ft-9 tour neutral with the fuji zcom shaft and this is a solid driver. Ball definetely felt solid coming off the face. Much better and longer than the G10 I previously owned. Nice mid high trajectory for me. Although I think next time I would go up a degree in loft to increase my carry distance.

Overall I owuld highly recommend this club.

-Long and straight

-Solid feel/sound

-none

I had a ft-9 tour neutral with the fuji zcom shaft and this is a solid driver. Ball definetely felt solid coming off the face. Much better and longer than the G10 I previously owned. Nice mid high trajectory for me. Although I think next time I would go up a degree in loft to increase my carry distance.

Overall I owuld highly recommend this club.

Solid feel

low spin

great launch angle

I dont have 2 of them

I have the draw version and it helps square the face

I find this club gets up and flatlines without alot of spin

feels great off the face

Incredible ball speed over the entire club face.  Long and straight.

Trajectory is slightly higher than I anticpated.

Sound is a little tough to get used to.

Overall a very solid club.  I highly recommend upgrading the shaft from stock and was really happy with the Mitsui 73g BB.  

For those who like to tinker the I-Mix is a great option also.

- 45" shaft

- Superior head technology

- Fits many swing types

- Lofts don't go high enough

- I-mix tech is I-old

After Trying 3 Models...

I think it's safe to assume I've thoroughly tested this driver. I had some of my best drives with this model, but I never had the height I needed. I find it odd some say it's a high launching driver. I am a low hitter, and I eventually moved to the Tour model just to get the 10.5.

In all I started with a draw model, then found I hooked far too much, and moved to a Neutral model in the I-mix flavour. The I-mix model was still a touch 'left' of fairway too much for my liking, so I was fitted with the Tour I-mix.

From a Playing Perspective:

This really is a great driver, but as others have metioned, the head is nice and quiet, and fairly forgiving, but the 'feel' isn't quite there. This isn't such a bad thing because I found after spending a lot of time with it, I could identify the 'sounds' associated with different hitting patterns.

Distance... this club I found as good as any. The stock shafts are super light which doesn't suit me at all... When I went I-mix and TOUR things got better but I was still hitting the ball too low, causing too much run out, rather than carry.

Some people think this driver is high launching.. I just can't agree. Maybe the shaft will do that for you but I think the heads do not 'exagerrate' loft like many companies do. So if you buy a 10 degree head, that's typically what you'll probably get. Some brands add a degree or a degree and a half to make you feel like you're buying a lower launching head (it's no secret most people buy too low a loft).

Very solid though. I personally really liked the lack of 'noise'. So many drivers today sound like an oil can on a stick and people call that 'feel'.... ugh, not for me.

Conclusion:

These are ups and downs I found with the three variants. Most are personal and may not be a truth for everyone.... but here's what I found:

Super solid performance with confidence. But not the most forgiving driver if you've left your swing in the trunk of your car. However, it is highly workable, and I enjoy that with a driver.

Distance: I love that this driver stuck with a 45" shaft. Very easy to get inside on the ball. Distance is as good as any driver out there IMO.

Headcover. This is weird, but I found other people had similar results. The FT-9 'generic' head cover will damage the top of your driver. Get rid of it. I am a club nut for cleaning my stuff and I found no matter how careful I was, the head cover left a series of white 'scars' which rounded the rear top of the head. Ugly, and unacceptable.

Get the I-Mix headcover. I ordered a spare. This one is magnetized and does not cause the friction problem of the generic sock.

I-mix... in a word, I-mix is dead. I had to change the driver 3 times to find my best fit. If I had another variant of adjustable driver, this would have been as easy as adjusting with a wrench rather than buying a new club.

I-mix is yesterday's technology. However, the hosle doesn't screw up swing weight like many new 'adjustable' drivers and that's a good thing. I would say if you found the FT-9 head you absolutely know you love... then go I-mix. Shaft swapping is fun, and easy with I-mix.  But if the head is questionable for your swing... it can be a painful and expensive path to go down.

I gave the driver 4 stars. If I-mix was up to date, and the heads had more options, it's a 5 star choice. But these are the very reasons I actually stopped using the driver, so they are important to me.