The new Ping i240 irons are inviting more players to the table with something new and something old. The something new is absolute performance improvements that will clearly benefit different groups of players. The something old is that i230 familiarity which keeps just enough of the "if it's not broke don't fix it," overall i-Series goodness.
You can read all about the new features and technologies of the i240 irons on Ping's website. And I'll have a stand alone i240 irons review after my build arrives. This review is going to focus on head-to-head comparisons between the previous model i230 irons and these new i240 irons. And i240 truly has something irresistibly awesome for everyone.
I think i240 will give better players and faster swing speeds a few important advantages that are indispensable to playing better golf. And for the rest of us i240 delivers friendlier to play irons with fundamental performance enhancements. Ultimately i240 is an evolution of Ping's i-Series irons and they've honestly never been better.
Here are 10 things to know about the new Ping i240 irons.
Number 1. ▪️The Ping i240 and i230 appearance is both similar and different. When looking down at the ball or head on at the face i240 and i230 look to be pretty much identical in topline and blade length. i240 might have a tad deeper (taller) face. Throughout the set specs like loft, lie angle, and offset are absolutely identical. i240 has slightly less bounce in the 8 and 9 irons but the rest of the set has identical bounce to the i230.
Number 2. ▪️The Ping i240 and i230 appearance looks slightly different however when you look at the soles. To my eye i240 looks a tad more compact heel to toe and also looks to have a minimally wider sole. Maybe it's just my eye but that's what I'm seeing.
Number 3. ▪️You still get an incredibly soft feel at impact with Ping i240. At the same time however i240 feels crisper at impact than i230. Neither is better than the other as this is about preference. Both irons feel solid, smooth, and powerful. I prefer the i240 feel as it has what I'd describe as a more active soft feel versus the more muted soft feel of i230.
Number 4. ▪️Ping changed the groove pattern with i240 to wider and fewer grooves. The i240 also has a fuller and deeper cavity back than i230. And these create real performance differences I'll address below.
Number 5. ▪️The sweet spot of both Ping i240 and i230 irons cover about the same area, think a quarter size. However on good strikes i240 launches a degree or so higher than i230 and spins some 300+ RPM more than i230. That translated to balls stopping faster on greens and being a few yards closer to intended targets. This added precision helps everyone and every skill level.
Number 6. ▪️Ball speed on good strikes with the Ping i240 was only 1-2 mph higher than i230. But consistency of ball speeds with i240 was notably better. This tightened up downrange dispersion with i240 versus i230 (which is excellent in its own right).
Number 7. ▪️There's also a more stable feel at impact with Ping i240 compared to i230 and this kept left-to-right dispersion a few yards closer to center. Not surprising as i240 has that fuller and deeper cavity back. But the gist is i240 undeniably makes your good shots even better.
Number 8. ▪️Consistency is a big story with the Ping i240 and when you start missing away from the center the i240 shines even brighter. Misses with i240 low and about half-inch towards toe or heel are remarkably better than i230. And it's a big reason why I mentioned i240 will appeal to a wider range of player abilities.
Number 9. ▪️The Ping i240 isn't a miss all over the face iron but if you're keeping it inside the lines i240 outperforms i230 for downrange and left-to-right dispersion, retaining spin, launch windows, and ball speed. And i240 is doing it all consistently better.
Number 10. ▪️In terms of miss areas (low, toe, heel) while Ping i240 outperforms i230 in all these miss areas, i240 and i230 are still similar in the sense that toe misses are the worst with both irons. But again with i240 being more forgiving it's a better toe miss than with i230 (ie, it retained more distance and accuracy, and didn't balloon launch or severely drop spin rate like what happened with i230).
The new Ping i240 irons succeed in delivering performance improvements that better players demand while at the same time providing a playability and forgiveness that brings more skill levels into the i240 fold.
For better players subtle enhancements here and subtle enhancements there all add up to also making i240 flat-out better than i230 in dispersion, stopping power, and consistency of launch, spin, and distance. Miss the sweet spot in any direction with i240? There's less drop-off and more consistency of launch, spin, ball speed, direction, and descent than we saw with i230.
The new Ping i240 irons might very well be Ping's unicorn.
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