Mitsubishi Diamana ilima Review

This is our first official Shaft review here at GolfToImpress, we have done quite a few golf club reviews and although feedback shows us to be brutal in our judgements and results we feel its very fair and honest. We try to put to the side the honeymoon phase that most golfers go through, we have no loyalty to write glowing reviews for any brand. If the products is good, we tell you, if it stinks ( in our opinion ) we will tell you that as well.

Today’s review is on the Mitsubishi Diamana i’lima shaft new to the Japanese & U.S markets.  The concept of the new i’lima is based off of a challenge from Mitsubishi USA  to it’s Japanese engineers and designers to create  the next generation Diamana Red Board. 

In our opinion the original Diamana Red Board is a very underrated shaft, its release was announced on the PGA Tour 4 years ago yet dwarfed by the White Board release that was rushed to retail quickly because Tiger, Phil, and VJ putt it into play.  This created a huge buzz for the white board making many average players gravitate to what the worlds best players were using while the shaft that would provide the better results for most golfers in America was indeed the red board as it had a profile and spin rates that benefit the average to scratch level golfer.

You know how it is, many golfers stateside want what the fast swingers use and what the top players bag.  This in my opinion is a bad way to select golf equipment, often the player ends up with shaft that is too stiff and the wrong type of shaft profile to enhance the players best attributes.

Anyhow back to the i’lima, the challenge was set to Mitsubishi’s top designers and what they came out with was similar to the red board but updated with a new way of layering materials called MDI, this is the same technology used in the Kai’li.  To sum it up it’s ultra thin layers layed 360 degrees using 50 micron or thinner prepeg. Whats that do?  Well it creates a firmer profile in the butt and tip yet even more importantly it is overall a much better structure for today’s higher MOI club heads. 4-5 years ago Drivers were not where they are at today.

As for performance, you will notice it spins quite a bit less than the original redboard, it best fit’s a smoother to semi aggressive player and is an excellent choice for a driver or fairway wood. While testing it I found it to have similar characteristics as the red board but much more stable, better feeling, and a lot more stability with less spin. That’s it in a nutshell, its far superior to previous diamana shafts in regards to performance and technology, now the real question one should ask is if that type of profile sounds like it will suit their swing…

In regards to distance this shaft has BIG CARRY without going ballooning you and I attribute that to its near perfect spin rates for my tupe which also helps. The feel is very good also I would rank it a little more numb in kick when compared to the original but the benifit is well worth it. We feel the stiffend up the butt section may have something to do with that.

keeping dispersion in check. When you have too much spin you got issues and this shaft helps in that category. For a player who swings 110mph with a fast tempo its not the best choice but if you have a semi agressive or even smooth tempo and swing anywhere within the flex range of R -S I find it to be in the top 3 or even #1. It’s a well balanced and designed shaft, if its your sort of profile I really think it will improve your game

I forgot to mention that the shaft has really cool graphics, one side is this red orange that looks insane and the graphic is multiple flower bands around the shaft, the other side of the shaft has a dark grey ION finish. Diamana continues to produce the best graphics in the shaft industry in my opinion.

Check out the Gallery, like the pics? just picked up a new lens… 

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