So I got a good 45 minutes with these AR Protos in the field last night. I don't know how to post pics, so hopefully somebody else will. I would like to see some profile pics for comparison. So.... I can't tell you the exact specs, but I can give an honest review of how the disc feels and flies. It's impossible to really work out the flight characteristics of a driver during the event, throwing at 200' holes, so I thought some field work was in order.
Full disclosure, I usually throw Teebirds and Avengers as my main drivers. Field distance for me is 350ish with the 'birds, little more with Avengers, and I have a bit less distance FH, around 300' controlled.
First off, the plastic is really nice. Grippier than any other Ti that I've held, not slick at all. The vast majority of the colors that were available were dark, but the light blue and pink that I picked up are pretty bright. Brighter than any other Ti I've seen. They did have a lot of dark colors available, though. Maroon, dark green, and a flat purple/grey that I'd lose in my bag, much less on the course. The blue has colorshift like, tiny tiny pieces of glittery pixie dust. Very pretty in the sun. The pink does not, but I did see greens with the glitter. Held up to the light, they're both pretty swirly, and both are as flat as Iceman's hair in Top Gun.
The wing feels a bit smaller than a Teebird and the disc is more shallow in general. I just picked up a Volt recently and it kind of feels shallow like that. The super flat top surely plays a role in that feel in hand, but also makes it feel like they come out of the hand really fast. The wing is very straight as well, doesn't have the shallow concave curve that a Teebird does. The combination of grip and flat top make these feel really comfy and the wing is just about right to make it feel fast, but controllable.
Flight is quite overstable. After throwing these protos with a bunch of Teebirds at full power, I'll stick to the comparison. New Champ Teebirds fade a little harder, but not by much. Quite highly resistant to turn. Very similar to a slightly worn Star. Healthy fade, just not quite as hard as a new Champ. The AR Proto seems to glide a little better if thrown a little high compared to Champ Teebirds, but I was landing them all within 20-30' of each other pretty consistently. The best lines for me with these was just with a hard, flat release, though. They wanted to ride 10' off the deck straight as a laser 4/5 of the flight.
These things will not flip for me, not in the calm conditions last night anyway. A hyzer release will hyzer all the way to the ground, even at full power. It doesn't really stand up and definitely didn't turn over. Forced anhyzer didn't work well for me at all. The discs fought out too hard and just crashed. They're too overstable at my power level to get anything like that going. A clean, flat release had these things riding a dead straight line until the fade kicked in. Same thing FH. Maybe -0.5 HSS if flicked, but they really just want to ride flat and straight and then give a nice C shaped fade as they slow down. They never dumped out, but the fade was solid and predictable. I'd rate these at about 6.5/6/0/2, brand new obviously, but I'm interested to see how they wear.
So there's my review. I think I will like this disc a lot, although I don't see it kicking the Teebirds out of my bag. I'm just too familiar with them. The beginner friendly driver description is a little misplaced, IMO. They're not terribly forgiving and are pretty overstable for a beginner and they don't power down all that well. At less than 4/5 power or with any nose up they have a tendency to crash out, so factor that in when you're throwing those short holes at your local AR. Oh, and remember to have fun!
Those that want their Ace Race experience to be closer to a true DG experience should probably find one elsewhere... but I already do that about 3 times a week.
