PREVIEW: Carlton Vapour Trail Tour / Elite

**colekwok** · 06-12-2009, 06:49 AM

Originally Posted by venkatesh

I thought all vapor trails are head heavy?

The vapour trail series follow the line of Powerblade/Aeroblade/Fireblade series, Elite, Tour and Lite.

Elite = Head Heavy, single, attacking racket
Tour = Even balanced
Lite = Head light, especially good for doubles and female players

**jymbalaya** · 06-12-2009, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by Easy Tiger

Page one, post #15, Einstein.

Hrm....should I get an VT Elite or a AT900T as my next acquisition.

Hrm....

VT elite FTW!

plus, you will look so much cooler, because everyone will have an at-900T

**Easy Tiger** · 06-12-2009, 06:07 PM

Carlton is probably more popular here than Yonex, but yeah, you make a good point.

**Sevex** · 06-13-2009, 12:04 PM

Here’s my review of the vapour trail superlite, just thought some people may want an opinion on it.

Sorry for the 1 week lateness, I forgot it would need restringing. Used bg80 at 24lbs. I’m a defensive doubles player who does enjoy singles. I usually use head light rackets so am used to them.

Summary
Material high modulus carbon, novel “optimetric” head shape. Not quite as large surface area as isometric but not far off. Very similar to wide body oval. Amazingly head light, it’s like swinging air. The “bi-axial dynamics” does make a difference in my opinion. The racket could be swung very fast and made a very aggressive sound through the air.
Flexibility
This racket is flexible, as in very flexible, if you always hit hard, have a fast compact swing action stay away! On the other hand if you play doubles need a fast whippy racket it may be for you, just don’t expect rallies to end quickly, definitely a case of placement over power.
Head balance
Head light, one of the most headlight rackets I’ve tried which does help with the flex a little.
Performance
As long as the technique is there then clears, drops etc should be fine. If you have a poor technique then clears will be weak. This racket excels in control and deception. Vibrations weren’t a problem for me but I use head light rackets all the time for singles and doubles. Shots felt very stable compared to other headlight rackets. Attacking at the net is amazing and so are net shots. Drives were reasonable but the flex did remove some of their power.
Conclusion
This is probably not a racket for a large majority of people on this forum who seem to love head heavy stiff rackets. I really like this racket and am now using it as my go to racket, every time I play with it, it gets better. It really is for doubles players or those who like to get every shot back and turn any situation into attack.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

**jymbalaya** · 06-13-2009, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by Sevex

Here’s my review of the vapour trail superlite, just thought some people may want an opinion on it.

Sorry for the 1 week lateness, I forgot it would need restringing. Used bg80 at 24lbs. I’m a defensive doubles player who does enjoy singles. I usually use head light rackets so am used to them.

Summary
Material high modulus carbon, novel “optimetric” head shape. Not quite as large surface area as isometric but not far off. Very similar to wide body oval. Amazingly head light, it’s like swinging air. The “bi-axial dynamics” does make a difference in my opinion. The racket could be swung very fast and made a very aggressive sound through the air.
Flexibility
This racket is flexible, as in very flexible, if you always hit hard, have a fast compact swing action stay away! On the other hand if you play doubles need a fast whippy racket it may be for you, just don’t expect rallies to end quickly, definitely a case of placement over power.
Head balance
Head light, one of the most headlight rackets I’ve tried which does help with the flex a little.
Performance
As long as the technique is there then clears, drops etc should be fine. If you have a poor technique then clears will be weak. This racket excels in control and deception. Vibrations weren’t a problem for me but I use head light rackets all the time for singles and doubles. Shots felt very stable compared to other headlight rackets. Attacking at the net is amazing and so are net shots. Drives were reasonable but the flex did remove some of their power.
Conclusion
This is probably not a racket for a large majority of people on this forum who seem to love head heavy stiff rackets. I really like this racket and am now using it as my go to racket, every time I play with it, it gets better. It really is for doubles players or those who like to get every shot back and turn any situation into attack.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

thanks dude. this kinda just set my heart out for the Elite/ tour

***kwun*** · 06-16-2009, 01:16 AM

i have played with the Elite and Tour.

firstly, they are very very shiny. the Elite shimmers in metallic gold color. it will be noticeable from miles away. the Tour is slightly better though still very shiny metallic silver.

the Elite feels more solid than the Tour. even though the Elite is head heavy and the Tour is even balanced, both have similar swing weight as the Tour is almost 1cm longer than the Elite. both are quite manuverable.

both samples i received from Carlton were prestrung. they were prestrung with the new Exelerate string. however, unfortunately they were strung at really low tension, probably in the region of 18lbs.

as a result, the feel of the racket was totally inaccurate. i will have them restrung and test them again later on in the week.

**venkatesh** · 06-16-2009, 01:25 AM

Originally Posted by kwun

i have played with the Elite and Tour.

firstly, they are very very shiny. the Elite shimmers in metallic gold color. it will be noticeable from miles away. the Tour is slightly better though still very shiny metallic silver.

the Elite feels more solid than the Tour. even though the Elite is head heavy and the Tour is even balanced, both have similar swing weight as the Tour is almost 1cm longer than the Elite. both are quite manuverable.

both samples i received from Carlton were prestrung. they were prestrung with the new Exelerate string. however, unfortunately they were strung at really low tension, probably in the region of 18lbs.

as a result, the feel of the racket was totally inaccurate. i will have them restrung and test them again later on in the week.

Ooooooh! Shiny. I like shiny!!!! Keep us posted once you've strung it with a more suitable tension. Thanks.

**purple-marauder** · 06-16-2009, 03:58 AM

Vapour Trail Tour (strung with Yonex Nanogy 95 Gold strings @ 23lbs)

I’d never have previously considered a Carlton racket using generally Karkal's and Yonex in the past. But I saw this new range displayed at the All England Championships earlier in the year and decided to give one a go. For the record I'm not a pro but am a good club player.

My initial reaction (aside from wow that's shiny!) was that the racket is exceedingly well balanced and feels very light. It's got a longer handle than I've been used to with my previous Yonex's which took a little getting used to. It was also slightly stiffer than I was expecting.

Net shots - absolutely fantastic! This is far from the strongest point of my game but found myself feeling utterly confident around the net such was the control that I’m getting with the VT and playing some lovely tight net shots.

Clears and smashes – took a little while to get used to the timing on these. The racket seems to move through the air very fast so I often found myself hitting high up the head and not quite finding the sweet spot. Additionally it's about an inch longer than my previous racket. However after a couple of hours play I began to tune in to it and it can hit some very satisfying smashes when you connect. And again that speed through the air means your taking the shuttle nice and early.

Defence – like the net shots the VT tour really excels here. The combination of lightening speed and great control had me pulling off some outrageous smash returns.

In summary I’m very, very pleased with the Tour. If the rest of the range are as good then Carlton are certainly on to a winner

PM

**Easy Tiger** · 06-16-2009, 09:38 PM

Cool, thanks for the review. Did you get it from Newitts?

**purple-marauder** · 06-17-2009, 02:19 AM

I got it from CentralSports in the end. Bit more expensive (£109), but got the grip and restring thrown in for free. And amazingly quick service too.

PM

**Easy Tiger** · 06-17-2009, 07:03 PM

Yeah, that deal sounds better than Newitts when you factor in you can have whatever strings you like. Good to hear that they're quick, too.

Hey, does anyone know what the difference is between the Air Rage and the Vapour Trail lines?

**Easy Tiger** · 06-18-2009, 12:07 AM

Actually Central Sports is a massively good deal. The more you order the bigger the discount, plus overseas orders are VAT free which is a double sweetener!

***kwun*** · 06-18-2009, 01:06 AM

i restrung the Elite with bg80 @ 23x25.5 with 10% pre-strung on my WISE.

went for training + some games today.

i think Carlton has a winner here.

the balance of the racket while is rated head heavy, it is a standard length 670mm racket. as a result, the actual swing weight is not particularly heavy. in fact, the balance is excellent, enough mass in the racket to be heavy, but not particular long to make it too heavy.

the power is absolutely awesome. the racket head is very stable and has enough mass to gain a lot of momentum, the shaft is lively enough to give back all the power that you put into it. it does not generate any extra power, but if you hit hard enough, it will put every pound that you give it and concentrate it into the shuttlecock. so put as much as you have and you will be rewarded. some rackets no matter how much effort you give, it will take all of it away, not the VT Elite. smashing with this racket actually make smashing fun. in fact, i wonder why they don't call it the Power Trail instead. maybe they think it has so much of it, all there is left is a trail of vapourized feather?

for touch shots like block, push and net, the racket do have decent feedback, it doesn't attempt to damp out all feel yet do not vibrate unnecessarily. the racket head is very stable so no deflection at all.

defense and drives is also great due to the excellent balance, it seems to get the best of the 3U weight, stable and maneuverable.

as for the liveliness of the racket, it is not the best but very good.

overall, the Vapour Trail Elite is definitely a winner to me. suitable for the more powerful player.

***kwun*** · 06-18-2009, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by Easy Tiger

Hey, does anyone know what the difference is between the Air Rage and the Vapour Trail lines?

The basic difference is Vapour Trail is a control/power racket with the optimetric headshape/bi-axial dynamics and Air Rage is the power racket with the isometric headshape / aero slim frame profile.