I say it every year, and every year I’m proven wrong. I love being proven wrong. Despite the fact I mumbled to myself, “This Nitrum 34 is my new favorite Hoyt bow, and I think Hoyt has hit its peak,” the first time I spent an afternoon arching arrows at distant targets last December, Hoyt’s engineers have me shaking my head in amazement once again.
If you’re a bow fanatic, you already know Hoyt’s new Turbo kingpin tips the scales at 3.8 pounds, measures 33 inches from axle to axle and boats a 6-inch brace height. You know the new-for-2016 DFX Turbo Cams work in sync with the UltraFlex Limbs to deliver a dramatically broader string angle, an increased full-draw axle-to-axle measurement and a more optimal peep positon. What you may not know is how the bow shoots and performs.
Set at 65 pounds, my racy Defiant Turbo, because of its past-parallel limb design, required the use of Ultra-Lock Adapters on my Last Chance Archery EZ Press Deluxe. See your Hoyt owner’s manual for a list of approved bow presses. Try to push the limits and press a new Turbo model with a non-Hoyt-recommended press and you will crack the limbs or, worse yet, send the bow flying out of the bottom of the bow press.
Related: EZ Press Deluxe Review
The bow pressed easily and the set-up process went smoothly. My first arrow through paper produced a perfect bullet hole, and it didn’t take long to bare-shaft tune the bow out to a distance of 15 yards. This bow is a tack driver and one of those rigs that you just have to keep shooting.
This bow is fast. Really fast. It’s one of those bows you shoot and can just feel the speed. I shot a dozen 388-grain arrows through a chronograph and my average speed was 311 fps. That’s a 65-pound bow set at a 29-inch draw. And in case you didn’t notice, 388 grains isn’t exactly on the light side when it comes to arrow weight.
In addition to being fast (one pin out to 33 yards), the Defiant Turbo draws with a much-appreciated gentleness. Transition to letoff isn’t at all abrupt, and once you anchor in, the cams aren’t trying to pull you through the riser. Like any speed rig, if you relax too much the cams want to press the bow into action, but I found that steady tension (not having to break a sweat and rip muscles apart) was enough to keep the cams anchored.
The bow, as you might expect from an RPM buster, produces a slight hand tingle at the shot and jumps forward in the hand slightly. The bow is hushed at the shot, thanks to Hoyt’s time-tested Limb Shox. It’s not the church-mouse quiet type of shot I had with my 2014 Nitrum 34, but my Nitrum 34 wasn’t pushing a 388-grain arrow over 300 fps either. Overall, I was impressed with this speed rig’s at-the-shot noise and vibration performance.
Like any Hoyt I’ve ever handled, the Defiant Turbo sits beautifully in the hand and is ultra-balanced at full draw. It holds well on the target, and its accuracy is second to none.
