Makita GWT01Z 1-Inch Drive Cordless Impact Wrench Review: Big Numbers, Unusual Engineering

Introduction

Makita’s 1-inch drive cordless impact wrench arrives with headline numbers few tools in this class can match: a claimed 2,950 ft-lbs of nut-busting torque and 2,320 ft-lbs of fastening torque, in both forward and reverse. On paper, that would make it the most powerful cordless 1-inch impact wrench ever made, at least by the brand’s own claim.

We bought one ourselves, paid roughly $1,000 during the pre-order window, and put it through dyno runs, bolt breakaway tests, and a full teardown. The short version: the numbers on the box are ambitious, but what Makita has built here is genuinely interesting, and in most testing it lands at or near the top of the very short list of cordless tools that can do this kind of work.

What Makes It Different

This is the GWT01Z on Makita’s XGT platform, meaning it runs on 40V XGT batteries and chargers. Unlike the inline, battering-ram-shaped competition from Milwaukee and Ingersoll Rand, Makita went with a stacked, SDS-drill-style motor in the bottom of the tool, transferring torque through a right-angle gear assembly. That layout keeps the overall length down, and the extended anvil helps the socket reach deep into 18-wheeler lug nut wells.

It is still a chunky tool. Around 24 and a half pounds as a bare tool, and roughly 28 and a half pounds with the XGT 8.0Ah battery attached, which is about the largest battery available for any non-outdoor power equipment platform. That 8.0Ah pack, built from 21700 cells, compares to something like a 16Ah 20V battery and cost us $390 on its own. The tool features a front LED ring with multiple brightness levels, something Ingersoll Rand is known for on other cordless tools but had not included on their own 1-inch impact.

At $999, it sits below the Ingersoll Rand’s roughly $1,100 price and above Milwaukee’s $850 to $900 range. Nothing about the XGT line is cheap, but in this category the pricing is fairly normal.

Torque Test Results

Our usual dyno could not hold this tool; it literally twisted itself out of the vice jaws, so we moved to a heavy-duty Skidmore-style test rig. In a standardized 5-second working torque test, the XGT posted 1,181 ft-lbs, behind the Ingersoll Rand’s cordless record of 1,316 ft-lbs. But there is a trick worth knowing: hold the RPM button to unlock a full-speed mode, and the tool jumps to 2,205 ft-lbs in the same test. Technically that mode trades the progressive trigger for an on/off switch rather than adding torque, but the early gains on the torque curve are real and mighty.

Where the XGT genuinely impresses is consistency. In bolt mode three, forward runs returned 774, 757, and 771 ft-lbs, a 2 to 3 percent spread that is remarkable at this end of the impact wrench market. Bolt mode two held similarly tight at around 281 to 296 ft-lbs. In the old-school 10-second Max Torque test it managed 1,415 ft-lbs, and in a best-case 15-second run with fresh batteries it hit 1,751 ft-lbs, edging past the Ingersoll Rand’s 1,748.

One quirk: the tool impacts at a measured 1,800 IPM versus roughly 770 for the competition, with a 1,200 RPM free speed. That points to a very different hammer design, which the teardown confirms.

Inside the Tool: Teardown Notes

Opening it up revealed one flaw out of the box: a hex cap bolt already rounded from the factory, made worse by Loctite. Inside, the right-angle motor design is even more SDS-drill-like than expected, and the hammer assembly is razor thin by the standards of this class, weighing just over 6.5 pounds with an unusually wide face.

Instead of the usual single spring, Makita stacked three, including a preload helper spring. The wide hammer face puts the striking dogs further from center for more mechanical advantage, and the high impact rate suggests a lighter hammer hitting far more often. The result is that steep early torque curve: this tool tackles jobs in the 5,800 to even 12,300 ft-lbs range faster than any other impact we have tested, simply because it lands more hits in the same window. It then flattens off relative to tools with heavier hammers.

Build quality details are excellent. The battery compartment is isolated and double-isolated against vibration, electronics are fully potted, a large aluminum heat sink manages heat, and even the startup capacitor sits remotely in a foam-lined cubby. The gears have a glass-smooth finish. It is the most comfortable tool of this torque range to use on stuck fasteners that we have used.

Breakaway Testing and Real-World Use

On stuck-bolt breakaway work, the XGT in reverse ran around 450 ft-lbs and came very close to the Ingersoll Rand, which removed bolts about half a second quicker. A 36-pound two-battery import unit bought for the same $1,000 ultimately broke bolts fastest, followed by the Ingersoll Rand, then the XGT, then Milwaukee.

Real-world measured output came in around 75 percent of the advertised figures, a bit lower than its peers and a rare shortfall for Makita on this kind of testing. Still, weighing performance, weight, and price, it scored 589.1 points overall, enough to finish first among cordless 1-inch impact wrenches, even if not by a wide margin. Notably, an LXT-powered two-battery import tool with a 12-pound hammer assembly still delivered 1,812 ft-lbs in that same 15-second test, but with no warranty or money-back agreement behind it.

Buying Advice

Two things are true at once. The XGT does not all-around beat the Ingersoll Rand despite arriving a few years later, and it is still absolutely worth considering if you are in this market. It currently costs less, it is built to survive harsh conditions for a long time, and it will handle the same tasks for most users. Pair it with the XGT 8.0Ah battery to get the most out of it; smaller packs trade performance away.

If DeWalt ever releases its rumored 60V entry, that could reshuffle everything. Until then, this is the most complete package among the handful of cordless tools that can genuinely do this work.

Conclusion

Makita took a hard-mode engineering approach, pairing a right-angle motor with a wide-face hammer and triple stacked springs to hit hard and hit often. The advertised torque numbers outrun what we measured, but the tool still tops our cordless leaderboard, breaks stuck bolts with the best of them, and does it in the most comfortable, best-built package in its class. For heavy-duty cordless fastening right now, it is the one to beat on balance.