Nothing new here. Just TaylorMade releasing yet another line of drivers so that they can convince new golfers that their driver is well worth the $500+ price tag. The SIM series of drivers was super popular, but they are hoping the SIM2 will be 2 times as popular. Just wait until SIM3 comes out in April of this year.
Disclaimer: please don’t fall for their marketing tricks. Please don’t think that the SIM2 drivers are far better than any other driver ever made. All TaylorMade drivers released in the past 5 years or so are virtually the same, but with small changes (adjustability, weight distribution, color scheme, etc). They all will work practically the same, though.
Anyway, enough negativity for one article. Let’s dig into our unbiased review of the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver.
Performance & Appearance
Hey, I won’t lie. I really like the look of the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver. Looks obviously doesn’t mean much, but still. The crown design is unlike any other brands’ drivers on the market. The contrast between the grey and white really pops at address.
Other than the crown, I also really like the the sole of the driver head (where the blue forged ring is noticable) and the white clubhead cover that it comes with. It’d be a great looking club in anyone’s bag.
Now, let’s talk performance. To be completely upfront, I strongly advise that everyone reading this gets a professional club fitting. Your local club fitter can help you find the best club head, club shaft, and shaft flex to optimize your launch angles and spin rates. In the end, that will mean more distance and more straight drives down the fairway.
However, if you can’t afford a professional club fitting ($100ish for a driver fitting, depending on your local market), then you definitely shouldn’t be buying a $500 driver. Although I can’t give you personalized information about how you will play with the SIM2 Max driver, I can definitely give you some general expectations.
The TaylorMade SIM2 Max drivers will be one of the longest and most forgiving drivers on the market. It’s got a taller club head than most other drivers, so it will be a great option if you tend to sky the golf ball off the tee. The weight being moved further back and lower will add some forgiveness and make your launch angles higher, which will benefit most golfers that don’t hit their drives as high as they should. However, their previous models will perform nearly just as well, so you’ll have to decide if the large price difference is worth it.
Who This Driver Best For
The ideal target audience for the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver? Someone that has money to spend and wants the best combination of distance and forgiveness. Some golfers will fit into this category, but many golfers (especially those that read my website) want to get the best VALUE clubs on the market. If that’s the case, then go ahead and scroll down to the bottom of this article, where I recommend a similar club for far less money.
If the price is fine but distance and forgiveness is not what you are looking for, then I’d suggest looking at the review of the SIM2 or the SIM2 Max-D drivers. The SIM2 driver is a low-spin driver for fast swings speeds that want workability. The SIM2 Max-D is a draw-biased driver that encourages the club face to square up to the ball more naturally. Honestly I don’t know what else you would be looking for, as the SIM2 series pretty much covers it all.
Pros & Cons
Keep in mind that we try to be as unbiased and honest as possible in our reviews.
Pros:
- keeps it simple: meant to be long & forgiving. Nothing else.
- taller club face than most drivers – great for those that sky the ball at times
- super high launch due to the weight distribution
- adjustable loft sleeve (can increase or decrease loft by 2 degrees either way)
Cons:
- way overpriced compared to the similar, older TaylorMade drivers
- will be outdated within the year (and consequently lose a lot of its value) as TaylorMade releases about two lines of club each year.
Compared to Other SIM2 Drivers
There are three drivers in this series: the standard SIM2, the SIM2 Max, and the SIM2 Max-D. Compared to the other two models, the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver is:
- more forgiving than the SIM2
- higher launching than the SIM2
- less draw bias than the SIM2 Max-D (no draw bias, in fact)
- longer for those with slow to average swing speeds that benefit from higher spin & higher launch
Again, if possible, I’d highly recommend trying out all three driver heads. You may THINK that you’d perform better with the SIM2 Max. But in reality, you could hit way longer and straighter with the SIM2 or the SIM2 Max-D.
Lower Priced Driver That Will Perform Practically The Same
Most people reading this article simply want a long, forgiving driver. Well, I’m here to tell you today that you don’t have to spend $500+ to get a long, forgiving driver. There are tons of them on the pre-owned market with that will perform nearly the same as the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver, but at a far lower price.
It’s pretty simply really. TaylorMade has practically made (and re-made) the same line of drivers every year. They just change the name, change the color scheme, and add a gimmicky thing or two to make you think it’s worth it. Oh, and they raise the price every year by around 2-3% to adjust for inflation. I just summed up the last 5 years or so for TaylorMade’s drivers.
If you want the best VALUE driver, then check out the TaylorMade M2 driver. Super forgiving, super long, super affordable. They made two version of the M2 – one in 2016 and one in 2017. The 2016 is a little lower in price, but not a huge difference. You can’t go wrong with either year.
You can get a TaylorMade M2 driver for around $150 in great condition. That’s $350ish less expensive than a brand new TaylorMade SIM2. Is the extra “SI” letters worth the extra ~$350. Nope. Stick with the M2 if you are going for value. Go with the SIM2 if you want the latest and greatest driver, no matter the (crazy high) price.
Thanks for reading our review of the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver. If you have any questions, please reach out!
