TaylorMade SIM2 Max Iron Set Review

Ah, I can just see it now.

The TaylorMade sales and marketing team schedules a meeting. Sales have taken a hit, as the latest irons set (SIM) have been out for a whopping 3 months. “What can we do to increase sales?” one guy asks. “Why not just add a 2 to SIM, slightly change the design but basically not at all, and raise the price again?” BINGO!

And viola, the TaylorMade SIM2 Max Irons come to life.

For some reason, TaylorMade chose not to sponsor this site. It’s probably because I call them out on making garbage golf clubs and hyping them up to beginners as being the best clubs of all time. Yeah, that’s probably it. With this not being a sponsored review, you can be sure that it’ll be as unbiased as possible. Yes, I have links in my article, but I literally don’t care what you buy. I’d rather you buy the best value clubs, not the overpriced clubs like the TaylorMade SIM2 Max irons.

 

Appearance & Performance

You’ll love the TaylorMade SIM2 Max irons if you like large toplines, soles, and lots of offset. The club heads have a very large profile, but not quite as large the even-more-oversized “Max OS” irons.

TaylorMade tries to “invent” new gimmicks every six months or so to stick on a club face and convince suckers to buy them. With the SIM2, they must have just gotten lazy and practically copied the previous SIM design.

When it comes to performance, the TaylorMade SIM2 Max irons are just like the last 10 models of game improvement irons from TaylorMade. They are very forgiving and very long… but not much of anything else.

You wanted an honest review? That’s what you are getting people! The TaylorMade SIM2 Max OS irons are no better than the TaylorMade Burner irons from 10 years ago. The main difference is stronger lofts that you’ll find in current releases, which basically take a 7 iron and instead stamp an “8” on the sole of the club to make you think you’re hitting it further.

While TaylorMade says that they incorporate a “forged iron feel” due to the “softer ECHO® Damping System,” I strongly disagree. They know that beginners and high handicap golfers won’t be able to tell the difference, so they just randomly say that these irons feel like forged irons. They don’t. These irons are much louder and send more vibrations through your body than forged irons in my personal experience, which isn’t surprising at all.

 

Who the TaylorMade SIM2 Max Irons Are Best For

Short answer: It’s best for the small group of golfers that want distance and forgiveness but don’t want the oversized design of the Max OS irons.

I’m not even going to sugar coat this. This iron makes absolute no sense to me. I don’t think there is a specific target audience at all. They are marketing this as a “Precision accuracy, easy-to-hit and incredible feel” iron, which is absolute bologna. It’s easy to hit – yes. But there is no precision accuracy or incredible feel, so that’s a complete lie.

If you want distance and forgiveness, then it makes more sense to go with the TaylorMade SIM2 Max OS (oversized) instead of the Max. And with that being true, there is literally no point for the SIM2 Max iron set. It’s not durable, it’s not workable, it’s not aesthetically appealing, it doesn’t feel great at impact, and it’s not the best bang for your buck.

I guess that the TaylorMade SIM2 Max irons are best for golfers with high budgets that want forgiveness and distance in a large profile (but not as large as the OS model). That’s a very specific group of people. I just don’t recommend this iron set at all.

If you are ok with that, great! More power to you! If you want a more durable iron set, go with a Ping set of irons. If you want a more workable and appealing iron, go with a players iron. If you want better feel/sound at impact, go with a forged iron head. If you want the best bang for your buck, go to the bottom of this article.

 

TaylorMade SIM2 Max vs Max OS Comparison

The TaylorMade SIM2 Max and TaylorMade SIM2 Max OS irons are very similar. In fact, they are pretty much exactly the same, except for the following 2 differences:

• The SIM2 Max OS irons are larger profile (thicker toplines, more offset, wider soles, and larger club faces) and therefore more forgiving (slightly larger sweet spot)
• The SIM2 Max OS irons are stronger lofted (irons are about 1.5 degrees stronger, which will result in around 5 yards longer on average)

 

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Very long and forgiving, without the super-oversized club heads of the Max OS model
• Well under the current standard of $1,400 irons sets (you get what you pay for)
• Very high launching, which is great for those with slower swing speeds
• Available in steel and graphite shafts, as well as right handed and left handed

Cons:

• Not visually appealing, not workable, and not great feel at impact
• Distance control is difficult (you might hit some shots 10+ yards longer than average randomly)
• Far better value options on the market
• Some complain about club faces that scratch up very easily
• Not a large target audience, as the Max OS irons are even longer and more forgiving

 

A Better Value Game Improvement Iron

The TaylorMade SIM2 Max iron set is a terrible value option. They are way overpriced considering what you are getting (a clunky cast iron that literally doesn’t excel in any category).

A far better value option? Try the TaylorMade SpeedBlade irons from 5-6 years ago. There are no significant improvements in the two iron sets… trust me. The lofts are a tad bit stronger with the SIM2 Max irons, but not by much.

You can expect the same level of forgiveness, distance, feel/sound at impact, and distance control with the SpeedBlade irons as you can with the SIM2 Max irons. They also have a similar sized profile.

The main difference? You can buy the TaylorMade SpeedBlade irons (in excellent condition) for around $250, while the overpriced SIM2 Max irons will set you back $800-900.