If you are looking for high end distance coupled with high end forgiveness, the SIM Max should be high on your list.
The SIM series of drivers was launched in 2020 and they arrived on the market to great critical acclaim from club reviewers and golfers alike.
The “M” series before it were also very popular clubs, but the SIM drivers took it to a new level. The SIM Max is probably the most popular of the SIM drivers because of the forgiveness and distance it provides.
The SIM Max D is great, but the head is a little larger and it is setup for about 20 yards of draw.
The SIM is a good club if you are looking for adjustability, a smaller club head, and a lower ball more penetrating ball flight.
For most golfers, however, the SIM Max is the right combination of power and forgiveness in a great looking package.
The following is a TaylorMade SIM Max Driver Review that will give you some pros and cons of this driver and hopefully help you decide if it is the club for you.
Things to Consider Before Buying The TaylorMade SIM Max Driver
TaylorMade remains an industry leader in the “driver” department and the TaylorMade SIM Max continues that legacy. This driver takes aerodynamics and swing speed to a new level.
TaylorMade significantly changed the design of this driver, which may throw some golfers off, to produce what they believe to be their straightest and longest offering yet. As you can tell by the name, the SIM Max is in the newest line of TaylorMade “SIM” drivers.
It features the Twist Face Technology, Speed pocket, Speed Injection, and low/rear Center of Gravity just like the SIM.
You can get a little more spin with this club but not as much workability as the SIM. The SIM Max produces a really high ball flight and a lot of forgiveness and sends the ball straighter than most drivers.
It features the really aerodynamic shape for added distance while the MOI and center of gravity give you great launch and fewer mishits.
The SIM Max was designed more for mid to low handicappers, but it has traits and features that make it a great club no matter your skill level.
Pros
- Can create significant help in producing a draw from almost any player.
- Less “twist” at impact than other drivers which will create consistent accuracy.
- TaylorMade’s “twist face” technology adds corrective angles across the face so that no matter where you make contact, the results are as straight as possible.
- Great launch angle as they moved the added weight to the back and bottom of the clubhead.
- The SIM Max is a bigger driver and looks huge behind the ball. The size and look of the SIM Max inspires confidence at setup.
- Has a high MOI and low center of gravity.
- A larger face than both the M6 and SIM, it is appealing to higher handicappers, but it is not so big that low handicappers are turned off.
- The sound off the face is pure and the feedback in your hands is immediate.
- A higher launch angle than previous offerings which is especially good for higher handicappers.
- Tested in a wind tunnel and the resulting aerodynamics are supberb.
Cons
- More expensive than comparable alternatives.
- The club is setup for a draw which can make shaping any other type of shot more difficult making the club less useful for lower handicappers.
Features and Benefits of The TaylorMade SIM Max Driver
Construction (5 out of 5)
Head
There are 5 aspects of driver technology that you will find in every driver in the SIM line:
- Speed Injection Technology
- Twist Face Technology
- Multi-Material Construction
- Speed Pocket
- Inverted Cone Technology
As you can see, all of the features found in the clubhead are focused on either distance or forgiveness.
The SIM Max is great at both. It is also important to note that the SIM Max has an almost 10% larger face than the SIM which adds to MOI and makes the sweet spot larger.
The inertia generator also lowers the center of gravity and increases MOI as well.
Shaft Options
The Ventus Blue 6 is your mid-launch option and the Ventus Red 5 is the higher-launch shaft.
The Blue 6 comes in X, S, and R flex while you can find the Red 5 in S and R. There are plenty of custom options available as well, but for most golfers either of the stock shaft options will be really good.
Club Specs
-
- Hand: Left or Right
- Lofts: 9-degrees, 10.5-degrees, 12-degrees
- Material: Multi Material construction, carbon crown,
- Head Volume: 460cc
- Length: 45.75 inches
- Swing Weight: D3
- Shafts: Ventus Blue 6 and Ventus Red 5
- Shaft Stifness: X, S, R
- Grip: Golf Pride Z
Performance (5 out of 5)
Forgiveness
While there are a lot of great performance features in the SIM Max driver, forgiveness is where this driver shines.
It spins a little more than some drivers, but that back spin actually helps with accuracy, consistency, and carry.
The SIM Max is very easy to hit compared to most drivers. You get a really high launch and the ball stays in the air forever.
On top of that, with Twist Face and the inertia generator, even off center strikes perform well and go straight.
There are a lot of reasons to like the SIM Max, but the forgiveness of this club can make golf a lot more fun for beginners and higher handicappers while mid handicappers will love the effortless distance.
Control/Shot Shaping
It is this area of performance that the SIM Max does not shine.
It is a very controllable driver in the sense that you can hit the ball straight and long almost every time if your swing is consistent.
It is less controllable when you talk about shaping shots and working the ball around the course. The club is built for distance and forgiveness and this comes at the sake of shot shaping.
We still rate the performance of this club at a 5 simply because it is so good at what it does well.
Distance
The Speed Injection technology ensures that you get the highest end distance possible for this club.
The face is ultra thin, and the resin that is injected fills in all of the holes formed in construction to make it the most solid and “hot” driver out there.
The face technology is great, and the Twist Face means that the most common mishits or off center strikes find their way down the fairway.
The corrective angles allow your off center strikes that used to destroy your score and your momentum to go almost as long and straight as when you hit it in the center of the sweet spot.
If effortless distance is what you are looking for, you can find it in the SIM Max.
Looks/Feel/Sound (5 out of 5)
This driver looks great. It is a little hard to describe to an extent because it is not exactly what you picture when you think of a driver.
It is slightly asymmetrical, the crown seems higher than normal, and the “V” shape on the bottom is a great touch.
Altogether, it is just a good looking golf club that inspires confidence standing over the ball.
It feels great in your hands, and the feedback you get is true and immediate. You know when you hit the ball solid, and you know when you do not.
To top it all off, the sound is almost perfect.
It is a little louder than some drivers, but it is the sound that golfers dream of the night before a round.
When you know you have just outdriven your partner by 20-30 yards and you are going to be hitting a PW into the green.
Cost (4 out of 5)
The normal cost of this driver is right at $500, and that is a lot of money to spend on any club. This club, however, just may be worth it. The other thing is that you can usually find the SIM Max at a lower price or on sale at several online shops.
Alternatives to The TaylorMade SIM Max Driver
TaylorMade M6
The TaylorMade M6 Driver is easy to hit, very forgiving, and was one of the longest drivers on the market when it came out.
The biggest feature it presented was TaylorMade’s “Speed Injection” technology that is present in every driver in the SIM series now.
What that means is that behind the 2 tiny red screws on the bottom of the driver, TaylorMade injects up to 2g of resin.
That means that with the M6, TaylorMade measures each face individually and uses a computer algorithm to inject the exact right amount of resin behind the screws so that the club continuously toes the line between legal and illegal distance.
In addition to that, it also has a slight draw bias and a matte black look that is great at setup.
It is an extremely forgiving driver with Twist Face technology and a 46 gram inertia generator very low and in the back of the driver head.
This inertia generator is simply a weight that increases the MOI of the club and helps to make every shot as straight and as long as possible.
With all of those changes, however, the M6 sacrificed some customization and movable weights for the extra speed and forgiveness.
TaylorMade saw the writing on the wall, that speed and distance is king, and they produced their M6 driver to make themselves one of the industry leaders in both.
When the SIM Max driver came out, it contained much of the same technology as the M6 with a few improvements.
Pros
- The Speed Injection technology ensures that each M6 is as long as possible under PGA rules.
- A very forgiving driver. The Twist Face technology keeps the ball going straight and long even on mishits.
- The inertia generator is a weight located in the bottom and back of the driver head that produces a high MOI and fewer mishits.
- A mid spin, mid launch driver that is easy to hit straight and high but also can produce enough spin to work the ball around the course at higher swing speeds.
- Aerodynamic design to reduce drag and create higher swing speeds.
- A decent price for the features offered.
- It looks great at setup and instills confidence as you stand over the ball.
- A simple club that works right off the rack, for golfers who care more about forgiveness than adjustability.
Cons
- The SIM Max has the same technology that made the M6 great but with added forgiveness features, a new look, a more aerodynamic design, and increased distance off the tee.
- There are better clubs for workability, this club is all about speed.
TaylorMade M2
The TaylorMade M2 was released a few years prior to the SIM Max, and while there are a few similarities, the differences are striking.
While you can probably find the M2 for a lower price, it is our opinion that the technological increases available in the SIM Max make it worth moving up to that driver.
However, if the price is too appealing, the M2 is a good club and there are some real positives to having it in your bag.
The TaylorMade M2 is focused on forgiveness and distance at the expense of adjustability, and that is an exchange that the vast majority of golfers are more than ok with.
The following list provide some pros and cons of the M2, but before getting into that list, let me list a couple of the technological advances present in the SIM Max that you will not get in the M2:
- The Speed Injection Technology
- Hammerhead 2.0
- Inertia Generator
These 3 advances make the SIM Max longer, straighter, and more forgiving than the M2, and those are the 3 features that set both of these clubs apart from others.
Pros
- The M2 offers great feel and great sound at impact.
- It is a very easy club to hit with effortless distance and a high launch.
- Really good for any handicap and especially higher handicaps.
- A really good price, especially if you can find a discount golf supplier that carries previous models.
- It was one of TaylorMade’s most popular drivers ever for a reason.
- Adjustable hosel allows you to change the loft of the club to make if right for your swing.
Cons
- The SIM Max is a more forgiving and longer club.
- The new Speed Injection Technology gives the SIM Max a big advantage over the M2 in ball speed and distance.
- The M2 does not lend itself to workability.
- Driver technology seems to increase at almost the same rate as computer and microchip technology, so a driver that is 4 years old can become “ancient” really quickly.
Final Thought On The TaylorMade SIM Max Driver Review (Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5)
There is just not much to say negatively about this driver. It is really long and really forgiving so that beginners and higher handicappers should be drawn to it.
It performs so well and so long off the tee, however, that even the best golfers out there should give this club a shot.
TaylorMade just makes a good driver, and the SIM Max is a great example of that.
Having 3 drivers in the same line, the SIM, SIM Max, and SIM Max D allows TaylorMade to provide features in their driver for all golfers, and most golfers will be drawn to the SIM Max.