Taylormade M3vsM5

[clemsontiger1]

I have a question for the board. I recently had a M3 that I hit very well, but unfortunately it developed a defect. taylormade graciously replaced it for me, however they sent me a M5 driver as the replacement. How do the two drivers compare? I am trying to decide if the M5 is a big enough improvement to keep it, or sell it and search for another M3. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[KC13]

Owned the M3 and thought to myself, "best driver I have ever hit". Hit the M5 and then thought to myself, "best driver I have ever hit". Needless to say, I sold the M3 and the M5 is secure in my bag.

[Jeff58]

The consensus seems to be that the M5 design was mainly intended to maintain higher ball speeds in non-optimal strikes rather than trying to increase average distance. If your SS is north of 110mph and you’re looking to optimize your ball flight through the movable weight configuration, the M3 and M5 are arguably the best options available. If you’re looking for a significant distance or forgiveness gain, you may be better off elsewhere IMO.

[manima1]

> @Jeff58 said:

> The consensus seems to be that the M5 design was mainly intended to maintain higher ball speeds in non-optimal strikes rather than trying to increase average distance. If your SS is north of 110mph and you’re looking to optimize your ball flight through the movable weight configuration, the M3 and M5 are arguably the best options available. If you’re looking for a significant distance or forgiveness gain, you may be better off elsewhere IMO.

 

I think Jeff nailed it here. The M5 does an unbelievable job of maintaining ball speed across the face. I still maintain that my 16M2 TI 8.5 head is the longest I’ve ever hit when hit on the screws, but the M5 does seem to be faster on average across the face. I’m usually in the low 160s in ball speed on decent strikes and the M5 always seems to deliver low 160s even on poorer strikes.

 

If you have the 110+ swing speed and are looking to maximize your lest than average strike, this is a great head to start.

 

[keith723]

M5 is the best driver I've hit. Plenty forgiving and very long. Not a huge upgrade from the M3 though, but I'd still keep the M5 under the circumstances. I did own an M3 and there is something about the M5 that I like a bit better - likely just feel related so completely subjective.

[jkinger89]

The M5 to me is much more forgiving. I tend to miss in the high toe area and I definitely see better results with the m5 than I did with the m3.

[clemsontiger1]

@jkinger89 Thanks, this is very helpful. My miss is almost always high toe.

[getitdaily]

Yeah this is pretty much it. I will also add that m5 is lower spin in a higher lofted head than m3 or m4. I had better ballspeeds with m4 but got better distance out of m5. I'm in a 10.5 m5 but had to go 8.5 m4 to get optimal spin.

M5 forgiveness is no joke. It's really good.

[philly2kuk]

I was in the same position. I had an M3 I was fit for and hit very well. One day it developed a nice crack down the heel after 6 months of playing twice a week at most. After a lot of back and forths with Taylormade they gave me an M5 as a replacement. I loved that M3 and was really upset it was broken as I'd never driven so well.

It has taken a while to narrow down the right settings (which seem to differ from the M3 despite the same shaft) but this club is better than the M5. It goes 7-8 yards further and is a lot more forgiving in my opinion. Providing this one doesn't break too, it's a keeper.

[tanker44]

The first one is bad and second one is worse

[JoeFrigo]

Like most have mentioned already, ill agree as well the m5 is the best driver ive ever hit. Very forgiving and it does the best job at maintaining speed across the whole face. High launch and low spin which gives me the best distance vs everything ive hit so far. There are other drivers that had better top end ball speeds (not by much) but the m5 was the most consistent. If you live on the high toe side of the face, this is the best driver out there for that!

 

Also I absolutely love the sound and feel of the m5