2020 TaylorMade SIM and SIM Max drivers (in hand photos, M5/M6 comparison pics)

[drbonesvt]

anyone been playing the sim 5w?

[Carson33]

Has anyone tried both the the SIM and the SIM Max? Honestly, I love the SIM. The feel, sound and the distance is amazing. However, the SIM is (too me) is very fade biased. I can draw it (barely) and it will go straight, but if I do not really go after it, I can sometimes hit this big high fade with it.

So my question is this...is the SIM Max a more neutral driver? Does it add much spin over the SIM? I have tried reading through this thread, and what I have gathered is that the Max is more near trail and adds about 200 RPM of spin. For those that have hit both, is this true? What about launch angle? Is that increased too?

[getitdaily]

SIM MAX launches a bit higher and spins a bit higher. Have you tried moving the SIM weight toward the heel? MAX should be a bit better on that right miss, but adjustable CoG with SIM can help reduce the sidespin

[Carson33]

I already have the weight in the heel. I easily hit a stock draw with every other club in the bag.

[jgrogan]

Have you tried the upright lie angle. It has a stock lie angle of 56 in the standard position. My ball starts right of target and goes further right, but since moving ot to upright it is much better.

I also hit a draw with everything else

[Natural1]

I'm playing some pretty crappy golf right now, but most of those struggles are with irons. I'm hitting the driver pretty good and there is no doubt at all that the SIM, for me, is a vast improvement over my M5, 2017 M1 & M2, and 2016 M1. Compared to those others I'm getting much more ball speed on a low strike, and for some reason the "twist face" seems to work better for me on the SIM vs the M5. I've made quite a few swings over the past few months where shots ended up close to the fairway- and if it was dark I would have told you they might be OB. This is for both left and right misses.

Having said that, I do tend to spin the driver a little too much, and I think the spin on the SIM is slightly higher vs M5 for me. The ball speed might be a little higher on the SIM though. On a 100% flush strike I think the M5 may literally edge the SIM by a yard or two. But, from what I'm seeing the positives of the SIM are significant. Basically, its as long as any of the previous modes and seems to be noticeably more forgiving at the same time. The last time I was this impressed with a driver was the 2016 M1. For me, that was the first driver that launched high enough and really got the spin down where I started to generate good rollout.

From good swings to bad, I'd have a hard time believing that I could optimize my driver performance much more than this. I'm a pretty average swing speed guy, probably no more than about 95 mph. My max carry is around 240 so I need all I can get out of a driver.

YMMV of course.

[SwooshLT]

What loft and shaft are you in?

[craz-e]

I am pretty fortunate where I am as I can still get out and play quite a bit of golf.

Only had the SIM for a couple of weeks but I am loving it out on the course. The fitting numbers were really good coming from my Ping G410. I’m a high ball hitter and the 9* lofted down to 7* and with the Smoke green shaft have put me into a more optimised launch window. I am hitting the SIM further and have lost my big miss to the left as well, but more importantly I’m enjoying hitting the driver a lot more.

[Natural1]

10.5 set standard. I messed with upright lie but found that I really don't need it.

Shaft is Fuji Evo II stiff, untipped, playing 45" total length. Swing weight D2. I play my irons at D4+, but much prefer a slightly lighter SW in the driver. I had this same shaft in the M5, and I truly feel like it fits me perfectly.

I don't have any numbers to share, but in comparison to my friends that are around my swing speed and hit around the same iron distances, none of them can keep up with me off the tee. Most of the guys I play with are bigger hitters and they don't blow it miles by me either. All of the recent TM drivers have all been very helpful for me in terms of launch and spin, and the forgiveness in the SIM is a really nice addition.

[SMUGamer]

It sounds counterintuitive but try the weight all the way in the Toe. Sometimes golf is a game of opposites. It will take one second, just give it a go and report back.

[Carson33]

I tend to agree. For some reason (with me), the softer the shaft flex, the more I fade it. The stiffer the shaft, the more I draw it.

[getitdaily]

Couple things I'm sure (at your handicap) that you know...

Have you checked swingweight?

Is your issue path or face? Is it only the driver you're having the issue with?

[jmkenn0]

Still loving my SIM, but since we can play but not practice, I've been experimenting with loft on my 9*. Yesterday I turned it up all the way (11*), but also ran out of left dash so went to the normal ProV1, the results were not outstanding. Not sure if it was the ball change, loft change, both, me... lets be honest, its probably mostly me. Going to go back to standard loft, but still hit ProV1, take out one of the variables and see if I can get the results back to somewhat normal.

[Carson33]

Yes, I have the swing weight perfect. I am a bit of a perfectionist with my equipment. I literally hit a stick draw with every club in the bag (wedges through 3-wood), but my stock shot with the SIM is a slight fade. It does not hurt, but just is weird to my eye. There are benefits...of water is down the left, I can just go at it hard knowing that it will not go left.

i can over cook anything other than the SIM.

[getitdaily]

That's basically what a bunch of folks have noted. Turns a stock draw into a fade. How'd you get the swingweight up?

I added a 4g weight to the front track and it has turned out to be great after a bit of dialing in...

[Jnardelean19]

Very excited to play Sim this year over the M5 from last year brought my spin down almost 800rpm! Hopefully will pick up some yardage!

[Carson33]

I have the 4g weight on order, but until it arrives, I have used good ‘ol lead tape.

[getitdaily]

I tried lead tape, on both sides of the inertia generator and found I couldn't get consistent ballflight. The added weight in the front track really helped me.

[taylorx300]

yes to the Sim 5 wood, 80g Smoke Black at 42.5 - perfect in height and length.

[GooseHook]

First range session back and still like my SIM head, although I do notice how fade biased the head is. This works better on the course than range since I think I get a little more hooky when I'm actually playing, but I'm going to experiment this weekend with the sliding weight towards the center/heel side.

I honestly wouldn't mind trading for a SIM Max in the same loft, but my only concern is how dead it might sound after I add the amount of hotmelt it would need to match the SIM's weight. Is the Max a slightly louder head to start with compared to SIM?

[dcmidnight]

The Max is definitely not a loud head, has a nice soft sound and IMO was similar to or quieter than the SIM.

[BraxtonFullerton]

I'll second that. There wasn't a noticeable sound difference for me during my fitting between SIM & Max.

The regular SIM was more fade biased though. That tends to be my miss, so I went to the Max which seems more neutral on the face.

[danstanford]

After breaking the crown on my M5, I bought a Sim Max on the weekend and probably drove it straighter than ever in my life. I would have to say it is not longer than my M5 but much straighter and much higher flight. Both 10.5 loft but the M5 had a Tensei CK Blue 70 Stiff and the Sim Max has a Ventus 6S. If I had to guess, and with no launch monitor that is all I can do, the Ventus Sim Max combo is likely spinning a lot more.

I have to add to the discussion that the Sim Max is also fade biased from one round of play. All in all very happy with the club though I am hoping Taylor Made sends me a Sim as a replacement for the M5 then I can compare the two heads.

[Hammer22]

I tried both and initially wasn't thrilled with the standard SIM since it seemed hard off the face and I was fading it, which is my least favorite shot. With the Max, the feel and sound were fantastic, and even with a slightly higher launch, it puts the ball out there nicely. I'd even venture to say it's the longest driver I've ever hit. Both demo models I tried also had the TM version of the Ventus Blue in 6X and I was pleasantly surprised with it. Having a real TM fitting done tomorrow, so I'll look forward to seeing what Trackman shows. Since I've had awful luck with my 410LST lately, I'm sure a TM driver will be in the bag shortly.The Max looked pretty neutral to me, and even turning the head up from 9°, to 9.75° (and upright since all my clubs are that way), it didn't look closed at the ball goes pretty dang straight in both positions. I don't mind the higher launch either, and if it's still spinning a hair more than the standard SIM, it's still plenty long. And forgiving!

If TM sends you a SIM head as a replacement, you'll probably dig it as well, and will be great to compare.

Also, I didn't want to dig back through 60+ pages of this thread, but I noticed some questions about swing weight early in the thread. If it hasn't been already mentioned, Billy Bob's Golf in San Diego has weights out for the SIM heads. There are two versions, one being for the SIM, and the other for the MAX/MAX-D, but they should do the trick for anyone not wanting to slap lead tape all over the sole.

[GooseHook]

I have to agree with everything @Hammer22 said. I played my first 18 today with the SIM Max after selling my SIM head, and I prefer it in every single way. The sound is more "cushion" like if that makes sense, it's really explosive and the ball launches just a smidge higher than the SIM. I hit several extremely long drives with it, and more importantly I didn't see any misses way right like before. It does seem like the Max performs better on a high face strike, the good ones looked like soaring high knuckleballs that carried forever.
Basically, deeper face, better sound, and equal performance with a stable ball flight. 10/10

[Valtiel]

Oh awesome, thanks for that! I was hoping these would become available. I want to be able to properly demo a SIM but the super light weight of the heads combined with me preference for shorter lengths made it almost impossible. I will be picking some of these up!

You need to change your user title to something like "Aftermarket Weight Daddy" or something like that. ?

[OspreyCI]

Well said. I went SIM to SIM Max and you described it to the tee. Max is more forgiving and just as hit. This things flies! Paired up with a Speeder 661 and it is awesome.

[Hammer22]

I do like to tinker!!

Already ordered the 19g weight for mine since I'm cutting it down 1". The stock weight is 16g for the head I have being 193g overall. Fortunately, I use the standard 47g MCC grip in my driver and 3-wood, so it will be easy to keep the SW versus with the slightly heavier MCC+4 grips in the rest of my set. Glad Billy Bob's keeps coming through with these things!

 

[Hammer22]

Billy Bob's came through quick with the weight, but I needed an additional 4g so I could hit D3 (same SW for my 3-wood and two hybrids). Total head weight is now 200g with some creative use of lead tape along the "inertia generator" (hate the look of lead tape strips and don't have access to hot melt right now). I also had my Ventus Blue VeloCore shaft transplanted over and play the club 1" shorter than stock. Interestingly enough, the non-VeloCore shaft in the exact same length is 5g heavier since its walls are thicker - probably how TM got the shaft to feel "close" to the OE version.

Almost can't tell there is lead tape on the head, and the weight looks as good as stock...

[Crankenstein]

SIM is draw biased to me, unless I come over the top to try a fade. 10.5* set neutral with UST Helium stiff. Phenomenal driver and very forgiving.