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


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I finally hit the SIM driver yesterday. Since learning I would be receiving a 9* SIM as a replacement for my M5, I've been reading every SIM topic to catch up on everyone's experience with the driver.

 

Well I went through my bag to warm-up before I hit the SIM with the stock Diamana Limited just to see and yeah that didn't pan out well. Next I put my shaft in it and I was seeing low but straight shots with very little spin. Drives were dropping out of the air much shorter than usual. I hit a ton of drives and moved the weight to the toe and still didn't touch the distance of my M5. I plugged my shaft back into my M5 and I was absolutely smoking it where I normally do. Went back to SIM weight in the toe and tried the upright setting, that was a no go. Then changed it to one click higher... ugh slightly closed face, but I crushed it! I dont know if I could get over the closed face so maybe the 10.5* head lofted down would be better?

 

Now I will say, the M5 for ME has been absolutely the best driver to date. I'd go as far to say better than the 16 M2 was because of the forgiveness with the weights set back while maintaining lower spin plus my magical low spin killer unicorn shaft. The other thing could be that the M5 has the added head weight to make it feel like a sledge hammer. The SIM was light and reminded me of the early testing I did with the M3 and M5 with counterbalanced shafts except I could get an 8.5* and 9* elevated without adjusting loft, just no control. After adding weight to both heads control issues were fixed and I picked up ballspeed. I also had to add some weight to feel the club head with the Rogue White 70tx which I absolutely love and I really don't want to spend the time/money to find a shaft profile similar with more spin. I'm hoping to do some more testing and get some numbers to see if I need more loft or just more head weight. I'm also wondering if adding weight specifically the rear will change anything for me? Wonder if I can request a 10.5* head? That or I'll sell/trade the SIM for the new 2021 line, a 10.5* SIM or go PING....

 

TM SIM 9* Ventus Black 6TX 
TM SIM Ti 19* Ventus Black 9TX 
TM P790 3 DG X100 

TM P7MC 4, 2014 MB 5-PW DG X7
TM MG 52, 56, Hi-Toe 60 DG S400
TM Spider Tour Black

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6 hours ago, CKalma said:

I finally hit the SIM driver yesterday. Since learning I would be receiving a 9* SIM as a replacement for my M5, I've been reading every SIM topic to catch up on everyone's experience with the driver.

 

Well I went through my bag to warm-up before I hit the SIM with the stock Diamana Limited just to see and yeah that didn't pan out well. Next I put my shaft in it and I was seeing low but straight shots with very little spin. Drives were dropping out of the air much shorter than usual. I hit a ton of drives and moved the weight to the toe and still didn't touch the distance of my M5. I plugged my shaft back into my M5 and I was absolutely smoking it where I normally do. Went back to SIM weight in the toe and tried the upright setting, that was a no go. Then changed it to one click higher... ugh slightly closed face, but I crushed it! I dont know if I could get over the closed face so maybe the 10.5* head lofted down would be better?

 

Now I will say, the M5 for ME has been absolutely the best driver to date. I'd go as far to say better than the 16 M2 was because of the forgiveness with the weights set back while maintaining lower spin plus my magical low spin killer unicorn shaft. The other thing could be that the M5 has the added head weight to make it feel like a sledge hammer. The SIM was light and reminded me of the early testing I did with the M3 and M5 with counterbalanced shafts except I could get an 8.5* and 9* elevated without adjusting loft, just no control. After adding weight to both heads control issues were fixed and I picked up ballspeed. I also had to add some weight to feel the club head with the Rogue White 70tx which I absolutely love and I really don't want to spend the time/money to find a shaft profile similar with more spin. I'm hoping to do some more testing and get some numbers to see if I need more loft or just more head weight. I'm also wondering if adding weight specifically the rear will change anything for me? Wonder if I can request a 10.5* head? That or I'll sell/trade the SIM for the new 2021 line, a 10.5* SIM or go PING....

 


The most glaring difference that you're running in to here is the CG and probably to a lesser extent the MOI differences between the two, especially with how you have the M5 setup. With the weights back, the M5 has a much higher CG, and a moderately higher MOI, two things that will be part of a certain set of launch conditions that it sounds like you have dialed in pretty well. That and the weight differences pretty much explain everything, so you have a couple options. 

1) Shifting weight around to increase MOI, launch, and spin. You can couple this with the weight increases you'll likely want to do to match feel. Dump the front weight down as low as you can (4g I think is the smallest i've seen) and beef up that rear weight. @J13 talked about this being the key for a lot of people and I plan to do the same at some point if I experiment with a SIM. This will increase MOI and raise CG slightly, although not much. It may be enough to stabilize things in the 9* setup. 

2) Switch to the 10.5* head as you mentioned and either follow the same weight shifting concept as above for maximum stability, or mess with weight at either end. More loft means more launch and spin obviously and depending on your strike location, you may be able to squeeze out more distance by increasing weight more evenly (not dumping the front weight and upping the rear) to keep CG and MOI lower. 

#1 would be the more stable option similar to the M5, #2 could be the more risk/reward bomber option if you up the front weight instead. There are obviously shades between as well depending on how much you tweak with loft and weight placement.

Edited by Valtiel

Titleist TSi3 9* Tensei AV White 65TX 2.0 // Taylormade SIM 9* Ventus TR Blue 6TX
Taylormade Stealth+ 16.5* Ventus Black 8x // Taylormade SIM Ti V2 16.5* Ventus TR Blue 7X
Callaway Apex UW 19* Ventus Black 8x // Srixon ZX Utility MKII 18* Graphite Design AD-IZ 95X
Callaway X-Forged Single Diamond 22* Nippon GOST Hybrid Tour X 
Bridgestone 
J40 DPC 4i-7i 24*- 35* Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0
Bridgestone J40 CB 8i-PW 39*- 48* Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0

Taylormade Milled Grind Raw 54* Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0
Vokey SM6 58* Oil Can Low Bounce K-Grind Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0
Scotty Cameron Newport Tour Red Dot || Taylormade Spider X Navy Slant

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2 hours ago, Valtiel said:


The most glaring difference that you're running in to here is the CG and probably to a lesser extent the MOI differences between the two, especially with how you have the M5 setup. With the weights back, the M5 has a much higher CG, and a moderately higher MOI, two things that will be part of a certain set of launch conditions that it sounds like you have dialed in pretty well. That and the weight differences pretty much explain everything, so you have a couple options. 

1) Shifting weight around to increase MOI, launch, and spin. You can couple this with the weight increases you'll likely want to do to match feel. Dump the front weight down as low as you can (4g I think is the smallest i've seen) and beef up that rear weight. @J13 talked about this being the key for a lot of people and I plan to do the same at some point if I experiment with a SIM. This will increase MOI and raise CG slightly, although not much. It may be enough to stabilize things in the 9* setup. 

2) Switch to the 10.5* head as you mentioned and either follow the same weight shifting concept as above for maximum stability, or mess with weight at either end. More loft means more launch and spin obviously and depending on your strike location, you may be able to squeeze out more distance by increasing weight more evenly (not dumping the front weight and upping the rear) to keep CG and MOI lower. 

#1 would be the more stable option similar to the M5, #2 could be the more risk/reward bomber option if you up the front weight instead. There are obviously shades between as well depending on how much you tweak with loft and weight placement.

I put a 17g back weight in mine. Dropped the front track 4g weight and have just the 10g (had both all year). The 14g front track was really solid all year but got into a case of the pulls as the year wore on. 

 

17g back weight (actually 19g with some added lead tape) is pretty noticeable in forgiveness. Have played 3 or 4 rounds with it and those pull swings are much less punishing. Higher launch too. 

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13 hours ago, CKalma said:

I finally hit the SIM driver yesterday. Since learning I would be receiving a 9* SIM as a replacement for my M5, I've been reading every SIM topic to catch up on everyone's experience with the driver.

 

Well I went through my bag to warm-up before I hit the SIM with the stock Diamana Limited just to see and yeah that didn't pan out well. Next I put my shaft in it and I was seeing low but straight shots with very little spin. Drives were dropping out of the air much shorter than usual. I hit a ton of drives and moved the weight to the toe and still didn't touch the distance of my M5. I plugged my shaft back into my M5 and I was absolutely smoking it where I normally do. Went back to SIM weight in the toe and tried the upright setting, that was a no go. Then changed it to one click higher... ugh slightly closed face, but I crushed it! I dont know if I could get over the closed face so maybe the 10.5* head lofted down would be better?

 

Now I will say, the M5 for ME has been absolutely the best driver to date. I'd go as far to say better than the 16 M2 was because of the forgiveness with the weights set back while maintaining lower spin plus my magical low spin killer unicorn shaft. The other thing could be that the M5 has the added head weight to make it feel like a sledge hammer. The SIM was light and reminded me of the early testing I did with the M3 and M5 with counterbalanced shafts except I could get an 8.5* and 9* elevated without adjusting loft, just no control. After adding weight to both heads control issues were fixed and I picked up ballspeed. I also had to add some weight to feel the club head with the Rogue White 70tx which I absolutely love and I really don't want to spend the time/money to find a shaft profile similar with more spin. I'm hoping to do some more testing and get some numbers to see if I need more loft or just more head weight. I'm also wondering if adding weight specifically the rear will change anything for me? Wonder if I can request a 10.5* head? That or I'll sell/trade the SIM for the new 2021 line, a 10.5* SIM or go PING....

 

I had to go to a 10.5 turned down to 9.75 to get the right spin numbers, i could have went with 9 degree turned up but since my miss is left, i did not want a closed clubface. Interestingly enough, i felt like the swing weight was on the light side, and many on here have added supplemental weights. Even though i was absolutely striping it, i bought some extra weights to swingweight it heavier, and to my surprise, the results were worse. Ended up Back in the original setup.

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6 hours ago, Valtiel said:


The most glaring difference that you're running in to here is the CG and probably to a lesser extent the MOI differences between the two, especially with how you have the M5 setup. With the weights back, the M5 has a much higher CG, and a moderately higher MOI, two things that will be part of a certain set of launch conditions that it sounds like you have dialed in pretty well. That and the weight differences pretty much explain everything, so you have a couple options. 

1) Shifting weight around to increase MOI, launch, and spin. You can couple this with the weight increases you'll likely want to do to match feel. Dump the front weight down as low as you can (4g I think is the smallest i've seen) and beef up that rear weight. @J13 talked about this being the key for a lot of people and I plan to do the same at some point if I experiment with a SIM. This will increase MOI and raise CG slightly, although not much. It may be enough to stabilize things in the 9* setup. 

2) Switch to the 10.5* head as you mentioned and either follow the same weight shifting concept as above for maximum stability, or mess with weight at either end. More loft means more launch and spin obviously and depending on your strike location, you may be able to squeeze out more distance by increasing weight more evenly (not dumping the front weight and upping the rear) to keep CG and MOI lower. 

#1 would be the more stable option similar to the M5, #2 could be the more risk/reward bomber option if you up the front weight instead. There are obviously shades between as well depending on how much you tweak with loft and weight placement.

 

4 hours ago, getitdaily said:

I put a 17g back weight in mine. Dropped the front track 4g weight and have just the 10g (had both all year). The 14g front track was really solid all year but got into a case of the pulls as the year wore on. 

 

17g back weight (actually 19g with some added lead tape) is pretty noticeable in forgiveness. Have played 3 or 4 rounds with it and those pull swings are much less punishing. Higher launch too. 

 

 

45 minutes ago, Red4282 said:

I had to go to a 10.5 turned down to 9.75 to get the right spin numbers, i could have went with 9 degree turned up but since my miss is left, i did not want a closed clubface. Interestingly enough, i felt like the swing weight was on the light side, and many on here have added supplemental weights. Even though i was absolutely striping it, i bought some extra weights to swingweight it heavier, and to my surprise, the results were worse. Ended up Back in the original setup.

Thanks for the input guys. I already have my eye on some new weights. I think I'll be able to make the 9* head work. I read J13's driver shootout and I remember him saying he may have gave up on the SIM a little too early. I'm going to weigh my M5 head tonight and I'll cross my fingers that the SIM is a manageable weight to work with. My M5 plays at 44.75" and I added 7 grams of weight by replacing the two 10 gram weights with two 13.5 gram sliding weights. 

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TM SIM 9* Ventus Black 6TX 
TM SIM Ti 19* Ventus Black 9TX 
TM P790 3 DG X100 

TM P7MC 4, 2014 MB 5-PW DG X7
TM MG 52, 56, Hi-Toe 60 DG S400
TM Spider Tour Black

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1 hour ago, CKalma said:

 

 

 

Thanks for the input guys. I already have my eye on some new weights. I think I'll be able to make the 9* head work. I read J13's driver shootout and I remember him saying he may have gave up on the SIM a little too early. I'm going to weigh my M5 head tonight and I'll cross my fingers that the SIM is a manageable weight to work with. My M5 plays at 44.75" and I added 7 grams of weight by replacing the two 10 gram weights with two 13.5 gram sliding weights. 


Those weight modifications for the SIM are even more important given how you added weight to the M5. Having another 7g all the way back only increases the MOI and CG gap between them. You could hypothetically dump the front weight altogether and cram 30g+ weight in the back and still be lower CG than the M5. Don't be afraid to go crazy given what has worked for you with the M5.

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Titleist TSi3 9* Tensei AV White 65TX 2.0 // Taylormade SIM 9* Ventus TR Blue 6TX
Taylormade Stealth+ 16.5* Ventus Black 8x // Taylormade SIM Ti V2 16.5* Ventus TR Blue 7X
Callaway Apex UW 19* Ventus Black 8x // Srixon ZX Utility MKII 18* Graphite Design AD-IZ 95X
Callaway X-Forged Single Diamond 22* Nippon GOST Hybrid Tour X 
Bridgestone 
J40 DPC 4i-7i 24*- 35* Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0
Bridgestone J40 CB 8i-PW 39*- 48* Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0

Taylormade Milled Grind Raw 54* Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0
Vokey SM6 58* Oil Can Low Bounce K-Grind Brunswick Precision Rifle FCM 7.0
Scotty Cameron Newport Tour Red Dot || Taylormade Spider X Navy Slant

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