Have Taylormade produced a decent driver since 1985?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Snelly
  • Start date Start date
I had an old R580 which was great and a driver I liked, had Ping G2 which was ok, didnt get on with the Ping G5, had a Titleist 905 which I hated (probably because of the shaft as it was the same as the G5 which I had after it) and now on a Titleist 910 which now after 18 months and have no intention of switching (famours last words) is probably the longest I've held onto a driver.

To answer, they do make good drivers still but it's horses for courses really.
 
Never owned a Taylormade club until recently when I bought an RBZ driver head and fitted it with a "real" NV shaft. Had been hitting an old Ping G5 well but mainly down to the shaft (IMO). Only had the new one out a couple of times but it is much more forgiving than the old Ping and consistently longer.

Not tried their other clubs or any with their own shafts either.
 
I quite like TM drivers to be honest, I have tried different drivers over the years but always gone back to them. Regarding if they have made a decent driver, I quite liked the Ti BUBBLE II, R300, R540 XD, R7 Quad, R7 SUPERQUAD, R9 and R11s....... oops that is a list of my drivers over the last 15 years. Inbetween them you can add a Titleist 975D, 975JVS & 983E. So slip those inbetween the TM drivers in the correct date order and you will see what I went back to after having Titleist drivers that I just did not get on with.
 
It really is horses for courses, I don't really like the way TM (and others) constantly update/replace their ranges with all the hype that accompanies each change, but I tried some of their kit (RBZ, R11s FW and 11 rescue) and currently have them in the bag.

If it works for you then go with it, you don't have to replace your kit everytime something new is out (but you can if you want) :D
 
Well i like my R1 and i think its decent. so in short to answer the OP, yes they have. The R11 i owned before was great, tried the R11S which was also great (but not great enough to swap from R11) now my R1 is premier league status for me. have friends that use the burner2.0, the R9 and they certainly work well for them.

Yes a lot has to do with the right shaft etc, but is that not the same with any manufacturer?
 
In my opinion, the only 'market leader' club at the time was the 510TP which I owned, sold and have regretted the decision from time to time. If novelty value and PR were measured, they would win hands down but for quality and consistency of driver I don't think you can argue against Ping.
 
To answer the question, in my opinion yes, but not recently. I had an original burner (orange head, bubble shaft) and for it's day it was awesome. Then there was a big leap forward with the 360. That's when the hype kicked in and I fell for it. I had an R580, which was not as good. I think TM lost it around the time of the Adidas takeover. I have tried a few since and I have not really been impressed. The marketing of equipment is a real cause for concern from all manufacturers. It is amazing how none of them launch a new club without significant benefits over their old model, yet they always make that breakthrough around February, just in time for the new season. Every year. Interestingly I tried my old 360 a few weeks ago. Not that good compared to today's drivers. But then, it is 10 years old.
 
Was custom fitted for my R9 and very happy with it but given the above comments when it's comes to be replaced will taking a look at Callaway and Titleist as well.
 
Gareth said:
I've always found the main flaw with TM woods being their shafts, the are awful and are not even remotley like the shaft they are labelled as.
Click to expand...

This is my view as well.
Had the RBZ Tour 3 wood and the shaft in that was ok but nothing special and many of the standard shafts are just plain awful
R11 heads are fine - stick a decent shaft in and it becomes a good driver. Otherwise -no they haven't
 
The Burner and R7 were good in my opinion and I preferred the RBZ over the R11, so I bought it. Hard to find a "bad" club these days I think and it is all down to personal choices and what you are looking for from a club.

I don't think that there is anything that is head and shoulders above everything else that suits everyone, impossible task.....
 
Yup, think they've made a few.

R7 SuperQuad TP was a great driver which I used back when I was a junior playing of 6. Loved it and really shouldn't have let it go when I did. The R11s that I've tried I got on really well with and was very close to purchasing.

And my R1 is incredible.

I've played probably 4 rounds with it so far and hit hundreds of balls on the range. Of the 4 rounds I played, 1 was a qualifier in which I came second and hit every fairway bar one, with an eagle and several birdies due to being straighter off the tee. I've been hitting it long and very straight - and am yet to hit a shot high and right, which was my 'round ruiner' with my old driver.

Genuinely can't find fault with it. Admittedly, mine was custom fit and has a bit of a tweaked shaft, but if you're going to buy a brand new driver, IMHO you should be getting custom fit for the right shaft anyway. I've never had as much confidence from the tee and can't wait for the comp tomorrow to get shaving a couple more points of th'andicap.

They've made some ban-uns as well, and some of the stock shafts have been a tad questionable, but to answer the original question of 'have they made a good driver since 1985', yes. They wouldn't be doing as well financially if they hadn't. No matter how much marketing you do, you still need a decent product to back it up, which I believe they have.
 
The R9 was a cracking driver IMHO. As for who makes the best, I personally think that with a proper fitting, the average club golfer could get a driver from any manufacturer and get similar results
 
having had 8 since the original Pittsburg Persimmon driver it's probably irrelevant for me to add my opinion - so I will just recount that whilst this thread was started I was getting ready to tee off in the latest round of the Surrey Tour events (actually waiting for Oldsocks but that's another thing :)).... any how we were matched up with a 6 h'cap who had some japanese forged irons and what appeared to be 913 woods, SC putter etc. Imagine our surprise when he pulled the driver cover off a white headed driver...the increasingly ubiquitous RBZ! The SC putter cover was a cover up too.

So, it works for him - but he really doesn't want to be seen with it in the bag!

Clearly some people believe they make good drivers - and some don't. Hardly ground breaking is it.
 
What It comes down to is the shaft.

Most TM drivers come with a shockingly average (at best) shaft. Suitable for the masses? Maybe.

I had an TM R320 which came as standard with a grafalloy prolite 35s. Great driver. I bought a TMR7 and the fujikura shaft in it was junk. I put an aldila NV in it, and it was transformed.

To the op, (Snelly), I know you don't like shaft talk, but it does make a difference. To me, tm lost it quite a few years ago, by fitting budget shafts. Nike will find this with their Covert tour. Junk shaft = no sales. Some thing titleist have avoided.
 
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