Updated April 19, 2023. This article was thoroughly audited by multiple golf experts and coaches for its accuracy. You can read more about our rigorous testing protocol here.
No one makes drivers like TaylorMade. Their latest line, the TaylorMade SIM drivers and its oversized brother, the SIM Max, offers golfers of all skill levels the ability to elevate their game from the tee box, utilizing each club’s key features.
While the two drivers offer boosted club speed, higher ball flight, and elevated launch angle across the board, golfers should not blindly choose between each driver.
In this comparison between the SIM vs SIM Max, we’ll take a deeper look at what driver can help you the most to lower your scores by finding the fairway more often.
Last updated on 2024-04-17. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.
Table of Contents
TaylorMade SIM Driver
Best Driver for Advanced Golfers
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PROS
- Asymmetric Sole and Inertia Generator combine to increase forgiveness
- Twist Face Technology reduces sidespin for straighter shotmaking
- Sliding Weight Track offers customized draw or fade bias
- Thru-Slot Pocket delivers exceptional swing speed
Built for the serious, advanced player, the SIM holds many of the same features as its brother, the SIM Max, but with more sophistication and customization.
Professional golfers, such as Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson, enjoy playing with the SIM Driver. For these pros, the SIM delivers exactly what they need to attack fairways and set themselves up for the ideal entry shot into the green.
The club features sliding weight technology, perfect for golfers that want to control their flight bias preferences. With a lower launch angle, the low penetrating ball flight of the SIM Max creates a faster swing speed without worrying about losing your accuracy.
The TaylorMade driver delivers more clubhead speed, a compact, powerful sweet spot, while being a forgiving club due to its Twist Face technology.
For low handicappers, the SIM driver remains one of the best drivers on the market for controlling ball flight with its sliding weight technology and adjustable loft sleeve.
TaylorMade SIM Max Driver
Best for High and Mid Handicappers
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PROS
- Oversized face maintains shot speed on off-center strikes
- Higher launch angle increases carry for better length
- Speed Injection Twist Face boosts forgiveness
- SIM Max-D offers extreme draw-bias for reducing slice
TaylorMade SIM Max Driver offers a well-crafted club that offers the largest oversized face in the SIM family. Utilizing the biggest difference between the two drivers, the face size, the SIM max also offers a powerful new inertia generator that generates the shot speed that golfers crave for their game.
With increased club head speed, the SIM Max also provides high handicappers with a larger sweet spot. The broad hitting area also keeps wayward strikes along the target line, making it a versatile golf club for golfers struggling with consistency.
SIM Max drivers improve the most critical stage of the golfer’s swing, the impact point. With more power to the golf ball, the SIM Max offers more forgiveness along with the penetrating ball flight that the SIM line of drivers is known for among professionals and amateurs.
When using the loft sleeve, golfers can manufacture a higher loft angle, adding more carry and distance to their drives with the SIM Max
TaylorMade SIM VS SIM Max Similarities
Asymmetric Sole
The asymmetrical sole of each driver keeps the club grounded through the impact zone. For any golfer, the driver’s ability to stay steady through hitting the golf ball, remains an incredibly important feature.
The TaylorMade SIM drivers’ ability to minimize twisting helps keep drives along the target line and in the fairway. With the high MOI, golfers can freely swing with more power, knowing that the sole will help the club stay along the right path to the strike zone.
Along with accuracy, the sole’s design also guarantees that each swing delivers maximum speed to the golf ball. For maintaining distance, especially for senior golfers, the aerodynamic sole greatly curbs age-related decline with regard to swing speed.
Inertia Generator
The Inertia Generator, located at the back end of the club head, allows TaylorMade SIM drivers to provide more lift to each drive via the club’s lower CG. The generator also reduces the drag of the club head on the downswing, allowing the golfer to produce maximum speed shots.
Each driver offers similar benefits behind the power of the Inertia Generator. The SIM provides more feel and response, along with the workability of the driver. While on the SIM Max, the low CG works with the oversized face to increase forgiveness, power, and distance.
Speed-Injected Twist Face
Arguably TaylorMade’s top feature, the Twist Face provides golfers with more forgiveness across both drivers. By reducing side spin, the Twist Face maintains shot dispersion, keeping the worst strikes along the target line without a reduction in velocity.
With the SIM edition, advanced golfers will find that their worst shots stay along their intended target line, rather than drifting farther away from the fairway.
For the SIM Max model, the contoured face allows players to reach back and give the golf ball a full-speed swing without worrying that the ball will go dramatically off line.
Thru-Slot Speed Pocket
Placed behind the face of the club, the pocket increases face flexibility for more speed that translates to longer drives. The open area provides more space for the steel to absorb the energy of the swing and direct it through the impact zone.
By flexing the face at impact, golfers can expect that more power will be transferred to the golf ball on each swing. On both drivers, the pocket feature helps provide more forgiveness, more stability, and additional length after impact.
The pocket also features a low, fixed weight that increases launch and stabilizes the face for higher exit angles off the face, increasing carry and maximizing overall distance.
4-Degree Loft Sleeve
When looking for total customization, the SIM and SIM Max feature a loft sleeve that alters the loft of the driver up to four total degrees. The loft sleeve can add or subtract two degrees of loft from the face of the club.
For inexperienced golfers, adding two degrees to the 12.5-degree option, allows more room for error when learning the game. The increased loft will add more height to each drive, potentially costing distance, but for those struggling with consistency, the added loft helps with extending the carry.Advanced players can push down the loft on the driver, helping them better navigate windy conditions to maintain better accuracy and hit more fairways during their round.
460cc Head Size
Although the face of each driver in the SIM drivers series varies slightly, the volume of the head maintains a 460cc volume. The reason that the size is important to golfers is that regardless of their skill level, whichever of the SIM drivers they choose should deliver a punch to the golf ball.
When looking at the TaylorMade SIM vs SIM Max driver side of this issue, you’ll find that both drivers offer the exact same size but with differing results after impact.
The uniformity of these TaylorMade SIM Max drivers make them attractive in the golf bag, but it also assures that their performance remains incredibly high and efficient.
Difference Between SIM VS SIM Max
SIM’s Compact Face
Each driver in the SIM series offers a different sized face. The SIM has the smallest face, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for advanced golfers. While the face of the SIM is 8% smaller than the SIM Max, low handicappers benefit by being able to control the shape of their drives more easily with the Max option.
The face produces the same swing speed as any other driver in the SIM series but with more workability. With the Speed Injection and Inertia Generator technology, the power remains incredibly high with the SIM Max, just with more control and sophistication.
SIM’s Low Launch
For advanced players, hitting the ball too high can zap power and cause multiple control issues. The SIM’s lower launch off the face, propels the ball forward at maximum speed, helping these gifted golfers get more from each drive.
When comparing the launch angle of the TaylorMade SIM vs SIM Max driver, you’ll notice that the SIM offers a flatter shot shape, but without sacrificing a yard of distance.
The low handicapper wants a tighter shot dispersion on the fairway, helping them set up an easier look into the green. The SIM driver offers this premium capability with style and muscle, making it a first-rate golf club for dialing in the preferred shot shape.
SIM’s Movable Weighting
The SIM features sliding weight technology, a rarity these days on top-tier drivers. With the feature, golfers can create draw, fade bias at their discretion. The control allows players to alter their driver to the specifications that most help them on the course they are playing that day.
Another great aspect of the feature is that for golfers struggling to find a consistent shot shape on the range, the SIM can be altered on the spot to reduce the draw or fade that the golfer is currently experiencing.
TaylorMade claims that the sliding weight can move your drive up to 20 yards in either direction, a bold claim that certainly checks out after our time with the driver on the course.
SIM Max’s High Launch
One of the biggest differences between the two drivers is the higher launch provided by the SIM Max vs SIM.
With higher ball flight, golfers can expect a bit more volatility in their results, but the newfound distance makes up for the loss of accuracy. Golfers with more distance on their drives post lower scores, so for players needing to drop their average, adding more length off the tee box is a surefire way to do just that for their game.
The SIM Max’s face angle, especially when boosted by the loft sleeve, certainly provides that higher ball flight needed to increase carry and shorten the distance of the entry shots into the green.
SIM Max’s Oversized Face
For social players looking to dramatically increase the quality of their drives with the purchase of a driver, the SIM Max drivers allow this to occur behind the power of the oversized hitting area.
Although all SIM drivers deliver the goods when it comes to power, the broad impact zone provided by the SIM Max also minimizes sidespin, reducing the penalty of slices and hooks, and instead, keeps the ball in the fairway and light rough, while maintaining distance.
The oversized face increases the sweet spot, improves forgiveness, and maintains shot speed, a triple-threat of features perfect for beginning golfers and high handicappers.
SIM Max’s Draw-Bias
While this comparison focuses a deeper look at the TaylorMade SIM vs SIM Max, the SIM Max Draw version deserves a mention for its extreme right to left bias.
The weighting resides within the head, helping golfers hit straighter immediately. Instead of the tinkering you must do with the SIM, the draw version of the driver is set to correct your swing flaws off the shelf.
As good as any other driver in the SIM family, the draw version remains the best option for beginning golfers that need time to work on their fundamentals, but in the meantime, need help reducing the penalty of their slices off the tee box.
Conclusion
Use a SIM Driver if:
- You are an advanced golfer that needs more customization off the tee box
- You want a compact driver face that offers more control
- You need movable weighting that dial-in the right shot shape
- Revolutionary New Shape with Aerodynamic Asymmetric Sole and Inertia Generator: Designed to provide faster clubhead speed for more ball speed and distance while the rear weight creates high MOI for improved forgiveness
- Speed Injected technology for intelligently optimized C. O. R. where golfers typically hit it: Improves ball speed across the face by calibrating each head to the threshold of the legal speed limit
- Twist Face: Uses corrective face angles designed to overcome inherent golfer tendencies on mis-hits and to produce straighter shots
- Sliding Weight Technology and Loft Sleeve: Provides adjustability and personalization to optimize the club for each golfer’s trajectory, face angle and flight bias preferences, up to +/-2° loft change and up to +/-20 yards of draw-fade bias
- Multi-Material Construction with Carbon, Titanium and Steel: Creates a head design where weight is positioned precisely in the head for ultra-low CG and high MOI
Last updated on 2024-04-17. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.
The SIM helps low handicappers increase their control with sophisticated features for creating their desired shot shape off the tee box.
Use a SIM Max Driver if:
- You want an oversized driver face with higher launch
- You need more forgiveness from tee shots to gain consistency
- You are a high or mid handicapper looking for tighter shot dispersion
- Revolutionary New Shape with Aerodynamic Asymmetric Sole and Inertia Generator: Designed to provide faster clubhead speed for more ball speed and distance while the rear weight creates high MOI for improved forgiveness
- Speed Injected technology for intelligently optimized C. O. R. where golfers typically hit it: Improves ball speed across the face by calibrating each head to the threshold of the legal speed limit
- Twist Face technology with slightly larger face area: Uses corrective face angle face designed to overcome inherent golfer tendencies on mis-hits and to produce straighter shots while providing a larger face for more confidence
- Multi-Material Construction with Carbon, Titanium and Steel: Creates a head design where weight is positioned precisely in the head for ultra-low CG and high MOI
- 2-degree Loft Sleeve: Provides adjustability and personalization to optimize the club for each golfer’s trajectory and face angle preferences
Last updated on 2024-04-13. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.
For golfers that need more forgiveness and consistency, the SIM Max’s oversized head shape delivers straighter shots with exceptional ball speed.