TaylorMade SIM Fairway Wood Review
GolfMagic tests and reviews the TaylorMade SIM and SIM Max fairway woods.
TaylorMade recently launched its new SIM family of drivers, fairway woods and irons, set to take the market by storm this year. With the drivers and fariway woods already in the bags of the likes of Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson, we couldn't wait to try them out.
Last year's M5 and M6 fairways were a big hit for TaylorMade and the use of titanium has continued into the SIM fairway wood, while the SIM Max offers a more forgiving option.
The iconic V Steel design has been reinvented with the new SIM family of fairway metals. Advanced shaping combines with a V Steel™ sole to improve turf interaction and playability from various lies.
SIM Fairway
The SIM fairway is a 180cc titanium head that combines a lightweight carbon construction with a revolutionary new ZATECH titanium face and a heavy 80g steel sole weight. The strategically positioned weight creates an extremely low CG that allows for increased ball speed, higher launch and improved forgiveness on low-face hits.
SIM Max Fairway
The 185cc SIM Max steel fairway woods are constructed using strong and durable C300 face material. Also featuring the reinvented V Steel for exceptional versatility from all lies, the SIM Max is designed for higher launch and peak trajectories, with extremely long distance and improved playability.
VERDICT
Last year's M5 and M6 fairway woods were very long and the use of twist face in a fairway wood proved to be a revelation, but the SIM fairway woods provide possibly the best turf interaction we've felt with a fairway wood for a long time.
The SIM woods share a lot of similar qualities to the SIM drivers, as you'd expect considering they're in the same family, but the return of TaylorMade's V-Steel sole design is what makes these fairway woods so complete.
In terms of statistics they performed exactly how you'd like a fairway wood to. They were long, consistent and a better dispersion rate than the driver, making it a great option off the tee.
That being said, the SIM fairway woods are perfect to hit off the deck due to the V-Steel sole design and the way it interacts with the turf.
Combine the V-Steel sole with the more rounded leading edge that features on the SIM fairways and you have a fairway wood that simply glides along the grass with very minimal friction, which not only made it much easier to hit on the fairway, but also meant it delivered a lot of speed.
The SIM fairway is constructed with ZATECH titanium making it extremely strong, so it went a little further than the SIM Max fairway did, with a piercing launch and is an absolute weapon to have in the bag.
The SIM Max fairway on the other hand is a more forgiving model with a higher launch, but it still provided excellent numbers in terms of distance.
Overall, the SIM fairway woods offer something very different to the M5 and M6 models in our opinion. Long distance is expected in TaylorMade woods, they never let you down in terms of distance, but the ground interaction created by the V-Steel sole design is a real step up this year.
SIM Fairway Wood RRP - £369
SIM Max Fairway Wood RRP - £269
