TaylorMade SIM2 Ti, SIM2 Max and SIM2 Max D Fairway Woods Review

TaylorMade build on the successful relaunch of the brand’s V-Steel sole design with the new SIM2, SIM2 Max and SIM2 Max D Fairway Woods.

Unless your name is Rocketballz, fairway woods rarely create the same amount of hype as drivers. It’s well know golfers update fairway woods much less often, preferring instead to hold onto reliable, trusted old favourites until a new headline technology delivers significant gains in either speed, forgiveness or distance.

RELATED: TayorMade’s full SIM2 range

The SIM2 fairways can’t quite boost the same levels of game-changing aluminium back bars and carbon fibre soles to match the drivers, but what they do have is bucket loads of built in performance that offer better levels of forgiveness than their predecessors. And TaylorMade say that helps golfers play better more often. Here’s how.

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TaylorMade SIM2 Titanium Fairway Wood review

RRP: £369

Lofts: Rocket 3 – 14° / 3 – 15° / 5  – 19°

Stock shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AVRaw Blue 75

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/- 2°)

An ultra low CG with explosive distance in a Mid-Launch, Low Spin design. 

170cc head size

5% more MOI than the original SIM Ti fairway (2020)

5.6% smaller head than the original SIM Ti fairway (2020)

80g steel sole weight with V-Steel shaping

Zatech Titanium Twist Face

Adjustable hosel (+/- 2°)

Titanium fairways have been a massive hit on tour for TaylorMade ever since Tiger Woods marched to his 15^th major with two in the bag at the 2019 Masters. Like TaylorMade’s 2021 SIM2 driver story the titanium fairway specifically targets extra built in forgiveness.

TaylorMade say even though the head has shrunk by 10cc from what was already a compact sized original, the MOI has risen by 5%. And that’s only possible thanks to pulling a good portion of the 80g steel sole weight towards the perimeter at the back of the head.    

The SIM2 also has TaylorMade’s own specially blended titanium face, which TaylorMade liken to a craft beer amongst cheap lagers, as it’s stronger and delivers more bounce back than a typical steel fairway wood face.  

Verdict: TaylorMade SIM2 Titanium Fairway Wood

By using a driver-like construction in a fairway wood, TaylorMade have convinced the likes of DJ, Rory and Tiger to all make the switch to titanium, which is massively different from just a few years ago.

A common reason we hear for making the switch is not for more distance but how players get the same ball speed from more loft. As good as it is though, TaylorMade won’t sell loads. Why? That construction comes at a price and the SIM 2 Max is very, very good. for less. 

RELATED: How to choose the right fairway wood for your game

TaylorMade SIM2 Max Fairway Wood review

RRP: £279

Lofts: 3 -15° / 3HL – 16.5° / 5 – 18° / 7 – 21° / 9 – 24°

Stock shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 5/6

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: No

V-Steel elevated ball flight in a High Launch, Mid-Spin design.

2mm bigger footprint from face to back than the original SIM Max fairway (2020)

190cc headsize

New V-Steel sole design

Larger face profile

C300 Steel Twist Face

No stepped crown like the original SIM Max model (2020)

Ever since the Rocketballz (the first fast face fairway wood) TaylorMade fairways have pretty much sold themselves. The main story behind the new SIM2 Max is building on the relaunch of the hugely popular V-Steel sole from last year and creating a new two tier design. TaylorMade say the switch improves turf interaction and helps with playability.

From our standpoint, more so than in the last few years, the Max is better suited to more club golfers than ever thanks to a slightly bigger head profile and larger face.   

Verdict: TaylorMade SIM2 Max Fairway Wood

If you want to hit your fairway woods as far as possible, because extra distance means shorter approaches into par 5s, or hitting an impossibly long par 4 in two, you absolutely cannot ignore the SIM2 Max in 2021. Our test pro was completely blown away by its performance.

So much so, if it was Neil’s decision, the SIM2 Max would be our sole fairway wood of the year. For a few years now TaylorMade fairways and hybrids have been right at the top of the tree when it comes to speed and power. So it’s not surprising the SIM2 Max was our longest fairway of the year.

All that power doesn’t come with massive drop offs on off-centre hits either: the SIM2 dropped just 2.4% more carry distance than the very best performer (in our 2021 Fairway Wood Test), and it was 6.3% more efficient than our worst.

No-one will argue the slightly bigger footprint SIM2 Max (over a SIM 2 Titanium) isn’t more confidence inspiring, while still being a great looking head. And it sounds just as good as it looks. Our pro said he’d even consider going up in loft from 15° to 16.5° to add height and stopping power without sacrificing distance over his normal fairway.

RELATED: How good are the TaylorMade SIM2 Rescue clubs?

TaylorMade SIM2 Max D Fairway Wood review

RRP: £279

Lofts: 3 – 16° / 5 – 19° / 7 – 22°

Stock shaft: Fujikura AirSpeeder

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: No

Easy to launch, more draw in a High Launch, Mid-Spin design

195cc headsize

New V-Steel sole design

Divergent face masking

C300 Steel Twist Face

Draw biased design with more loft

No stepped crown like the original SIM Max D model (2020)

If a brand swears there’s a need for three different drivers in their range then it makes perfect sense those three golfers need different things from fairway woods too. The SIM2 Max D is optimised for slicers and slower swing speed players. A little extra loft and a lighter, higher launching shaft make all the difference when it comes to launching shots from the turf.

Very cleverly TaylorMade disguise how the Max D’s face sits a little closed at address which is down to how they mask and paint the top edge. Plenty of heel weight also helps keep the weakest of slice’s away from the right hand rough. 

RELATED: TaylorMade SIM2 drivers tested

Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s Director of Product Creation on the SIM2 Fairway Woods

“In the world of golf club engineering, we fight for millimetres because those small changes can lead to big results. With the SIM2 Titanium fairway, we’ve repositioned the centre of gravity a mere 12.1mm from the ground.”

“That delivers a CG projection that’s absolute centre face along with increased MOI for more forgiveness compared to last year’s model. We’ve gone lower across the entire line of 2021 fairways, so golfers can go even higher.”

Got a question about the TaylorMade SIM2 fairway woods? Ask us on Twitter.

Watch: The tech behind the TaylorMade SIM2 fairway woods

For more information visit www.TaylorMadeGolf.co.uk

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Review written by: Simon Daddow   

Job title: Today’s Golfer – Equipment Editor

      

TaylorMade SIM2 Titanium Fairway Wood

RRP: £369

Lofts: Rocket 3 - 14° / 3 - 15° / 5 - 19°

Stock shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue 75

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/- 2°)

TaylorMade SIM2 Max Fairway Wood

RRP: £279

Lofts: 3 - 15° / 3HL -16.5° / 5 - 18° / 7 - 21° / 9 - 24°

Stock shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 5/6

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: No

TaylorMade SIM2 Max D Fairway Wood

RRP: £279

Lofts: 3 - 16° / 5 - 19° / 7 - 22°

Stock shaft: Fujikura AirSpeeder 45

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: No