Our TaylorMade M3 driver review largely took place at the brand’s launch event in Carlsbad.
We will be doing some more in-depth testing with the TaylorMade M3 driver over the coming weeks and will add our feedback and results to this review.
TaylorMade M3 driver – First impressions
There’s so much new technology in the TaylorMade M3 driver – which is replacing the M1 – it’s hard not to dive straight in to it.
But let’s look at the aesthetics where we see a really confidence-inspiring 460cc head with a grey and black crown.
TaylorMade have switched from white to grey with the new M3 and M4 drivers to keep evolving more than anything else.
Personally, I prefer the white and black combination but I can see why some might favour the slightly more stealthy look of the new products.
The TaylorMade M3 has three key pieces of new technology which are all visible from the outset – Twist Face, Hammerhead and a new Y-track sliding weight system.
[skylab_video id=”134676″]TaylorMade M3 driver YT[/skylab_video]
TaylorMade M3 driver – The technology
Ok, so what is Twist Face and why do TaylorMade think it is going to help club golfers and tour pros hit more fairways in 2018?
Drivers are traditionally designed with ‘bulge and roll’ and which allows shots to be hit out of the heel and toe to spin back towards the centre or target line.
Well, that is what happens during robot testing but a fairly big difference between robots and actual golfers is that us golfers don’t always return the club face square to the ball.
So when we strike it out of the heel and toe we will have the ‘gear effect’ which spins the ball left and right but also a face that is too open or closed.
The Twist Face technology in the TaylorMade M3 driver should reduce the impact of off-centre hits and keep the ball flying straighter.
The Hammerhead technology on the sole of the TaylorMade M3 driver is effectively a next-generation ‘Speed Pocket’.
It has now been divided into zones with a larger, flexible area in the centre to increase ball speed and reduce back spin for shots hit low on the face.
The new Y-track weight system on the sole adds to the adjustability by allowing weight to be moved backwards and towards the heel and toe rather than just horizontally.
This should help to add a bit more forgiveness while still being able to fine-tune the ball flight.
There are two 11g weights which can be placed anywhere so you can place both weights back in the draw and fade positions for the most stability and forgiveness.
TaylorMade M3 driver – The results
We haven’t had chance to get the TaylorMade M3 driver on a launch monitor to have a look at our numbers yet.
But we will be doing lots of in-depth testing and comparisons over the coming weeks.
This is the driver we expect Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose to be putting into play in 2018.
We caught up with Johnson at the brand’s launch event and he was getting a little bit more ball speed than with his M1 and claims his ‘high toe’ miss is going straighter with the M3.
TaylorMade M3 driver – NCG verdict
What has Jason so excited? Check back tomorrow to find out. #SomethingTwistedisComing pic.twitter.com/CxH89nL3fj
— TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) January 1, 2018
When the 2017 versions of the M1 and M2 driver were released we didn’t think there were huge advancements or improvements.
But with the TaylorMade M3 driver we can see three really significant pieces of new technology.
This is the highly-adjustable premium driver from TaylorMade for 2018 which we expect lots of tour players to use.
We’d still expect the M4 driver to be the most popular with the club golfer as it’s £100 cheaper and some still seem to get bamboozled by sliding weights.
We’ll be doing lots more testing and comparisons with the TaylorMade M3 driver so stay tuned over the coming weeks.
TaylorMade M3 driver details
SRP: £479 (460 and 440 heads available)
Lofts: 8.5˚. 9.5˚, 10.5˚, 12˚
Stock shafts: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei White 70 X, 60 S
Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei Blue 60 (X, S, R)
Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei Red 50 (S, R, A)
On sale: February 16
More information can be found on the TaylorMade website.
[post_list title=”Read more” ids=134597,134599,134593]
