How does the TaylorMade Qi35 driver compare to Qi10? 

The TaylorMade Qi35 drivers are brilliant. But, how do they compare to the TaylorMade Qi10 range? 

When brands like TaylorMade bring out their latest and greatest drivers, we often ask ourselves what really is the difference between the latest offering and the previous generation. 

Ahead of the launch of the TaylorMade Qi35 drivers, I went out to The Kingdom at TaylorMade HQ in Carlsbad and spoke to the right man to explain what makes these so good.

So how do these new TaylorMade Qi35 drivers compare to last year’s model?

I caught up with Andrew Oldknow, Director of Product and Creation for TaylorMade, to find out what makes them different. 

How does the TaylorMade Qi35 driver compare to TaylorMade Qi10 drivers? 

Every year we build upon what we’ve done. If you look at this, it is our fourth generation of carbonwood technology. Just imagine, over the last year, how much we’ve learned about the manufacturing process, how we bond heads, how we make our faces stronger. We’re able, each year to make a better product. If you look where we are, from Stealth to where we are today, with Qi35 we’ve dramatically increased MOI, we dramatically decreased the centre of gravity and we’ve increased the aerodynamics of the product. Each year, we’re able to just to fine tune and make the product better and better.  

How do these little changes make a difference? 

Little changes make big differences, right? So if you’re talking to our engineers, they would talk about a half a gram of weight being a big difference to be able to manipulate that weight around. That’s like half a paper clip or a half a $1 bill – or a pound note – if you will. So we really look at every little detail, this differentiation of what we can do with the product to make sure we can make a better, better performing product.  

How does that saved weight get used in the driver head? 

With the Qi35 Max, we’re able to put more weight in the back, but the driver overall is actually one gram less weight, which means it fits better swing weight characteristics.  

What benefit is there with it being one gram lighter? 

We don’t want to have, like, really high swing weights to create MOI. Every year, we just get better with the product and learn how to how to use less discretionary weight to form the product. That gives us more discretionary weight to actually put weight in different locations and make better performance.  

What can we expect from the new range? 

Starting with our tour product, this is our LS shape, or low spin driver. It’s very similar in profiles. The biggest difference, obviously, is the chromium carbon fibre. It is a stiff, lightweight material and we’ve really focused on aerodynamics and making this thing look and feel fast, but also be fast.

We’re seeing increased ball speeds with both tour players that have tested with this product so far. Really, the biggest difference is we used to have a slide weight in here. We now have pinpoint weights in here. You’ll see a 13 gram TAS weight in the back and two three gram weights in the front. So now you’re able to pull these out and manipulate, move them around, and we’re doing it as far as possible. 

What excites you about the Qi35 core model? 

So, we’re getting the best of both worlds with our core driver. Increase in the performance in terms of distance, more much more distance with the core model with a new weight in the front and we’re seeing a much tighter dispersion with weight in the back. So we’re really excited about that product as well as just making these super fast, stiff aerodynamic shapes. Again, we’re seeing fast ball speeds, fast swing speeds of this product, even though it’s a larger profile.  

Is the TaylorMade Qi35 Max still 10K MOI? 

Yes. This is the highest inertia we can give a golfer. This product works for people that hit all over the face, or are new to the game of golf, or just want more performance out of the face. You’re going to see much better numbers off this if you go into a launch monitor or get fit, we were able to lower the spin rates across the whole face by about 200RPMs, which really is the difference between having a good fit and having a great fit. 

How can you get better fitted for your driver?

The new fit markers enable a golfer to go get fit with a system that’s going to more efficiently fit you with these fit markers. This means that these work with more launch monitor systems to get more accurate data. The more data we can get pre-impact and post-impact to see what’s happening before you hit the ball, the better. We’ve spent the last 15-20 years taking all that data and being able to put it into a system that allows us to be able to quickly and efficiently fit you and unlock more performance.

More on the TaylorMade Qi35 range

Review: TaylorMade Qi35 drivers

Review: TaylorMade Qi35 fairway woods

Review: TaylorMade Qi35 hybrids

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James Tait is bunkered’s Gear Editor. Want to know how the latest Callaway driver, Vokey wedge or Scotty Cameron putter performs? He’s the guy to ask. Better yet, just watch his videos on the bunkered YouTube channel. One of the biggest hitters in the UK, James also competes on the World Long Drive circuit and is a descendent of former Amateur champion Freddie Tait.

Gear Editor