In the market for a new driver and intrigued by the carbon face of the TaylorMade Stealth 2? Deciding which Stealth model—the standard, Plus, or HD—fits your golf game best can be confusing. My name is Nate Cox, and I’m a Curated Golf Expert and certified TaylorMade brand expert. In this article, I’ll break down the differences between each of the Stealth 2 models, and hopefully help you decide which model is meant for you.

What’s Great About the Stealth 2?

TaylorMade unveiled their new carbon face technology last year with the original Stealth line of drivers and their new 60x carbon twist face, which uses 60 layers of carbon fiber. This marked the end of the titanium era for TaylorMade, and ushered in the carbonwood age. “Hello Fargiveness!”, as they would say. The Stealth’s engineering feats have led it to be recognized as one of the top drivers on all professional tours.

The main benefit of carbon is its incredibly-high structural integrity, while also being very lightweight. The weight savings in the club face and head allow the weight to be moved around to change ball reactions, which are the main differences between the Stealth 2 driver heads. The weights are also strategically-placed to help different types of golfers. While there’s common features among the three driver models—like the 4° loft sleeve, Thru-Slot speed pocket (for forgiveness on low-face strikes), and high-carbon design—it’s important to consider their key differences and fit for specific golfers. Let's break down their features and differences!

Stealth 2 (Standard)

The standard Stealth 2 head has a high moment of inertia (MOI) design with a neutral flight bias, giving it a high level of stability at and through impact, which helps with performance on off-center strikes. The weighting in the club is more or less centered behind the middle of the club face, so it won't lend itself to hitting a draw over a fade, or vice-versa. The higher the MOI—or the more stable—the club head is at impact means that—for example—when a golfer hits a ball way out toward the toe, there’s less rotation of the club face. The less the club face rotates at impact, the less offline bad shots end up.

How do you achieve a high MOI? By placing the weight low and back in the club head, just like in this model. This gets the center of gravity below the level of the ball at impact, creating backspin. When it comes to drivers, generally, the more backspin, the less side spin produced, making for a more forgiving club. With the Stealth 2, there are two separate weights in the club head: a 25 g weight at the back of the club head, and a TPS (Torque Position) weight placed up toward the club face, which optimizes performance and the balance between spin and launch.

I think that the standard Stealth 2 head can serve the widest variety of golfers. A lower-handicap golfer looking for a driver with a good amount of forgiveness rather than raw distance would benefit from this club. And so would a higher-handicap golfer who doesn’t struggle with slicing, but is looking for a lot of forgiveness. Essentially, if you want for a driver with ample forgiveness and a neutral flight bias, this is the one. However, If you need something that’ll help you fight the slice more, look at the Stealth 2 HD.

Stealth 2 HD

What’s referred to as the “Max” in the SIM driver range is now referred to as the HD, which stands for “high draw.” Now, it won’t automatically help you hit high-towering draws, but the way the weight is positioned in the head helps get the club face square at impact, with a draw flight bias. This club has a higher MOI than the standard Stealth 2, making it the most stable and forgiving in the lineup.

The HD keeps the weight in the back of the club head, but the TPS weight is placed up and toward the heel, rather than the neutral behind-center, providing additional forgiveness. Naturally, moving the weight toward the heel makes the toe of the club lighter and easier to turn over. Along with making it easier to get the club face to square, rotating the clubface helps produce draw spin.

This club head is meant for the mid-to-high handicap golfer that wants max forgiveness and a draw bias. If you struggle with slicing the ball, this is maybe the best club on the market to help. If you’re a low-handicap golfer looking for a low spin, workable option, I wouldn’t recommend this club for you—look instead at the Stealth 2 Plus.

Stealth 2 Plus

The driver in this lineup that you’d most likely see tour players use is the Stealth 2 Plus. This club head is geared toward the lower-handicap golfer, as it’s low-spin with little forgiveness, but with high workability and distance. Low-spin gives the maximum distance with the most roll: the downside is that less backspin promotes side spin, making the Stealth 2 Plus the least forgiving in the lineup. So what makes a low-spin driver? While the most forgiving drivers move the weight back in the club head to increase spin and forgiveness, low-spin drivers move the weight forward in the club head, right behind the club face, to reduce spin rather than create it.

The Plus is also the most customizable driver head in the Stealth 2 lineup. In addition to the adjustable 4° loft sleeve every Stealth 2 model has, the Plus also has a sliding 15 g weight positioned directly behind the club face to dial in your preferred level of draw or fade bias. Compared to the standard Stealth 2’s 25 g weight, a larger percentage of the weight is moved forward in this model. Combining the sliding weight with the adjustable loft sleeve helps fine-tune launch in a given configuration.

If you’re a great ball striker that can control and take advantage of a driver that’s low spin, then the Stealth 2 Plus is a great option to check out. If you’re a mid-to-high handicap golfer that wants significant forgiveness from a driver, you should look to the Stealth 2 or Stealth 2 HD.

Interested in a Custom-Built Driver From the Stealth 2 Lineup?

If you found this article helpful and think any of these drivers might be the right option for you, feel from to connect with me or any one of my fellow Curated Golf Experts, and we’d be happy to talk through your golf game. Additionally, we can help you build a custom Stealth 2 driver in a spec that best suits your game, if you’re looking to take your game to a whole new level.