Expert Review: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Driver [with Video]
Curated Golf Expert Ryan Hernandez got his hands on the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Driver to test this spring. Check out how it performed, but consider the fact that each and every golfer is different; if you have any questions about the Stealth 2 Driver or need recommendations on which club would be best for you, reach out to a Golf Expert here on Curated.
Before we get started, it's worth noting that Curated Experts are not sponsored by any brands. All of these reviews are completely unbiased.
Brand Claims
What does TaylorMade claim about this club? TaylorMade claims that the Stealth 2 driver is the fastest and most forgiving driver they've ever made. They attribute this to the carbon face, the twist face, and the lightness of the club. They claim that they've enhanced the inverted cone technology and have made a better face and that there's two times as much carbon as the other one now.
How does the Stealth 2 model differ from the original Stealth? Last year, TaylorMade came out with the original Stealth driver. They reinvented the wheel a little bit, or at least they claim to. They put a shiny, new, red carbon face on it and said they are ushering in the carbon age now. We know that isn't entirely true, because drivers have been using carbon for some time. However, TaylorMade was the first manufacturer to go into an all-carbon phase. Sixty layers of carbon is what they put into their face. Depending on who you listen to or watch, there were some issues with the original version. We had faces popping off of the earliest models. However, the original Stealth was possibly one of, if not the most sought-after drivers of the last half decade or more.
Last year, they really played on the ball speed of the Stealth 2, the fastest driver out there. They are trying to include speed while making it more forgiving. But a lot of the critics said it wasn't as forgiving as they had hoped it would be. The first thing is this new carbon face. New design, enhanced version of the inverted cone technology. It's supposed to maintain ball speed on off-center strikes while increasing the forgiveness.
Second thing is, they claim that there's more carbon than ever. There's carbon in the face, which does reduce a lot of weight. It's much less heavy than titanium, and so they can redistribute a lot of weight. Not having the face be titanium like some other drivers, for instance, all of the other drivers, they also have this carbon ring, which is, again, supposed to take out weight, and so they're able to redistribute it again for faster ball speeds, more distance. Those are the biggest changes as far as carbon.
Overall Impressions
What are the specs of the club you are testing? This is the Stealth 2 Driver, the standard model. I have the Diamana 60 X Flex shaft and the Stock Golf Pride TaylorMade grip.
What is your overall impression of the club? My first impressions of the club are mostly positive. TaylorMade does a great job with the look of the club. I was a little disappointed with the design on the bottom, reminiscent of the SIM2. Performance-wise, I wasn't as impressed as I expected to be with this second iteration of the Stealth series.
Review
How is it for distance? It goes far.
How is it for forgiveness? Not as much forgiveness as I was hoping for. When you get away from the face, it's not as forgiving as some other models.
How is it for workability? This doesn't really give you as much workability.
How is for launch and spin? They've put a 20-gram shaft down here, what they're calling the Inertia Generator, so it’s going to allegedly have high MOI, or moment of inertia. It's going to optimize launching and spinning. It is designed to help you launch the ball in the air, achieving higher carry distances. It's definitely going to knock some of the spin off compared to the SIM2.
How is it in terms of ball speed? It is fast off the face, so you're going to have more ball speed. If you hit that ball in the center, in the sweet spot, it is going to be very fast off the face. They've added more carbon to make it lighter, so you have more ball speed. They sell the 60X Carbon with a twist face on it. That twist face there is meant for the ball to go straighter, dispersion to be tighter, and a lighter, more explosive ball speed.
What do you find unique about its appearance? I didn't find a ton unique about its appearance. It does look like a SIM2. The gloss finish you can say is unique for TaylorMade because they’ve gone matte in the past, but it's certainly not the first time they've done it. I know that the red face is divisive. I also really love that you can customize it. You can change the colors of the face in the club as well.
I was a little disappointed with the design on the bottom here. Very reminiscent of the SIM2, which may be what they were going for. I don't know. I really liked the original Stealth and the wording across the bottom of the club, and I just wasn't a fan with how they kind of did that with the Stealth 2. The gloss finish over the matte is not my favorite. When you take it out, it looks good, but when I'm standing over the ball, it can be very, very bright.
What may make a player shy away from it? Anybody who doesn't want a draw-biased club or doesn't want to hit a draw is going to shy away from this. The driver felt like it was draw biased, even though it wasn't supposed to be. It just looked draw biased to my eye and felt like the results were more of a hook or more of a draw as well, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But I don't want a draw-biased look in the driver because it just looks like I'm going to hook it, and I don't want that tearing down the confidence that I see.
How would you describe the sound of this club and feel at impact? Sound and feel are great. One of the things that I noticed with this driver when I took it out to the course and to the range is it sounds phenomenal. If you go on their website, they show that there's a premium sound component to this, and I will attest to that. It sounds very, very good coming off the clubface. The combination of weighting, taking in the carbon sole and making sure the aerodynamics and shape are in place — it does produce a premium sound. I love the way that the carbon face feels. It feels like a ball kind of absorbs or sticks and then explodes, and I really like that feeling.
Is the club adjustable? It is adjustable, There are a couple of the adjustable hosels, so there is a two degree of a loft sleeve either way, and you can put this into an upright position as well. If you want to knock it down degree-wise, you're going to get lower launch, but it's going to open up that face. If you want more draw bias, you can ratchet up the launch, higher launch, and close the face a little bit more. There's quite a few ticks. So every tick it goes, I believe, is 0.3 fourths of a degree there as well.
Are there any drawbacks to this club? The drawbacks are, if you want a straight, neutral, or fade-based path, I don't see it happening in this driver. I expected the high draw to be draw, but I just didn't expect this one to be as draw as it is.
Recommendations
Who would you recommend this club to? I would recommend this club to higher mid-handicappers who tend to hit the ball straight or are maybe looking for a little help from the draw. If you're one of those people who likes to upgrade drivers every year, it's not a terrible option. If you have the SIM2 and you want to stay with TaylorMade, this is not a bad option, because the SIM2 is very, very spinny, and this is definitely going to knock some of that off if that's what you're looking for.
Who should avoid this club, and what type of club would be a better option for that player? Lower-handicap players, better players who want more workability should avoid this. I was much more impressed with the dispersion, forgiveness of the Paradym, the TSR series, the Srixon series. Those could be better options. I think if you got the original Stealth, you'll be actually better off, because you're going to save some money.
Golf clubs work differently for different types of golfers. If you are wondering whether the Stealth 2 Driver is the right club for you, chat with Ryan or any other Golf Experts here on Curated, and they’ll put together free, personalized club recommendations on the best driver for your needs.
TaylorMade Stealth 2 Driver
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