Welcome to the Carbonwood Age. Chris Trott is here with an in-depth first look at the new Carbonwood™ Stealth Driver, to talk about how that 60x Carbon Twist Face performs, feels, sounds and looks.
The evolution of driver materials has reached a new plateau with TaylorMade’s family of Stealth Carbonwood™ drivers. The journey to this point began more than 20 years ago, as engineers pushed the limits of materials starting with steel and moving into titanium. In this era, we’ve reached the pinnacle of performance with titanium faced drivers – effectively maxing out results in terms of distance, ball speed and forgiveness.
Carbon allows engineers to unlock a new frontier of driver performance, and it starts with the 60X Carbon Twist Face. Overall, it is 44% lighter than an equivalent titanium face, while also being 11% larger than SIM2 and SIM2 Max drivers and nearly 20% larger than 2020 SIM driver. Sixty layers of carbon fiber are systematically arranged to optimize energy transfer to deliver fast ball speeds over a large area for distance and forgiveness.
Michelle Penney, our very own expert product engineer, breaks down precisely how 60X Carbon Twist Face provides better energy transfer.
“Upon impact, a golf ball both compresses and propels forward off the face. The lighter the face, the less energy is lost to ball compression – leaving more energy to be applied to ball propulsion or ball speed. This is what we mean by a more efficient energy transfer, and this is what separates Stealth from any driver we’ve ever made and any current driver on the market right now.”
– Michelle Penney, Product Engineer, TaylorMade Golf
To make this work, a special nanotexture cover is needed to enclose the face. The polyurethane cast is used to fine tune launch and spin to optimize total distance regardless of playing conditions. Without it, the driver face would lack the texture and scorelines needed to produce the ideal friction properties at impact.
The Four Models of Stealth
Stealth Plus Driver
Because of weight savings from the 60X Carbon Twist Face, engineers were able to incorporate the use of a 10g sliding weight track designed to help golfers control shot shape by shifting mass on the sole to create desired ball flight. Stealth Plus is designed to be the lowest spinning driver in the family.
Key Stealth Plus Technologies
- 60X Carbon Twist Face
- Nanotexture Cover
- Asymmetric Inertia Generator
- Sliding Weight Track
- Thru-Slot Speed Pocket
Stealth Driver
Stealth maintains the same core technologies as Stealth Plus+ with an increased focus on MOI for enhanced forgiveness. Foregoing the Sliding Weight Track provides additional weight savings and allowed engineers to reposition mass lower and deeper in the head for an 15% increase in MOI compared to Plus+ model.
Key Stealth Technologies
- 60X Carbon Twist Face
- Nanotexture Cover
- Asymmetric Inertia Generator
- Thru-Slot Speed Pocket
Stealth HD Driver
Often, standard draw bias designs promote a right-to-left ball flight at the expense of forgiveness. By utilizing the weight savings from the 60X Carbon Twist Face and shifting the Inertia Generator closer to the heel, we’re able to maintain draw-bias while creating the highest MOI in the Stealth family of drivers. Using a High Draw design, this driver is engineered to minimize the slice and maximize forgiveness.
Key Stealth HD Technologies
- 60X Carbon Twist Face
- Nanotexture Cover
- Asymmetric Inertia Generator
- Thru-Slot Speed Pocket
- Inherent Draw-Bias Design
Stealth Women’s Driver
The Stealth Women’s driver combines the technology of Stealth in a slightly lighter head weight and with a unique colorway and aesthetic. It maintains the high MOI head design for easy, high launch with a touch of draw.
Key Stealth Women’s Driver Technologies
- 60X Carbon Twist Face
- Nanotexture Cover
- Asymmetric Inertia Generator
- Thru-Slot Speed Pocket
- Slight Draw-Bias Design