Tested By Replay Team Member: Christian Mucklow - Handicap 3
The Qi35 is the latest instalment into TaylorMade’s product catalogue and perhaps represents one of the most meaningful product revisions we have seen from TaylorMade in modern times, with a product significantly different to its predecessor, the Qi10.
It must be said, the QI10 was a great product; building upon the feedback from the Stealth line and TaylorMade’s innovative move to carbon faces, we were treated with a driver that delivered both in performance and aesthetic. With the QI10 Max, TaylorMade produced a driver with extremely high MOI, moving the CG deeper into the head to prevent excessive twisting upon impact. However, with this innovation TaylorMade found the CG projection sat slightly higher in the face compared to previous models which proved suboptimal when contact was made slightly lower on the face. With the QI35, considerable effort has been made to lower the CG in order to give greater opportunity for those higher launching, lower spinning drives. It also means we should see less of the low launch shots that sound a bit tinny and loose distance.
Upon testing the range of new QI35 drivers, I was curious to see if this would play out as TaylorMade had claimed. As with all new driver releases, the quality of the tech is so advanced that there are only marginal gains the manufactures can improve upon. So I came into the testing with appropriate expectations, believing it would take a very sensitive golfer to appreciate the subtle changes. However, I was quietly impressed to find some significant differences. The sound off the face was definitely more solid. A slight criticism with the QI10 was that it did at times feel somewhat underwhelming off the face. The Qi35 definitely felt a lot better, especially in the LS version, which may very well be due to the lowering of CG projection, as TaylorMade have boasted about with this new release. In regard to performance, the data was still just as strong across all four heads compared to the QI10, but with small improvements in the consistency of launch, which, as all of us golfers will know, is a key part to consistently achieving optimal distances.
Overall, all four heads of the new QI35 range are excellent pieces of equipment, improving upon the QI10 in subtle but significant ways. The only negative I could see upon this release is the shape of the core driver head, with a much more squashed appearance, looking closer to the Max head than it did with the QI10, where I imagine many golfers would prefer a slightly sleeker, more pear-shaped sitting head as before. I liked the carbon finish to the crown, but again, this may well prove to divide opinion.
Drivers Tested: