TaylorMade Burner SuperFast Driver  

The concept is simple: a lighter clubhead means more speed through impact, which translates into longer drives. There are other factors in play for longer drives, and TaylorMade has addressed each of them with their latest offering in the Burner line, the SuperFast.

Lighter Means Faster

What does 14 grams, the weight reduction from last year’s Burner to the Burner SuperFast equate to with a driver? Five yards? Ten yards? A lot, of course, depends on the person swinging the club, but it should mean an increase in clubhead and ball speeds.

At 283 grams, the SuperFast is more nimble than its predecessors. Add to the weight reduction a longer shaft, 46.5 inches, and you have a potentially drastic change in speed. But, speed alone does not make a long drive champion. What about forgiveness, aerodynamics, center of gravity, launch angle, spin rate and all those factors? Let’s take a look at how the SuperFast addresses the other factors to increasing distance.

Dual Crown Technology

The SuperFast has a unique look. It isn’t as drastically different from traditional drivers as the Callaway iQ or the Nike SQ drivers. The look of the clubhead is due to what TaylorMade has termed their Dual Crown Technology. As they put it, “a noticeably smaller crown sits on top of a large power-base,” producing a dual crown. This design effect lowers the center of gravity (CG) and places it further back in the clubhead. The CG positioning promotes a higher trajectory, lower ball spin and added distance. It would seem that shaft technology, such as the Matrix Ozik XCon shaft that comes with the driver, would do more for the trajectory than where the CG is placed in the clubhead, but every bit helps.

The dual crown and shape of the clubhead also provide what to the naked eye appears to be an aerodynamic design.

Inverted Cone Technology

This is something TaylorMade has used for years, first in its drivers, now in iron sets. Simply put, inside the clubhead is an inverted cone attached directly to the clubface. The cone expands the “sweet spot” by giving it added thickness. Combined with the inverted cone is a 460cc clubhead that provides the biggest clubface of any TaylorMade driver. The combination of a larger clubface and an expanded sweet spot should, above all else, provide more forgiveness.

Show Me the Money

Before getting into the real money, the results, it’s worth mentioning that the SuperFast has a super-nice price. At the time of this writing, it can be found at prices around $250, which is quite affordable compared to some other brands and models.

Testing the club was a pleasure. The most striking feature of the club was its forgiveness and performance on mishits. Great results were demonstrated on all but the most poorly struck shots. The CG is placed low in the SuperFast, which would seem to point to balls struck nearer the bottom of the face as being the most solid, but balls struck near the top of the face performed well.

Distance results were as good as could be expected in these days of competitive technology. Face it, without a new discovery of immense proportions, huge distance increases simply aren’t going to come. With the SuperFast, each tester of the club, who play to a range of handicaps, reported that distance was better on purely struck shots. Here again the standout feature is the forgiveness. Shots struck well, but less than optimal, provided the best results; results that were better than most other driver’s tested.

Being able to work the ball wasn’t a feature that TaylorMade touted with this club. It didn’t disappoint, though expectations from a club built for forgiveness and distance wasn’t high.

Combine a great price with great playability, i.e. forgiveness, distance, and control, and you have a good driver. The TaylorMade SuperFast meets all requirements well.