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TaylorMade R15 Driver Preview

SuperStroke
Cleveland, srixon and cobra are the only ones that use a different wrench as far as I know. Callaway, tm, titleist use the same
 
So got out to try this out with the PX Handcrafted yesterday, and had really mixed results. On the plus side, good strikes launch easy and high with a great flight and sound. Slight mishits don't kill you too much and still get out there pretty good.

However, when I didn't hit it well, I paid for it with smother hooks and a really strange hollow feel and "slappy" sound, for lack of a better word. I've also found that I do best when the weight is behind the impact - the club is marginally more forgiving with the weight spread, but the feel is strange and the distance is definitely not as good.

As far as a comparison to the Vapor Pro, I'd say this launches higher and spins less when struck well, and therefore gets a little more distance. But when not hit well, particularly toe side and low on the face, the Vapor is light years more forgiving. And the Vapor sound is better across the board.

Too early to make a call yet, but so far it's not making a case to join my bag. Since I have a TM tip on the Handcrafted, I can test this directly against the M1 at the shop, which I'm looking forward to. If the R15 continues to lose out, I may pass it on and look to add an M1 head at some point.

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Hit it again today but this time on the LM directly next to the Vapor, as well as directly against a 12* M1 460 head that I stuck on the PX for a bit. Did a lot better and really hit some absolute BOMBS with it - I'm talking over 250 carry, which is big for me. I still notice that I'm punished a little more so with this club when I make a bad swing - the duck hook in particular - but when I make a decent swing, it launches high and with low spin. Ball go far.

Worth noting though, is I was able to dial the M1 in to achieve similar distance on the smashed shots with much less penalty on the mishits. That head is too rich for my blood right now, but down the road who knows.

The Vapor is somewhere in between the R15 and M1 in forgiveness, but probably closer to the M1. It just doesn't launch as high, particularly when caught thin. Overall even on well hit balls, the max launch angle I was able to achieve with the Vapor was 1.5-2 degrees lower than the R15 and M1.

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Does anyone know, where I can find the specs for the Fuji Speeder Evolution 57 Shaft (regular & stiff)?
 
SecondShot said:
Does anyone know, where I can find the specs for the Fuji Speeder Evolution 57 Shaft (regular & stiff)?
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What would you like specs wise and I will ask during my call with Fuji tomorrow.
 
@JB: Could you ask Fuji?
 
SecondShot said:
@JB: Could you ask Fuji?
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I have sent in a request. With the holidays going on and then THP traveling to the Grandaddy, it might be a bit of a delay, but as soon as I get the info, I will pass it on.
 
SecondShot said:
Does anyone know, where I can find the specs for the Fuji Speeder Evolution 57 Shaft (regular & stiff)?
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I would say the specs would be similar to the Speeder 57 in the SLDR. I have hit both, the SLDR Speeder and the R15 Speeder. Both gave me similar results.
SLDR Speeder is (Stiff) 58g 3.4 TQ and (Reg) 55g 3.5 TQ.
Obviously wait til you hear from JB when he gets a hold of Fuji.

From a globalgolf article they said the R15 Speeder was a:
...shaft has a mid-kick/mid-bend point with a mid to high torque rating. It weighs around 57-60 grams (based upon the flex) and would best suit a golfer with low to moderate swing speeds. It will promote a mid to high launch angle with mid to low spin rates.
 
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I've to decide between the Fuji Speeder Evolution 57 (regular or stiff) and Aldila Rogue Black 70 (regular) but can only test them on range (with floodlight, no feeling for carry). And I don't have access to a launch monitor right now... :-(

After several test swings I'm not sure if I feel more comfortable with the lighter or the heavier shaft. What I can say is, that the Speeder in stiff felt to be to stiff for me.
Could it be that the Speeder regular is stiffer than the Rogue Black regular?
 
I am surprised by your findings. IMO usually the factory non-TP options feel slightly whippy, where aftermarket shafts always feel a bit more stout. The weight difference and other specs could all equate to "stiff" in A shaft feeling different than "stiff" in B shaft. Also factory shafts can be all over the board spec wise since they try to fit a wider array of swings.
 
I can confirm the Speeder 57 on the R15 feels on the stout side. I have the stiff flex in my gamer.
 
Had a solid couple rounds with this club yesterday. Those who have played with me know that my driver is usually either my greatest strength or my greatest downfall on the course so the fact that this has become a steady club for me is pretty huge. I seem to have a one-way miss with it which is to the right, usually a straight block, but twice yesterday I hit these high ballooning fades. It was an out of body experience for me because my swing and ballooning don't ever go hand in hand. I think for my next rounds I'm going to dial the loft back down to 14 instead of 15 and see if that changes anything.

I'm getting a pretty stellar flight when I hit it on the screws and I'm keeping the ball in decent positions.
 
Here's a quick video that shows the wicked flight I'm getting and the nice sound of this driver. Please ignore my homemade debacle of a golf swing. Hopefully the quality is high enough that you can see the ball flight.

[video=youtube;m9-Ut7F4Og4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9-Ut7F4Og4[/video]
 
R15 8.5?

R15 8.5?

Has anyone gamed the R15 8.5? I am considering going to this from my SLDR with the Evo 757.

It feels like I am just hammering the ball with this combo in the sim.
 
I had another solid round with this hideous driver today. I only used it a handful of times but it really performed, misses were easily playable, and I'll never get sick of the flight I get with it.
 
Does anyone know if putting a 3rd weight in the track would make the R15 non-conforming?
 
Replaced the Speeder Evolution 57 with a Speeder Evolution 661 TS yesterday (both stiff). I really love the feel of the new combo.
Launched to high before. Now have a nice mid launch which I like. And I'm surprised that my typical slice has been "replaced" with a pull-fade. I found the fairway or semi cut on all but one hole today.
Still lot of work to do, but played my best round ever with 7 pars and 4 bogeys :D
 
SecondShot said:
Replaced the Speeder Evolution 57 with a Speeder Evolution 661 TS yesterday (both stiff). I really love the feel of the new combo.
Launched to high before. Now have a nice mid launch which I like. And I'm surprised that my typical slice has been "replaced" with a pull-fade. I found the fairway or semi cut on all but one hole today.
Still lot of work to do, but played my best round ever with 7 pars and 4 bogeys :D
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My dad has the 661 and he loves it. I have to say I love the R15 and 661 combo myself.
 
Same combo here and I love it
 
TaylorMade R15 Driver Preview

I'm still playing my r15 even though I'm looking at moving to the M1. The Driver Engineer for TM is a family friend(she designed the R1,R15,and M1) and she insist the M1 it's well out performing the R15 in all aspects of their testing.


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jspangs said:
I'm still playing my r15 even though I'm looking at moving to the M1. The lead Driver Engineer for TM is a family friend(she designed the R1,R15,and M1) and she insist the M1 it's well out performing the R15 in all aspects of their testing.


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Interesting. Between Brian and TO that R1 must have had a lot of hands in he pot.
 
JB said:
Interesting. Between Brian and TO that R1 must have had a lot of hands in he pot.
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I suppose it did.


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Rambler said:
When struck reasonably on the center, this is one of the longest combos I hit in 2015. And the sound is good, too.
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The sound of this driver is fantastic. That's actually what first brought me in, that and a 14* head.
 
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