TaylorMade M5 and M6 Woods Revealed

TaylorMade M5 and M6 Woods Revealed - The new TaylorMade M5 and M6 drivers both feature a Speed Injected Twist Face said to provide more ball speed without sacrificing forgiveness...

TaylorMade M5 and M6 Woods Revealed

The new TaylorMade M5 and M6 drivers are said to be faster than ever thanks to the new Speed Injected Twist Face, designed much closer to R&A rules on spring-like effect than the previous M3 and M4 drivers.

Ever since the start of 2003, drivers have been subject to a COR (Coefficient of Restitution) limit, restricting how fast the ball can come off the clubface at impact. That limit is 0.83, meaning no more than 83 per cent of the energy could be transferred from the club to the ball.

This measurement was difficult to test and so the USGA and R&A introduced another measurement called Characteristic Time (CT) to measure the spring-like effect of the clubface in an easier, more portable environment via a pendulum test that measures the amount of microseconds a metal ball is in contact with the face when it is swung against it.

Why is all this relevant? Well, on the new TaylorMade M5 and M6 drivers, each clubhead is made with a non-conforming clubface beyond legal COR limits. Every head is individually speed tested and then injected with a specific amount of tuning resin via two ports in the heel and toe that slows down the face. So rather than there being a great variation in how ‘hot’ TaylorMade driver faces are, on M5 and M6 they have all been ‘speed tuned’ to sit just inside the COR limit.

RELATED: TaylorMade Speed Injected Twist Face Explained

Twist Face continues from M3 and M4, being more open and lofted in the high toe and more closed and less lofted in the low heel section to produce more consistent spin and a tighter dispersion on shots where golfers most commonly mishit the face.

Both also feature a more flexible Hammerhead 2.0 slot, which is said to increase the size of the sweet spot and preserve ball speed on off-center strikes. The crown on both has a 10 per cent larger carbon fibre piece, which also has a matte finish to reduce sun glare.

The M5 driver offers more efficient adjustability via the new Inverted T-Track, on which two 10g weights can be maneuvered independently to optimise spin and ball flight.

It’s new position allows weight to be positioned further back along the perimeter of the club, lowering the CG and increasing forgiveness, as well as providing 600rpm of spin change and 25 yards of dispersion change in the extreme settings. This is assisted by the adjustable +/- 2° loft sleeve.

RELATED: TaylorMade M5 Driver Review

For those who demand workability, there’s the option of the 435cc M5 Tour driver with optimized aerodynamics to maximize clubhead speed.

The M6 driver features the same Injected Twist Face but unique to the M6 driver is an Inertia Generator, which stores 46g of weight low and back for maximum forgiveness, all made possible thanks to 54 per cent more carbon used compared to M4.

It also comes in a D-Type version, with 20 yards more draw bias built in over the standard model and a closed face that looks like it’s square thanks to the high contrast topline masking.

RELATED: TaylorMade M6 Driver Review

Both the M5 and M6 fairway woods feature Twist Face for the first time, with 1.5° of loft added and taken away in the heel and toe respectively to reduce dispersion on off-centre hits by 15 yards.

The M5 has a 65g moveable steel weight, which is just over 30 per cent of the total head weight, allowing for generous draw/fade adjustability.

The M6 fairway is larger, flies higher and has a re-engineered Speed Pocket for added ball speed on low-face impacts. It also comes in D-Type version for slicers with 15 yards of additional draw bias.

While the recently-launched GAPR range covers of the Rescue category in M5, there is an M6 Rescue that also features Twist Face and a more flexible Speed Pocket with a TPU slot insert for better off-centre performance.

Key Info

The TaylorMade M5 and M6 ranges go on sale on Feb 15^th, 2019, with the following lofts, RRPs and stock shafts: M5 Drivers (9°, 10.5°, 12°) £499, Mitsubishi CK Tensei Orange 60 and Project X HZRDUS Smoke 70 shafts. Fairway £369, Mitsubishi CK Tensei Orange 75 (X) and 65 (S, R).

M6 Drivers (9°, 10.5°, 12°) £449, Fujikura Atmos Orange 5 and Atmos Black 6. The M6 D-Type comes equipped with a Project X EvenFlow Max Carry 45 shaft. Fairways £269, Fujikura Atmos Orange FW shaft. Rescue £229, Fujikura Atmos Orange HY shaft.