This Driver From 2004 Changed Golf Forever But Can It Still Perform?

The TaylorMade R7 Quad was, and still is, an iconic driver. Introduced in 2004, this was the first-ever golf club with adjustable head weights that allowed players to alter the CG and as such the ball flight bias of their driver. Previously this had only been achievable with ugly, self-adhesive lead tape, so this was a big step forward in driver engineering. 

WATCH: Joe Ferguson compares the 2004 R7 Quad driver with the 2024 Qi10 LS model 

Original launch date: 2004
Price we paid from Golfclubs4cash: £31.99 in fair condition
Who used it on tour: Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen

What was the tech?
The big technology story of this driver was the four weight ports which facilitated the pioneering adjustability. These weight ports came with two heavy (10g) and two lighter (2g) weights which led to multiple possible configurations depending on whether you were looking to achieve a draw or fade bias, high or low spin, or a combination of both. The head is a compact 410cc and it was available in 7.5°, 8.5°, 9.5° and 10.5° lofts. The head arguably looks a little smaller than the stated 410cc behind the ball, but that is potentially because the mass is distributed vertically with a very deep face as opposed to a large footprint.

How did it perform?
To see how the TaylorMade R7 Quad driver performed, we decided to put it up against its modern-day equivalent the TaylorMade Qi10 LS. The Qi10 LS adjustability appears in the form of an 18g steel sliding weight in a track-style system.  

In terms of its baseline performance, the R7 Quad was more than acceptable, averaging around 165mph of ball speed, and around 270 yards of carry, however, this did lag behind the Qi10 LS somewhat, which produced an average of 172.5mph ball speed and over 285 yards of average carry. 

When moving the weights to the extreme fade and draw settings in both driver heads, the intended outcomes were much more comparable with both models providing similar results in terms of curvature.

One thing to note is that altering the weight settings on the R7 Quad was significantly more fiddly and time consuming than on the Qi10 LS. Four screws to undo, weights to remove, replace, and then re-screw did feel a little labor-intensive when compared to the one screw and weight track setup of the 2024 driver. Furthermore, the R7 Quad did not feature TaylorMade’s loft sleeve which was developed a few years later, adding the ability to manipulate loft, lie, and face angle. 

Conclusion
I genuinely feel that there is some real value to be had with the TaylorMade R7 Quad driver. When you consider we paid only £31.99 for this driver, it performed admirably. In terms of ball speed and overall distance output, it did lag a little behind the Qi10 LS, which is one of the best golf drivers for distance in 2024, but perhaps not as much as I was expecting. The levels of adjustability were at least on par with its modern-day equivalent with 24g of discretionary weight available to move as opposed to 18g with the Qi10 LS. For almost one-twentieth of the price of modern alternatives, this driver could still be a real asset to some players' bags.