Our 2005 v 2015 v 2025 TaylorMade Driver Test Produced Some Surprising Results!

In the first retro review of 2025 I have decided to mix things up a little and compare three TaylorMade drivers with a full decade of development between their release dates to see just how far technology has moved on in 20 years. I picked the two older drivers up from golfclubs4cash and have split the comparison up into categories of looks, sound/feel, performance and value for money. I was expecting to see monumental changes in performance... but was I to be proved right?

WATCH: We test a 2005 v 2015 v 2025 TaylorMade driver with surprising results

TaylorMade R7 QUAD (2005)
Who used it? Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen
What was the tech? A 410cc head fitted with four interchangeable weight ports housing two 10g and two 2g weights providing numerous configurations facilitating different flight and spin bias.

TaylorMade R15 (2015)
Who used it? Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day
What was the tech? The R15 featured a front weight track close to the face to facilitate a forward CG location and flight adjustability from the two 12.5-gram sliding weights. The track also doubled as a speed slot to allow more face flexing and higher ball speeds.

TaylorMade Qi35 LS (2025)
Who is currently using it? Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood
What is the tech? Moving weight internally to have the CG project out onto the face as low as possible creates high-launching, low-spinning drives that equate to maximum distance.

Looks

The R7 Quad is an extremely clean-looking model from the playing position. Its 410cc head looks even more compact than this number would suggest as much of the volume has been used to create a deep face rather than a large footprint, and the gloss black crown is very minimalistic.

The R15 is an altogether different proposition with a lot more going on visually, not least it's colour. We were well into the white era from TaylorMade in 2015 following on from models such as the R11, and RBZ, and this look made it one of the most recognisable driver brands in golf. I purchased the 430 version (the R15 was available in both 430cc and 460cc options) and enjoyed the tidy, compact profile this offered behind the ball, although I did find the sole of the driver a little overwhelming in terms of visual stimulus.

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I would place the Qi35 LS as one of the best golf drivers for looks I have ever picked up, and a definite leap forward from both of the other models in question. The light grey carbon finish throughout is more akin to a supercar than a golf cub and the sparing use of colour only serves to enhance the premium feel of this club.

Sound and Feel

With the R7 Quad and the R15 drivers being of all titanium construction, and the Qi35 part of the ‘Carbonwood era’ from TaylorMade, I was expecting a tangible difference here, and I wasn’t disappointed. The R7 Quad produced a beautifully satisfying crunch at impact and while there was a somewhat high-pitched acoustic at strike, I thoroughly enjoyed the liveliness of that soundtrack.

As I moved onto the R15 the audio became a little more subdued, with a slightly deeper noise at impact accompanied by a marginally duller feeler, but still very pleasant and packed with feedback for the hands.

In truth and maybe somewhat surprisingly I would have to place the Qi35 LS in third place in this category. I have become used to the much more muted tones and duller thud at impact of TaylorMade’s carbon faces over the past couple of years and have on multiple occasions actively praised them, however, when alternating between these older models in my testing for this review, I can wholeheartedly say that I prefer the livelier, springier feel I was getting from both the R7 Quad and the R15.

Launch Monitor Data

Starting with ball speed, predictably the older R7 Quad came in third place albeit with a very respectable 163.7 mph average (for context my average with my own 2025 driver is pretty much exactly 170mph), while the R15 faired a little better producing 167.5 mph on average. Fairly comfortably out in front however was the Qi35 LS, producing a very impressive 173.6 mph average ball speed, almost a full 10 mph ahead of the R7 Quad.

Spin followed a similar pattern from oldest to newest with the R7 Quad offering up 2804 rpm on average, followed by 2654 rpm from the R15, and finally 2269 rpm from the Qi35 LS, so with higher ball speed and lower spin rates working in line with chronology, it was no surprise to see the carry numbers following the same pattern - 276 yards from the R7 Quad, 290 yards from the R15, and 309 yards from the latest iteration.

It must be noted that the shaft length did get progressively longer as the drivers got newer, which will have enabled me to move the driver heads more quickly and had a part to play with the distance output I got from each driver.

Conclusion

Maybe somewhat predictably, in all measurable ball data parameters, the latest TaylorMade model came out on top, and it was a fairly linear line in performance drop-off from newest to oldest models. However, the purpose of these trips back in time is to see whether there is still value for money to be had by heading back through the generations, and I have no hesitation in saying yes there absolutely is. Not only were the feel and acoustics of both older models nothing short of sensational, but when you break it down into how much each yard of carry cost me, it makes for interesting reading.

At £529 RRP the TaylorMade Qi35 LS offered me 0.58 yards of carry for every pound spent, and having paid just £134.99 from golfclubs4cash for the R15, this jumped up to a very healthy 2.14 yards per pound. Finally, however, having procured the R7 Quad for a mere £59.99, I managed to make my money stretch even further notching up an unbelievable 4.6 yards per pound!

While this is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek calculation, I hope it serves to highlight that with the help of reputable retailers of pre-loved golf equipment like golfclubs4cash, there are some serious bargains to be found out there but there are also clearly gains to be had by investing in modern technology.