TaylorMade Burner SuperFast vs. TaylorMade R9 SuperTri

                    Burner SuperFast              R9 SuperTri


When you first pick up the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast driver you immediately notice that it is extremely light. So light, in fact, that it is 14 grams lighter than the TaylorMade Burner 2009 driver. Now, 14 grams is not very much, .03125 lbs actually, but when you compare this to other drivers the difference is astounding! With this difference in weight comes more speed in your swing, which equals longer distance on your drives. Not only is the club lighter, it is more aerodynamic as well. Take a look at the picture and you can see the cone shaped head which helps increase your club head speed by reducing drag throughout the different phases of your swing. These two changes help increase your swing speed without added effort.


Ok, enough about all of the technical mumbo-jumbo, let’s get down to brass tacks here. How did the club hit? Amazing! All of the time that the TaylorMade engineers spent in designing one of the easiest clubs to swing has paid off. It feels like swinging a feather; a feather that was rocketing my golf ball down the range!

My biggest concern was accuracy with the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast driver. I was worried that all of this new swing speed would result in my ball being a rocket without a guidance chip; out of control. It was actually the complete opposite. Now, you must remember that I am nowhere near being a professional golfer (golf is my favorite hobby) but I sure felt like one. I was swinging very hard and the ball was going very straight. I felt like I needed a guy behind me yelling “GET IN THE HOLE!!” after the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast driver sent my golf ball into orbit.

But the best part about the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast is not only the increased swing speed, but the forgiveness the club gives you. The reason? The Burner SuperFast does not require a ton of spin on the ball to make it go further. So if you don’t get your wrists through in time or if you’re too early, there will not be excessive spin which causes slices and hooks. Thus, your miss-hits will not be as pronounced as they would have been.

Unfortunately for the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast, I was comparing it to the TaylorMade R9 SuperTri. I hit the Burner SuperFast first because I wanted to save the best for last. And to my surprise, I actually hit the Burner SuperFast the same as I hit the TaylorMade R9 SuperTri. The difference that you notice right away when you switch from the Burner SuperFast to the R9 SuperTri is, of course, the weight. I preferred the weight of the R9 SuperTri over the Burner SuperFast, but the adjustability of the Moveable Weight Technology (MWT) and the Flight Control Technology (FTC) are what make the club a little bit heavier. It is the first time that MWT and FTC have been incorporated in the same 460cc head. With these technologies, the TaylorMade R9 SuperTri superb adjustability and forgiveness.

When I hit the TaylorMade R9 SuperTri I was crushing the ball. I thought they were surpassing the Burner SuperFast drives, but they weren’t. I was actually hitting them about the same distance. The one drawback of hitting the SuperTri was the fact that I was more inaccurate than I was with the Burner SuperFast. This fact surprised me. Even after tinkering with all of the adjustments, I was still fairly erratic with the SuperTri. I think that if I were to spend a great deal of time with the SuperTri and get all of the config-changes where I need them to be I would be more accurate. But the fact is, when you are testing a club at the range, you don’t have that kind of time to adjust and re-adjust the weights.

So let’s get to the results…


Looks------------R9 SuperTri
Feel--------------Burner SuperFast
Grip--------------Tie
Shaft-------------Burner SuperFast
Accuracy---------Burner SuperFast
Distance----------Tie
Forgiveness------Burner SuperFast
Sound------------R9 SuperTri
Config-Change---R9 SuperTri
Trajectory--------R9 SuperTri
Cost-------------Burner SuperFast

Winner----------TaylorMade Burner SuperFast

This was a close call for me. The sound and the config-change on the R9 SuperTri are unmatchable. They have a comparable distance, but I saw a few of the Burner SuperFast’s going past the R9’s on several occasions. The two deal breakers are the fact that I was drastically more accurate with the Burner SuperFast and the fact that the Burner SuperFast is much less expensive. Being a cost efficient golfer, which I will proudly say I am, I would choose the Burner SuperFast. But being a golf enthusiast and wanting the best driver I can find, I would still choose the Burner SuperFast.

TaylorMade R9 SuperTri Driver Review

I’ve always loved TaylorMade’s performance, style, track-record, marketing, and yes, gimmicks. In a highly competitive and innovative market, they always seem a half step ahead of the rest. So, with those biased opinions intact, I decided to test the new TaylorMade R9 SuperTri Driver.


Knowing that an impartial review would be the best, I vowed to try to keep an open mind and forget about all my positive TaylorMade driving memories of the past. Tough, but someone’s got to do this dirty work!

The first thing I noticed, besides the beautiful look and finish, is the solid feel of the weight distribution; not super light like the TaylorMade Burner Superfast, but a little meatier at the head. I prefer this feel. I want to know where the mass of the head is.

Distance with the SuperTri was good, not great. I’ve hit longer drives, most recently with the Adams Speedline 9032LS Driver. I got about 10 to 15 more yards out of new Adams Driver, but not the consistency that I look for. The distances varied more on slightly off-center hits than with the SuperTri. Also, my fades were a little more pronounced with the Speedline 9032LS. And that’s without making any changes with the configuration of the Flight Control Technology (FCT) or the Movable Weight Technology (MWT) in the SuperTri. I vow to dabble with these cool technologies and report on their functionality later.

The characteristic I was most impressed with was the noticeable effect of the club’s attributes on miss-hit balls. I don’t know if it was from the weight distribution, face design, or Fujikura Motore Shaft, but I could actually feel the club fight my all too frequent heel and toe hits. Believe me, I know what the results usually are when I get the instant feedback of severe heel or toe contact; a wicked slice or a low hook are the typical results. Not so with the SuperTri. My miss-hits were universally playable! I can’t wait to get this baby out on the course and see if the performance translates to a real round. My hopes are high, and why not? TaylorMade has always come through for me in the past. With the R9 SuperTri Driver, I’m sure my opinion of TaylorMade will only be enhanced.