Louis Pringle

Aug 30, 2024

6 minutes

TaylorMade’s drivers’ reputation is well established nowadays. Their yearly releases are usually the talk of the golf community, and for good reasons. The company has come a long way from the 90’s and early 2000’s becoming a stronghold amongst golf most popular brands. Considering how far they’ve come, it’s interesting to take a trip back in time and see where it all started for them.

It’s with that in mind that we tasked our expert Lou with the mission of investigating the progress of TaylorMade’s drivers over the last 20 years. He’ll be comparing the 2024 released TaylorMade Qi10, which is packed with all of TaylorMade’s innovations, and featured in our list of the Best Drivers of 2024, against the R540 XD driver which was released in 2004. Let’s not keep you hanging any longer and let’s first look at all the differences between those two drivers.

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Differences between the Qi10 and R540 XD drivers

Of course, when you consider the 20-year difference between the two drivers we’re looking in this one, you’re going to have a massive gap in when it comes to both look and technology, and, as you should expect, a noticeable difference in terms of performance. Let’s first look at the differences in appearance.

Specs

Right away, there are some clearcut differences just by looking at a detailed specs list from each of these clubs.

Starting with the shaft. Of course, we’ve got two different shafts here as we’re looking to compare two stock drivers against one another. The R540 XD’s shaft is the original R5 Hundred series from TaylorMade, in a stiff flex. As for the Qi10, the shaft is a Ventus Blue TR, also in a stiff flex.

In terms of clubheads, volume is an obvious difference as the Qi10 is much bigger, especially from the club face to the back of the crown. The Qi10 sports a 460cc clubhead, while the R540 XD’s is noticeably more compact at 400cc. It also needs to be pointed out that the Qi10 has 9 degrees of loft, and the R540 XD has 8,5-degree club face.

Looks

There are more obvious differences when we go beyond the specs, and these are quickly observable with a brief glance.

Starting with the R540 XD, it has a much more traditional clubhead with heavy notes of silver titanium. The clubhead is topped with a black finish, that was most likely glossy at one point (we tested a used model), but that has since lost its luster.

On the other hand, the Qi10 is shiny and glossy thanks to its combination of carbon and titanium. The carbon club face, which is now a signature of TaylorMade’s, is tinted with a sleek blue hue that matches the rest of the clubhead. This look is completed with chrome accents thank to the adjustable weight located at the back of the clubhead.

Tech

Here’s where we’ll see the most important gap between the two models as 20 years of innovation can make quite the difference, especially when it comes to technological perks.

Starting with the innovation-packed Qi10, we have the 60-layer carbon club face which is also fitted with TaylorMade’s signature Twist Face technology. This combination helps to limit the penalizing effects of strikes around the toe or the heel.

Of course, as with any modern TaylorMade driver, you’ll find the True Slot Speed Pocket right under the club face of the Qi10, designed to help optimize the energy transfer in the club face by strengthening the lower part of it.

As for the 540XD, there isn’t much to say as far as technology is concerned as we’re dealing with a pretty basic metal clubhead driver. However, there’s a clear device here at the back of the clubhead which helps to promote a higher launch angle at impact, but that’s pretty much it when it comes to this one. TaylorMade refers to his little device as the Tuned Weight Cartridge (TWC).

Now that we know that the Qi10 has the clear advantage when it comes to technology, let’s see how that translates when we compare their performance and what Lou thought of them!

Lou’s impressions after testing the Qi10 driver

“The first thing that jumped out to me with the Qi10 was its noticeable draw bias. The club is certainly not advertised as such, but it did deliver plenty of inside spin and limited any slices. I had some pushes as some of my contacts were made with an open club face, but very limited cases of a ball slicing to the right.

Speaking of a draw bias, some strikes looked closer to a hook than a draw and that was surprising to me as I expected TaylorMade’s latest base offering to be highly forgiving strike after strike. To be fair, the Qi10 Max is probably more suited to golfers in search of more forgiveness.

I struggled to find my comfort with this club, which was shocking to me considering I use the LS variation of the Qi10. The stock Ventus Blue TR shaft might not be suited to my needs however, and that could have impacted the results.

However, there’s one aspect of this club that I can’t knock down and it’s the power of the club face. The ball explodes off the club face at impact, typical of modern drivers, and the carbon club face certainly plays a key role in it.”

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Lou’s impressions after testing the R540 XD driver

“Right off the bat, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of the R540 XD, but it surprised me in all the key aspects I wanted to keep and eye on, like total and carry distance, as well as dispersion, and of course, feel for the ball.

Distance-wise, the total distance was much better than I initially anticipated, however, the way the club produced those numbers surprise me a little as the carry distance was not as long as the Qi10, but we’ll discuss that in further detail in the comparison part of this analysis.

Spin-wise, I was impressed by the figured produced by the low rates that the R540 XD produced, considering it’s not intended to be performing as a low spin driver. This was a particular benefit to me, but I can see it being a hindrance to some players with slower swing speeds.

Feel-wise, you can easily feel the club throughout the swing, and impact location is easy to identify on every strike. The club is fair with off-centre strikes and will provide some forgiveness on mishits, but don’t expect any help on open faces.

The only knock I would give to this driver is that the shaft I used for this test was slightly too light for me. But, based on the performance and trajectories it delivered, it’s really hard to truly dislike the shaft.”

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Complete comparison between the Qi10 and R540 XD drivers?

Right off the bat, we notice that the total distance from each club is almost identical. Both clubs just broke over the 253-yards mark, but they did it in very different ways. Let’s first take a look at the carry distance from each club to explain how they managed to produce almost identical total distances.

The R540XD travelled 10 yards shorter than the Qi10, but it still managed to deliver the same total distance. The reason behind the total distance outcome compared to the carry distance is quite easy to explain.

Looking at the Qi10. You have decently low spin rates, especially considering the LS version is the true low-spin driver of this line, and a very nice launch angle of 13.2 degrees. This higher launch angle, coupled with spin rates like the ones the Qi10 produced, make for a recipe that is sure to somewhat limit the roll out on the ground. This is an excellent result for the Qi10, but the R540XD proves that it can be even better!

The R540XD launched the ball 1 full degree lower than the Qi10 and also reduced the spin rates by 300 rpms. This figure is not extreme, but it does make enough of a difference that it’ll allow for a greater ball release.

Now, we can easily ask ourselves what would have been the performance of the R540XD if it benefited from the same launch angle that the Qi10 did?

Considering the clubhead speed was a full mile per hour faster on average for my strikes with the R540XD, it most likely would have shown a much better carry distance, but on the other hand, the roll would not have been as good as the ball would have been coming down at a higher angle.

So, while the R540XD got the fastest swing speeds from this test, it did not deliver the longest carry distance, but its launch conditions managed to generate the longest strikes.

Credit to the Qi10, it confirms the fact that new golf clubs on the market usually have very powerful club faces that allow you to carry the ball further but won’t necessarily provide you with a crazy improvement distance-wise off the tee.

So, keep in mind, that you don’t always need to spend the big bucks on the latest and greatest to get the most out of your swing on the course. In some cases, relying on your old trustee can be just as effective, and much more affordable.

But if you’re ready to make a change, don’t forget that you can always trade or sell your ol’ trustee for a more recent model that will undoubtedly provide you with higher forgiveness levels and a hot club face.

Is the R540 XD still worth the investment for a beginner golfer

This experiment should shed some light on the progress that golf clubs have experienced over the year and on the fact that you don’t need to spend all your money on the latest and greatest models, like the Qi10, to produce your best performance on the course. Older clubs like the R540 XD can get the job done just as well for even the most casual of golfer who only plays a dozen rounds a year. For those golfers, we also recommend you check out our list of the 10 best drivers for beginners.

Will the new model provide you with some perks and advantages? Undoubtedly! But are those perks worth spending the extra money. That’s up to you to decide, but keep in mind that you always have the option of turning to used golf clubs that have shown their might on the golf course for years… and have shown in this comparison test that they still match up to the cream of the crop.

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As we previously mentioned, you can always trust Golf Avenue to make your life easier when it comes to upgrading your golf clubs (or simply getting your hands on your first clubs). We make your trade or sell process as seamless as possible and our in-house experts are available to meet with you and provide you with the advice you need to find your future clubs. Don’t be shy and upgrade today!

Until next time,

The Golf Avenue team