TaylorMade R500 Series Driver Available in August

Press Release

Posted 2002-07-08

In a follow-up to its breakthrough 300 Series -- the No. 1 driver on tour worldwide -- TaylorMade will unveil its much anticipated R500 Series to U.S. consumers this August, a driver that offers players the fastest ball speed and largest driver sweetspot in golf.

Featuring an innovative design on the inside of the driver's face (inverted cone technology), the titanium R500 Series (MSRP $499) meets the anticipated expansion of COR limits to .860 proposed by the USGA. Beyond merely being thin, the new construction allows for a sweetspot that's 60 percent the size of the next nearest competitor -- while also cutting the loss of ball speed and distance of mishits in half (versus the only other high-speed driver currently on the market, based on impacts one-half inch off-center).

The R500 Series also continues TaylorMade's unique one-size-fits-none philosophy, with three different-sized models geared for different swing characteristics: a 330cc (R510), 350cc (R540) and 400cc (R580). At this week's U.S. Open, all three of TaylorMade's non-R tour models (COR of .830) will be put in play.

In addition to Retief Goosen (2001 U.S. Open champ) and Ernie Els (1994, '97 U.S. Open winner) -- who will both play the 510 -- two separate major championship winners are expected to put a 540 in their bag at Bethpage. Kenny Perry (currently in the top five in total driving) will continue to use the 580, a driver he's had since the Bay Hill Tournament earlier this season.

Add Mike Weir and Craig Perks (each the 540) to the group, and the 500 Series driver is being played by five of the world's top 20 players, according to current World Rankings.

"Our goal was to develop the next generation of No. 1," said TaylorMade-adidas president Mark King. "With the 300 Series, we created a franchise that broke the traditional rules of club construction…one that then went on to break records, both at retail and on tour."

"In the new R500 Series we used many of the 300's ground-breaking technologies and philosophies as a base, including our pull-face design and the multi-head design theory," he continued. "We then added some never-before-seen features, including our inverted cone technology face design, a tunable weight cartridge and a proprietary shaft system."

"It's a five-part equipment equation that's a defining moment for the company," said King. "It will quickly revolutionize the way all golfers feel about their long game, establishing that driver power comes from the inside out."

ZONE and the Expansion of Sweetspot: Inverted Cone Technology/Pull-Face Construction

Fleshing out the unique technologies surrounding the R500 Series, TaylorMade's vice president of research and development, clubs and balls, Benoit Vincent, brought to attention a central focus for the club's increased ball velocity: ZONE technology.

ZONE (Zero Off-Center Negative Effect), Vincent described, defines the entirety of the R500 Series' face technology and goal of a COR expansion over a wider area (COR exceeding 0.80). Part of that overall concept is a never-before-seen face-crafting technique, an inverted cone technology, one that gives the club a drastically modified interior face contour.

Inverted Cone Technology Taking a cross section of the R500 Series' head (looking directly at the inside of the club face), its thickness starts at 3.1mm, nearly twice as high as the edge. It then dramatically thins out as you get further away from the center, going from 2.5mm at its nucleus to 1.6mm at the face's edge.

The effect, says Vincent, is similar to a small, cratered volcano -- a precise geometry that is the controlling factor in face thickness distribution and can only be done in a specialized, machining method (CNC lathe, or Computer Numeric Control). The name of this highly unique design: Inverted Cone Technology.

"As most drivers on the market are investment cast or forged, their design only allows for a thin face directly in the center with a minimum amount of change in thickness as you move toward the perimeter of the face," said Vincent. "What that gives the golfer is a very small point of flex, a ZONE that's about as big as the head of a tee."

"With Inverted Cone Technology, we were able to add a precision-milled element that's machined directly on the opposite side of the face, a personalized process which equalizes the high COR further across the face," he continued.

While comparing the R500's ZONE to the 300 Series, Vincent put the percentage of increase on the growth at four times the size. The ZONE of the new R500 Series (approximately same from club to club) was also measured to be 60 percent the size of the nearest competitor.

Pull-Face Construction ZONE Technology in the R500 Series drivers is an expansion of the pull-face construction that TaylorMade pioneered in the development of its state-of-the-art 300 Series titanium drivers (also used in its 200 Steel line).

Utilizing a two-piece face-weld, the R500 Series' club head is composed of a high-strength hollow metal body and a faceplate. This allows the club face to be made from a high-strength cold-rolled metal (SP-700) to generate more efficient energy transfer at impact, for higher COR (resulting in more power and distance).

In addition, there are other advantages to the pull-face construction, according to Vincent, including the optimum distribution of weight.

"Unlike the strict limitations of the forging process -- which restricts the manufacturer from designing a large-area head with a constant wall thickness -- the pull-face construction allows large wall thickness variation resulting in optimum weight distribution," said Vincent. "In the R500, the usage of high-strength titanium alloys reaches a new performance level."

Vincent also noted that the pull-frame construction's optimum distribution of weight has lead to the increase of inertia in the R500 Series driver, one that was measured as an increase of 14 percent versus the 300 Series and other competitive drivers of comparable size and COR.

Tuned Weight Cartridge (TWC) Along with the new inverted cone technology, TaylorMade developed two additional technologies for its new driver offering, systems explicitly geared for the better player and their custom club needs.

The R500 Series features a new tuned weight cartridge (or, TWC) increases the quality of assembled clubs and makes possible high-performance custom clubs.

TWC's construction uses three rods of selected densities, encased in a urethane housing, creating cartridges covering a 12g weight span. The TWC "tunes" each head to the specific weight and allows for a shaft adjustment (length, swing weight) to match the different shafts without compromising other performance parameters such as head center of gravity, COR and sound.

"Nearly 25 percent of all TaylorMade drivers are either fitted with custom shafts upon purchase -- or are done so afterward," said Vincent. "These customers were generally found to be the more skilled player. Knowing the trend would continue with the introduction of the R500, we came up with a weighting solution that ensured that the club would adjust to their swing…not the other way around."

In addition to creating matching head weighting for custom clubs, the new TWC helps to solve two industry-wide problems caused by traditional methods for controlling head weight: epoxy applied inside the head (leading to inconsistent outcomes) and shaft weight plugs installed in the end of the shaft tip (high CG).

Motion Analysis Shaft System (M.A.S.2)

Leveraging the new cartridge system, TaylorMade will now offer more specialty shafts in its initial introduction than in any previous driver launch (13, including offerings from Aldila, Fujikura, Graffaloy, Graphite Design, Penley, Precision, True Temper and UST). It will also make available its own proprietary shaft for each model.

Based on differences in the mass of the cartridge insert in each and a variation in individual player-level torque and tip needs, these TaylorMade stock shafts have been specifically shaped based on the company's innovative new shaft analysis system, M.A.S.2 (Motion Analysis Shaft System).

The shafts will come in all five standard flexes (L through TS), and are identified by the M.A.S.2 system and its relative weight in grams: 510 (M.A.S.2 75), 540 (M.A.S.2 70) and 580 (M.A.S.2 60).

Other Club Specifics: New Color, Loft Offerings, Left-Handed Availability

In addition to a fast ball speed and multiple head sizes, other club specifics include a new black lava head color and an availability of various lofts per model (510 in 7.5- to 10.5-degrees; 540 in 7.5- to 12-degrees; 580 in 8.5- to 12-degrees). Left-handed versions will be immediately offered in 9.5- and 10.5-degrees when the R500 Series reaches retail.

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TaylorMade R500 Series Driver Available in August

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