TaylorMade Stealth vs Stealth 2 Driver: Detailed Comparison and Review

Are you a golf enthusiast constantly seeking the edge in equipment performance? If so, you’re not alone.

The quest for the perfect driver often involves delving into the nuances of MOI, adjustability, shaft features, and, crucially, forgiveness. For many, the joy of golf is not just in the play but in the meticulous selection and tuning of their gear.

In the world of golf drivers, TaylorMade has been a frontrunner, offering a series of innovative models from the r5 to the latest Stealth series. Each new release is an opportunity to enhance your game, often becoming the highlight of your golfing investments.

This article dives into the heart of TaylorMade’s latest advancements, comparing the Stealth and Stealth 2 drivers.

We’ll dissect their design, performance, and technological upgrades, focusing on aspects like forgiveness, shaft options, and overall impact on your game.

Whether you’re a TaylorMade aficionado or simply seeking the best driver for your style, join us in this detailed exploration.

Design and Aesthetics: Stealth vs Stealth 2

The regular Stealth’s are best suited for a mid handicap player looking to get more launch and spin to keep the ball in the air.

Looks 

To start with, the look of the Stealth and Stealth 2 driver heads are very similar.  Both carry a very sleek red and black design; possibly inspired by Tiger Woods.  

You’ll notice immediately the lighter-colored STEALTH text on the top of the Stealth 2’s crown which looks very good and sleek compared to the previous year’s version.  Also, the crown on the Stealth 2 is shinier which could be a drawback with the right sun angle.

Both driver’s flash the all new red carbon twist face and both offer an Asymmetric inertia generator which helps with aerodynamics right before impact for you non-scientists out there like us.  The Stealth 2 takes the cake when it comes to the bottom of the driver.  

The newer version includes a lot more red and the interchangeable back weight is in a nice chrome finish whereas on the older version everything came in black.  To view these pictures of each head you can visit the links below to check them out yourself.

Both drivers set up great at address and both appear very square.  You don’t have to worry about either head looking too closed at setup. 

Sound 

After hearing the sound of the two drivers ourselves the new Stealth 2 driver is much improved over the previous year’s version.  

The previous version we found to be dead and dull sounding but the Stealth 2 has gone back to the Sim 2’s sounds which was much deeper and traditional. 

Feel 

Both of these Driver’s feature the same carbon Fiber face and feature a very similar feel.  The main difference you may feel when swinging the two heads is the Stealth 2 will feel slightly lighter as it comes in at a stock D3/D4 swing weight while the original stealth comes in at a D4/D5.  

This is all because the new version has even more Carbon and less titanium; lightning the load and increasing club head speed.  

Forgiveness 

Forgiveness is really where the Stealth 2 sets itself apart from its younger sibling.  The original Stealth may have introduced Carbon to the golf world, but the Stealth 2 has more than doubled it.   

Doubling the amount of carbon is going to make the Stealth 2 leaps and bounds ahead of the original Stealth when it comes to forgiveness.  Since Carbon is much lighter than titanium, it allows Taylormade to redistribute weight to the perimeter of the club head which will maximize stability and forgiveness.  

The new Stealth 2 features a much higher moment of inertia (MOI) than the original stealth because of the extra carbon.  Taylormade added a new 25 gram weight on the back of the crown to help increase the MOI which in turn, increases forgiveness.   

Don’t take this section to mean that the original Stealth is not forgiving; because it is.  Originally, bringing Carbon to the market helped Taylormade increase the MOI and forgiveness from previous years.  This year with the Stealth 2, they managed to do it again.  

Shaft Options 

Stealth 

For the original Stealth the two main no upcharge shaft options are the following: 

Aldila Ascent Red

This first no upcharge option is a mid launch and mid to low spin option.  Since the regular stealth is a higher MOI, higher launching head, this could be a great shaft option for higher club head speeds looking for a little lower launch and spin.  

This shaft ranges from 61 grams in the regular flex all the way up to 68 grams in the X flex making it a good shaft for stronger players looking for added control.  

Ventus Red 5

This second option comes from the line of all so popular Ventus shafts.  It seems like you can’t turn on the TV these days without seeing some kind of Ventus shaft front and center.  

The Ventus Red 5 features a mid to high launch and mid spin profile and plays all the way from 53 grams in an A flex up to 55 grams in a stiff.  

This shaft is perfect for a slower clubhead speed that could use a little extra help.

Stealth 2 

For the Stealth 2, Taylormade gives two very similar no upcharge stock shaft offerings from last year.  You will see that there is one option for slower clubhead speeds and one option for stronger and faster players.  

Mitsubishi Diamana S+

This shaft is made for faster players and features a profile of mid launch and mid spin.  Weight wise it ranges from 64.5 grams in a regular flex all the way up to a hefty 70 grams in the X flex. 

Fujikura Ventus TR Red 5

This is Taylormade’s stock offering this year for lower club head speeds.  The launch profile is mid to high and its spin profile is mid.  It ranges from 52 grams in the A flex up to 54 grams in the stiff.  

Performance Analysis: Comparing Ball Speed and Distance

After talking about the specs, feel, and acoustics of the Stealth and Stealth 2, we are sure you are excited to see some actual testing numbers.  Now, we don’t have a trackman so we didn’t do this testing ourselves; see below for where we found this.   

After extensive testing, the Golfer Geeks had some great numbers to share with club head speeds just over 100 MPH.  

Driver	Carry	Club Speed	Ball Speed	Smash Factor
Stealth 2	244.7	103.1	148.5	1.44
Stealth	234.4	102.0	146.1	1.43

By looking at the numbers, everything that Taylormade made and that we spoke about above came true.  

The reduced swing weight of the Stealth 2 increased club head speed which in combination with the higher MOI also increased ball speed.

This increased ball speed blew away last year’s model as the testing crew picked up over ten yards of extra carry. 

Our Recommendation 

After doing our research and seeing some real, live, results, we think that if you can muster the cash, the Stealth 2 is by far and away a better driver.

The extra carbon in the head will give you more speed which equals more distance, the heavier perimeter weighting equates to the better moment of inertia and forgiveness, and a better look and sound is just icing on the cake.   

If you are a better player looking for every advantage you can get, we recommend spending the extra money on the newer of the Stealths. However, if you are a higher handicap player, the original Stealth is going to give you a lot of great benefits and you probably really won’t know the difference.

The Stealth 2 is lighter, sounds better, has more forgiveness, and can help a player around 100 mph clubhead speed pick up as many as 10 yards.  The Stealth 2 comes in on Taylormade’s website at $599.99 while the older model comes in at $399.99.  This discrepancy will make you think but you truly get what you pay for here.

We hope that this article has helped you make up your mind and you’ve worked hard to get that bonus this year; you might as well spend it on the top technology on the market.