Hello and welcome to my Burton Daily Driver review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Daily Driver as a freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Daily Driver a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Burton Daily Driver
Price: $669
Style: Freeride
Flex Rating: Medium
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium-Stiff (7/10)
Rating Score: 82.6/100
Compared to other Men’s Freeride Boards
Of the 35 current model freeride snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Daily Driver ranked 28th out of 35
Overview of the Daily Driver’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Daily Driver’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freeride |
Price: | $669 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Directional Hybrid Camber |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Setback 35mm (1.4") |
Base: | Sintered |
Weight: | Felt Heavier than Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
147 | 244 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
155 | 255 | 120-180 | 54-82 |
159 | 258 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
Who is the Daily Driver Most Suited To?
The Daily Driver isn't what I would typically call a daily driver - it's certainly more of a freeride board, and doesn't really do freestyle that well, IMO. But as a freeride board it works really well.
So if your daily needs are mostly focused on carving, powder and speed, then the it will work well as a daily driver for you. But if you like to incorporate a lot of freestyle in your mix, then there are more suitable options, IMO.
Certainly not for the beginner and even a lower intermediate rider, but a good choice for a solid intermediate rider and up, who mainly wants to ride one direction predominantly and predominantly ride at speed and carve and get into powder, whenever the chance occurs.
The Daily Driver in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Daily Driver is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Burton Daily Driver 2022, 155cm (255mm waist width)
Date: February 16, 2021
Conditions: Cloudy with some sunny spells. Cold enough when suns not there but certainly not ultra cold. Quite warm when suns out.
-3°C (27°F), with wind -9°C (16°F).
24 hour snow: 0cm (0")
48 hour snow: 18cm (7")
7 day snow: 34cm (13.4")
On groomer: Medium to medium firm. Some small icy patches.
Off groomer: Crunchy in places and a little softer in others with some icy patches on steeper sections
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 560mm (22″)
Stance Setback: Setback 35mm (1.4")
Width at Inserts: 266mm (10.47") at front insert and 267mm (10.51") at back insert
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 175lbs
Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical ADV
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Weight: 3040grams (6lbs 11oz)
Weight per cm: 19.61 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.43 grams/cm*
*based on a sample size of around 100 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021 *& 2022 models. The Daily Driver is quite a bit heavier than normal. And you could feel the extra weight on snow. Doesn't feel super heavy on snow, but not light either.
Flex
Whilst Burton rate this to be a happy medium, I found it on the stiffer side of medium. I felt it at a 7/10, potentially even bordering on 7.5/10. The demo I got was brand new though, I was the first to ride it - so it would probably break in to be a little softer than that - maybe 6.5/10 to 7/10.
Damp or Chattery?
Quite damp. Some chatter in nose but you don't really feel it under foot.
Smooth or Snappy?
Certainly more smooth than it is snappy, but it's not devoid of snap.
Powder
Felt pretty good in the small amount of powder I had to test it in. And with that 3D shape in it (which was more prominent and obvious than I was expecting) coupled with the rocker in the nose and the directional shape and taper, it's no surprise. I think it would perform well in deeper powder too.
Carving & Turning
Carving: This board was fun to carve and particularly liked a higher speed, deep carve. In my notes I noted it as a 4/5 carver, but potentially even bordering on 4.5/5.
Turning: It prefers to carve, but not bad on a regular turn either.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Not super nimble but also not bad. I'd say 1/2 step better than the 3D Deep Daze that I also rode that day. But not as good as Terrain Wrecker (my control board).
Skidded Turns: You can get away with some skidding, but certainly not super easy to skid turns on and could punish you if you relied on them too much.
Speed
Felt nice and stable at speed. A fun board to open out and get some speed on.
It wasn't anything special in terms of glide but it was pretty good nonetheless.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It smashed through any crud that I encountered and didn't really get bucked around at all. It was heavy enough and stable enough to crash through. Not sure if those 3D notches also helped.
Bumps: In terms of weaving through bumps it wasn't as at home as riding in flatter, smoother terrain or smashing through crud, but it was OK. Not ultra nimble, but not a boat either. In terms of hugging bumps, it was OK but not amazing.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Jumps
Pretty good in the jumps department, particularly for bigger jumps.
Pop: I found the Daily Driver to have really decent pop. It wasn't super easy to access (but not ultra hard either), but when you put in the effort it gave back.
Approach: Really good for faster approaches. Not bad for trickier approaches, but not super easy to adjust and find those last second side-hits.
Landing: Stomper! Really stomped landings nicely. Not ultra forgiving if you were tentative, but when you committed to stomping it, it was a thing of beauty.
Side-hits: OK, without being great. Easy pop and more nimble approach would make it better, IMO, but for those easier access side hits, with good landings, it does fine.
Small jumps/Big jumps: Big jumps for sure. Still OK for smaller jumps, but more at home for larger jumps.
Switch
It's something you can ride switch without it feeling too weird. But it doesn't feel that natural. Better than something like the 3D Deep Daze that I also rode that day though, for sure.
Spins
Was a bit of an effort to get the spin around and for those small air spins where you want to get them around quicker it wasn't great. Also not ideal for setting up or landing switch. Not this boards forte, but not really what it's designed for. That extra weight really helps keeping you stable in crud and at speed, but it doesn't do any favors for spins, IMO.
Jibbing
Nah. I mean of course you can, but there are much better boards for it.
Butters
I found very little bend in the tip and tail. You'd want to be strong to butter/press on this board. Again, not what it's designed for so I wasn't surprised or disappointed in how hard it was to butter.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
POWDER | 4.0 | 20/25 |
SPEED | 4.0 | 16/20 |
CARVING | 4.0 | 12/15 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 3.5 | 7/10 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 4.0 | 8/10 |
TREES/BUMPS | 3.5 | 7/10 |
JUMPS | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
SWITCH | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 82.6/100 |
Overall, the Daily Driver is a fun board that preferred speed and carving over everything else and also a good one to take out on those powder days.
Whilst it's not overall a great board for riding freestyle either in the park or over the rest of the mountain, it is pretty fun for jumps still - particularly bigger jumps, where you can really stomp your landings. But not one to learn jumping on, IMO.
It's a daily driver for the right person - if you're style fits it well, then it's something that does well in most conditions on the mountain, but for true daily driver, I would personally get something with more freestyle prowess (but everyone's style is different and this could work really well as someone's daily driver - it's certainly not a one trick pony - not like a powder specialist or anything like that.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Daily Driver, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
IS THIS GEAR RIGHT FOR YOU?
If you want to check out some other freeride snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Daily Driver compares to other freeride snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hi Nate,
I’m rather freestyle snowboarder, but I’m looking for a second snowboard (flex: medium) to freeride.
My freestyle setup: Burton Paramount, Malavita EST and Burton Swath boots. and don’t want to buy a new binding and boots.
According to Burton.com the Daily Driver 3D is all mtn board (6/10 for powder), not specifically freeride. Is it true? Or good to freeride, not really perfect to powder?
I don’t need an all mtn snowboard, I want buy a really freeride (not only powder) board, with medium flex.
I’d rather buy Fish 3D to the powder and then buy a medium flex freeride board later. What is your opinion?
PS: I like Hometown Hero too, but I think that is stiffer than Hometown Hero.
Thank you.
Laszlo
Hi Laszlo, thanks for your message.
I would consider the Daily Driver freeride, by my definition. All-mountain boards sell better, so I think a lot of boards are labelled that way. But the Daily Driver has 10mm of camber, a directional camber profile and a directional shape. I wouldn’t say it’s the most directional board ever or anything, but it fits my definition of freeride. Certainly not a powder specialist though. It’s a little stiffer than medium in my experience. But I rode this one brand new, so it’ll likely soften out a little. But I found this a little stiffer than the HTH. So, I think the HTH would be a good bet, if you’re looking at going more medium flex. But if you wanted to go more true medium flex, I would actually look at the Gril Master. I rode the 2025 model, so I don’t have a review for it yet, but I felt that at a 5.5/10 flex. It’s got a little more taper than the Daily Driver, but it’s still certainly not powder specialist either.
Hope this helps
Hey Nate,
Have you had a chance to try the 2023 version? I’m curious if the version you tested previously was an anomaly with regards to Flex or if Burton dialed it back in 2023.
Mahalo!
Hi Dan
Thanks for your message.
I haven’t tested the 2023 version. As far as I can tell the 2023 version is exactly the same, so I won’t be retesting it. The model I rode was brand new – and boards do tend to soften up a bit over time, so it was probably a little stiffer than what it would break in to – but I doubt it would feel right on a 5/10 as Burton seems to rate it at – maybe a 6.5/10 after a break in period – then over time softer, as most boards to get with plenty of hours on their backs. It’s possible they’ve dialed it back for 2023, but the specs look to be all the same.
Hi Nate,
I like the idea of this board. Looks like a Flight Attendant with some 3D shaping, but you rate the FA a lot better than this.
Is there something about the 3D shaping that made you like this board a little less?
Also, you think the 159 is okay for 6ft, 205lbs, 10.5 Vans Infuse?
Am interested in the Goliath+, but unsure if the 3D spooning is too extreme for the relatively firm condition of my local mountain.
Thanks!
Hi Frank
Thanks for your message.
Not sure if it was the 3D shaping or what made me like it less, but just didn’t quite like it as much as the FA. I think that 3D shaping does take a little away from carving. Still not a board I disliked or anything, but didn’t like as much as FA.
Size-wise, I would put your “standard all-mountain length” at around 161/162, so it would be on the smaller side for you, but certainly doable, IMO. Should be well wide enough for 10.5 Vans, IMO. Looking at around 269mm at front insert and 270mm on back insert on the 159 (assuming a roughly 22″ stance width).
Whilst I didn’t find the Goliath + to be amazing in hard/icy conditions, it wasn’t something that I found terrible either, despite the 3BT. Similar in that aspect to the Daily Driver, in my experience. That said, I didn’t really get significantly hard conditions on the Goliath+.
Hope this helps