Burton Daily Driver Review

Overview of the Daily Driver’s Specs

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

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

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.