Dunlop Sportmax Sportsmart - Review Hot

Dunlop have claimed the Sportsmart to be their most important tyre to date and having not tested it I booked a set out so they would be fresh for a day round Silverstone and then general road riding afterwards.

Initial Thoughts

Developed from the race oriented GP Racer D211 the Sportsmart is a tyre that is marketed as sitting in a kind of magical sweet spot where you get race tyre dry performace, rain tyre wet grip and touring tyre milage, this in itself seems a tall order and each year tyre manufacturers continue to usurp each other with their latest and greatest models. The last Dunlop I had chance to review was a D208 and I was less than enamoured with it but the enthusiasm from Dunlop about this new fangled tyre was too much to resist - so I didn't.

Construction

I might just start here by stating that when I originally spoke to Dunlop about tyres for Silverstone I had the D211 in mind but once I had spoken to the experts and explained that my review would take me from track to motorway, country lane to A-road I was advised that the Sportsmart would more than exceed my expectations, initially I must say I was apprehensive as going on a racetrack with a tyre that is reputed to last as long as the Sportsmart drummed up images of rear wheel slides and lack of cold grip - how wrong I was!

To ensure that I got the very best from them on the day I had the fitted the day before, just 140 miles of srubbing in before I got to the start/finish line and chicken strips fully intact. From the get go I was able to push harder than I expected into the corners from cold but after a couple of minutes could physically feel the grip improve to confidence inspiring levels, it is worth noting here that I am not normally one to chew up a pair of tyres from pushing particularly hard but the Sportsmart offered such precise and fluid feedback that after only a couple of laps the chicken strips were a thing of the past - after a full day I now have the heroic bobbled edges with a slight blue tinge and the tyres have kept their shape pretty nicely.

Out on the road they behave equally as well, with no strange feedback through the carcass they grip consistantly on smooth roads and track nicely when the going gets bumpy, I mentioned before the warm up times which I wanted to elaborate on as racetrack warm up is often not a useful benchmark for a road tyre and as the Sportsmart is designed for mainly road use it warms up rapidly during regular riding in both dry and wet conditions. In the wet I did not manage to make them squirm or let go and other than the plentiful levels of metal on Sheffield's roads hampering grip found that once up to temperature the Sportsmart gave confidence in all conditions.

Longevity wise this tyre is supposed to be king, I managed to put 2800 miles on during the first 20 days, 600 of those were track time, around 1400 motorway miles and the rest blatting around. At the 2800 mile mark the tyre is still plentiful on tread and round across the entire surface, unfortunately though for now this is where I am halted as the new British Standards rules came into effect the day I manage to get a puncture in a perfectly repairable part of the tyre - normally my fitter would sort this no problem but now it is 'illegal' to do so... What a load of bull!

What would happen if I had ridden out of the tyre yard having just splashed £200+ on a new set then picked up a puncture? A complete waste of money is all you have apparently, the reason I am so bitter about this is that I actually really wanted to wear these tyres right down to their tread limiters, summer weather + Dunlop Sportsmart = happy time.

In terms of actual miles I am hoping to get the tyre back on the back of my bike soon and will be repairing it myself in order to do so, based on similar amounts of use I think it will out last the Michelin 2CT I tested but offers a better overall level of grip in all conditions and none of the odd feedback, if like me you have not tried a Dunlop tyre in a while and want one that will perform in all areas including some trackday use - take a look at the Dunlop Sportmax Sportsmart

• Tour, road, track: new crossover performance tyre answers every need
• NTEC construction acts as a mechanical grip booster at low infl ation pressure for track day use
• New construction front and rear derived from ultra-successful D211 GP race tyre
• Multi-tread technology front & rear in order to combine high grip and high mileage
• Available in all popular sizes