Dunlop Sportmax Ii Debuts

DUNLOP SPORTMAX II DEBUTS

OVER THE PAST FEW years Dunlop's Sportmax radial has maintained a healthy grip on a large chunk of the performance street-tire market. In supersport racing, the front Sportmax GP paired with Dunlop’s D364 radial rear has been a nearly unbeatable combination. Dunlop hopes to keep this momentum rolling with its new Sportmax II D204 ZR.

As with the original Sportmax, the Sportmax II is available in street and racing compounds. Although the D204 street radial shares the same tread pattern as its softer, D204 GP Sport (racing compound) counterpart, the construction of the rear tire is different. The Sportmax II racing rear-and both street and race fronts-has a conventional casing, but the rear Sportmax II street radial has a jointless belt construction (JLB) casing restraint system.

As the name JLB suggests, there are no belt joints or overlaps in the casing, which is made of Kevlar cord wound circumferentially around the plies to form the belt. The benefit, according to Dunlop technicians, is elimination of centrifugal growth, so a larger footprint is maintained for improved grip and wear resistance. JLB also offers greater compliance over bumps and road ridges and up to 20 percent in weight savings, says Dunlop. JLB isn’t applied to racing tires or front tires, which face heavier cornering loads, because the two cut-belt casing offers better side-grip in extreme conditions.

Dunlop recently invited members of the press to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to sample the Sportmax II line. Suzuki provided a handful of stock ’94 GSX-R750s, some of which wore the GP Sport radial and others fitted with the D204 street radial.

Both versions of the Sportmax II displayed excellent steering characteristics, giving the GSX-R a light and neutral feel. Grip was equally impressive. The GP Sport used up every bit of the stock-suspended GSX-Rs cornering clearance without so much as a slither. Particularly impressive was the street D204. It gripped well enough to give the Suzuki a full workout, and still hooked up after several hot laps around the 2.25-mile, 16turn circuit.

It’s doubtful that the Sportmax II will bump the D364 from top of the supersport tire stack, but it offers racers and street riders a high level of tire performance at a more affordable price. -Don Canet