Dunlop Sportsmart 2 Max

A hypersport tyre for everyday use... is it possible?

With 128 years of racing experience and 16 endurance championships to their name, Dunlop know a thing or two about rubber – which trickled down to the third incarnation of their SportSmart model – the SportSmart 2 Max (SS2M).

It’s not just a rebranding, they’ve really gone to town on improving the tyre, meaning aside from the tread, everything’s changed radically. The most dramatic improvement comes in the form of an all-new front construction of Rayon Ply casing and Aramid JLB, coupled with an optimised Tri-polymer blend and high dispersion silica compound.

Sounds a mouthful, but it basically means the SS2M has considerably quicker warm up times plus an improved feeling on start up, alongside a bigger contact patch for iffy conditions.

For me the most enticing aspect of these hoops is the brand new profile; being softer, it makes the front end lighter and has a ‘reduced stand-up tendency’ – traditionally a pain when trail braking hard. Dunlop also revised the sidewall with a shaped edge, meaning in a corner you’re unlikely to roll off the edge without any warning. That’s no fun for anyone! Thanks to the new multi-tread pattern, the spankability now lasts 10% longer, too. Dunlop used their Endurance racing expertise to design a stiffer compound in the middle, getting you your money’s worth of miles. But enough of the chat! The focus is on the riding, so off we went...

GRIPPING!

The first stint of the day is on Yamaha’s wee MT-07, attacking a rather challenging road ride. Although the French mountainside is beautiful, it’s also demanding due to its unpredictability, from fast sweeping bends to incredibly thin roads, bumpy to smooth surfaces and the odd swathe of grit and mud thrown in for good measure. Even so, Dunlop’s test riders didn’t mess about.