Dunlop SportMaxx RT Reviews - Page 4

Given 84% while driving a BMW 330ci (225/45 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 8,000 spirited miles
very quiet
Helpful 16 - tire reviewed on June 7, 2017
Given 89% while driving a Audi A4 Avant (225/55 R16 W) on a combination of roads for 24,000 average miles
This tire has very good grip in dry and wet conditions. After 3 years of using, they are on the end of life but still provide good grip. I'm buying them again.
Helpful 13 - tire reviewed on March 31, 2017
Given 61% while driving a Mercedes Benz CLA 250 4 matic (235/40 R18 W) on mostly motorways for 12,000 easy going miles
Grip was good in both wet and dry. The ride was pretty decent given sports type car. My driving style is very laid back. Rarely over accelerate. Mainly motorway driving. Yet the most disappointing thing about these tires is that they wear very very quickly. In less than 12000, then are down to minimum and require changing. Definitely would NOT recommend these tires because of this.
Helpful 26 - tire reviewed on March 13, 2017
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Given 91% while driving a Mazda MX5 (205/45 R16 W) on a combination of roads for 20,000 spirited miles
These were the tires fitted on my MX5 mk2 when I bought it.
Excellent wet and dry grip.
Started getting a bit 'loose' feeling when they got close to the legal tread depth limit, but that's only to be expected really!
Replaced them with Avon ZV7's due to the price difference for 16" wheels. Both the Dunlop and Avon perform really well with the Dunlop's giving a quieter ride.
I'd recommend either for an MX5 with 16" wheels.
Helpful 14 - tire reviewed on February 14, 2017
Given 84% while driving a Toyota Camry (245/40 R18 V) on mostly motorways for 20,000 spirited miles
I'ld to share some experience with my Dunlop SportsMaxx RT during its end-of-service life span. The tires were worn right down to the wear-bars. Tire noise was very high and irritating and aqua-planning was getting to be a dicey affair on wet roads.

I was pondering how to solve those 2 factors while waiting for a set of new Dunlop RTs.

RTs have 3 circumferential bands of rubber at the centre. Sips - for water drainage, are only moulded at the 2 outer edges. I stand corrected but a solid band of rubber is bound to transmit noise when tire rolls or hits road bumps or road irregularities. I was guessing that by cutting some thin channels across the 3 circumferential bands, it would help to break up vibration and noise along each band. At best, noise and vibration might even be prevented altogether.

And my guess was correct !

Using a standard NT razor cutter, initially I only made cuts across 2 bands - I left out the centre band n order for the tire to maintain straight-line stability. There was a marked reduction in rolling noise. Encouraged by this, I made deeper cuts in the form of a V shaped cross section. Each strip of V shaped rubber cut from the tire's 2 circumferential bands was about 3 to 5 cm in length. I spaced every cut randomly 1cm to 3cm away from the preceeding cut. This was to mix up the frequency of noise generated by each band and I was hoping the different frequencies would cancel each other out.

The reduction in rolling noise was sensational.

Better yet; the improvement in grip on wet roads was remarkable. But aqua-planning was still an impending disaster during heavy rain storms.

But in dry road conditions, the braking grip was fantastic ! However, cornering grip was a total wash-out as the tires were worn to their terminal life.

After cutting these sips, the tires really wear very fast. The tires were almost bald when the new set arrived at the dealer. It was a huge relief to have new RTs installed as I was really fearful of losing control of the car from aqua-planning.

It took around 3 weeks to complete just the front pair - without removing them from the wheel well. No way of doing the rear pair unless you are prepared to remove them completely from the car.

My Camry's suspension, brakes and wheel alignment is extremely well set up and unless your car is similarly taken care of; please exercise EXTREME CAUTION if you are attempting the above. Prefereably, install new tires without delay.

In Singapore, the RTs cost SG$240 each.

Helpful 11 - tire reviewed on February 7, 2017
Given 94% while driving a Ford Mondeo Titanium 2.0 TCDI (215/55 R16 W) on a combination of roads for 20,000 spirited miles
Excellent grip and handling in wet and dry conditions not just for cruising at the motorways or some average city driving but also excellent for some spiritual driving as well . Although these tires are not the best in the wear I found them very confident for driving until they were totally worn out still maintaining good grip in wet and dry. Definitely the tire worth of buying them again
Helpful 18 - tire reviewed on January 4, 2017
Given 84% while driving a Alfa Romeo 159 (215/55 R16 W) on mostly motorways for 65,000 average miles
I had these tires fitted three years ago on my heavy Alfa Romeo 1.9 JTS (1.5 tons) knowing fully well that they will not last as long as my previous ones (Continental Premium Contact 2) which I could not find anymore. The Contis lasted 85.000km and these ones lasted 65.000km with the front ones reachning the tread mark limit and the rear ones having 2 mm left, without ever switching them back to front. You have to bear in mind that roads in Greece are not as rough as in other countries so there is much less wear on the tires. The dry grip on these tires was excellent. The road feedback was very good too. I was pushing it more and more around the corners and roundabouts for a controlled slide and I could definitely feel when it was about to go. The wet handling was excellent too and on a few occasions it did save me from crashing into the front car under heavy breaking. In Greece there's a tendency not to always keep the distances due to heavy traffic and lane switching. Once there was a 7 car pile up in front of me, I was the 8th!!! The tire wet braking was phenomenal at the time and at that moment the tire earned its money. The tire's handling was also very good, the Alfa 159's suspension setting is good anyway and the tires complement this. Another very good factor is that the tire was very quiet, at the beginning and the first 50.000 km or 1.5 mm above the tread limit. After that I started hearing noises from the front ones, I thought it was the wheel bearings. I knew it was the tires I had heard it from others who were using these tires too. Many tires do this when they come near the end of their like and the tread marker. The tires were very comfortable, I did most of my driving on motorways, driving to and from work and I have no complaints with feeling the potholes and uneven surfaces found on the Greek roads, I have felt much worse ones. One aesthitic criticism would be that although the tires were inflated to the recommended pressure and maybe a little bit more (2.5 bar on my car), the tire looked like it was under inflated, both front and back. I guess this was the heavy car and perhaps the tire's soft side walls. All in all a very good tire (I was not really a Dunlop/GoodYear fun) which lasted in Greece but I guess not so much in UK or Germany where the roads are much rougher, hence the low "wear" mark it got. I would definitely recommend this tire but be aware of its life span.
Helpful 13 - tire reviewed on December 23, 2016
Given 90% while driving a Toyota Camry (245/40 R18) on a combination of roads for 1,500 spirited miles
2.4 litre engine with slight CR increase. Water/alcohol cooled intake, highly milled spark plugs. Caltex - RON 95 petrol + additives. BC coilovers lowered by 45 mm. Full floating front disc c/w 6 pistons calipers. Front undercarriage brace. Front camber 2.5 degrees & read camber 1.5 degrees - both Negative. Testing done on 1500 km of Malaysian Highway & mountain roads in dry & torrential rainfall. 3 adults + luggage.
210 km/hr - straight sections Highway - dry grip & dry braking feel was superb (10).
170 km/hr - straight sections Highway - wet grip & wet braking was excellent (9).
120 km/hr - curved sections Highway - dry grip was very good (8) ( did not try braking at this speed ! ).
80 Km/hr - curved sections Highway - wet grip was fantastic considering the amount of water on road surface (9) ( also did not try braking on wet curves ! ).
At speeds over 190 Km/hr, tire roar was very high especially on rough surfaces.

But it was on twisting sections of mountain roads (Cameroon Highlands), the Dunlops really shine. Grip was so tenacious, could not break into any slides; only a chirping feel from lightest-loaded rear tire.

Altogether an excellent experience over 2 days - well worth the money spent upgrading/replacing major suspension components.

Brakes $2000, Dunlops $1000, Rims $2000, Front Wheel Bearings $300, Front A-arms $600, BC "VR" Coilovers $1500, Underbrace $300, Engine work $3000.
Helpful 13 - tire reviewed on November 16, 2016
Given 80% while driving a Audi A4 1.8T S Line (245/40 R18) on a combination of roads for 10,000 spirited miles
Just good tires overall, nothing more nothing less.
Helpful 10 - tire reviewed on October 12, 2016
Given 70% while driving a SEAT Leon 2.0 TFSI (225/35 R19) on a combination of roads for 4,000 spirited miles
Front wheel drive, open diff (no lsd), 330bhp 450Nm, this tire had hard mission.

I can say it is safe to driving a bit spirited with this tire/power, but I dirnt expect that it will.br as on semi slicks.

Tire was all fine except a bit short life.
Helpful 15 - tire reviewed on September 5, 2016
Given 54% while driving a BMW 325i M Sport (225/40 R18 W) on mostly country roads for 2,000 spirited miles
Using these on a BMW 325ti.

The RT is very quiet and has good initial bite on turn-in. However, it's very non-progressive in its behaviour - initial grip is strong but this is then given up far too quickly.

They may suit overweight, nose-heavy FWD cars very well, due to that strong initial grip on turn-in and the good ride quality, but on a RWD car they're mediocre at best - it's very difficult to get a progressive slide out of the back end. You get understeer as the back end grips, then snappy oversteer as it gives up. Mildly amusing as long as you have lots of run-off and a forgiving car, but on, for example, an S2000, they'd be terrifying.

They're a poor show for Dunlop, especially given the price is on a par with the current Goodyear Eagles. I've run two sets of ancient and theoretically inferior Goodrich G-Grips on the same car, and even nearly down to the cords, they're progressive and easy to find the limit with. Not so the Dunlops.
Helpful 12 - tire reviewed on September 1, 2016
Mazda Mx5 2008 (205/50 R16 W) on mostly town for 30,000 average miles
After 3 years and 45000km there is no real wear but it seems that they have become hard because dry and especially wet grip is now bad. A very nice tire when new but now they need replacing
Helpful 15 - tire reviewed on June 20, 2016