Dunlop has launched its latest road-focused hypersport tyre, the fourth iteration of the SportSmart. The new SportSmart is said to represent a substantial improvement over the previous version thanks to a new compound which improves wet weather performance, providing a 20% gain in traction on low grip surfaces and an 18% improvement on medium grip surfaces. The new MultiTread compound features a new polymer blend along with high surface area silica, wet and dry grip resins and ‘Fine Carbon’ technology. Together, these help to improve grip, reduce warm-up time, and reduce rolling resistance to improve efficiency.
The rear tyre has a durable centre combined with softer shoulder compounds, while the front tyre uses the softer compound across its whole tread width.
Dunlop has also made the most of its race experience, bringing across technology from the track: Dynamic Front Formula on the front tyre helps to balance steering effort, grip, stability and feel, and the Carcass Tension Control System helps to optimise the tyres’ footprint for low-effort direction changes and neutral behaviour in corners.
The SportSmart Mk4 will be available in a 120/70ZR17 front fitting and a number of rear sizes from 160/60ZR17 to 200/55ZR17 from launch, with more sizes to be added later.
Dunlop; www.dunlop.eu