Dunlop Sportsmart Mk4

Dunlop Sportsmart Mk4 review

We were invited to Donington to ride on the Sportsmart Mk4s on track. This is a Sports tyre that is track-capable, but Dunlop’s design brief was that this is a road-focused tyre. A tyre you can use on track without tyre warmers. This makes it a versatile choice for those who want to ride to the occasional track day.

And credit to Dunlop; because lined up in the pits were a gaggle of Yamaha R9s, all on the Sportsmart Mk4s and not a tyre warmer in sight.

Dunlop were sticking to their marketing message, and I respect that. That did, however, present a small problem. Sat astride an R9 for the first time, I looked out at everyone lining up for the first Fast group session, and all I could see were trick superbikes and slicks everywhere. Not a stock bike in sight, and doubtful that any of them were out on cold tyres either.

It was at this point that I was thinking: “OK, so I believe Dunlop when they say these can be run without tyre warmers, but it would have been lovely to have had them on the warmers, up to temperature, pressures set and ready to go..”

We were running standard road pressures from cold, which – honestly – was a first for me. Even when riding on Sports tyres that don’t need warmers, I have always dropped a few PSI on the cold tyres, then gone out and done perhaps 3 laps, come back in, checked the pressures, and, if they’re back to standard road pressures, I wouldn’t touch them from there on in.

As it was, we went out with 36psi in the front and 42psi in the rear. I used session one to warm myself up, get to know the bike and build some heat and angle into the tyres. The bike felt good. The tyres felt positive after just half a lap.

For session two, the tyres were already fairly warm, as the bike had been running in every session. This allowed me to build up to a decent pace within a lap and with a bit more confidence. After a couple of laps, I was at a pace where I could catch and pass other riders. The tyres felt good, but never on rails. I dare say I could have carried more entry speed into corners, but I was always aware that I was with other riders on slicks or at least track-focused tyres. I was the one on the stock bike, on Sports rubber.

What I found interesting was using other bikes as a reference point. On the laps when you’re circulating on your own, without a lap timer, it’s hard to know whether you’re knocking out a reasonable lap time or not. When another rider came past me or I caught another rider, I had a better reference point.

The front tyre, for example, felt great under heavy braking, and when running with other riders, I could make up time on the brakes and into corners most of the time.

On the exit of faster corners, for example, up through Starkey’s Bridge and Coppice (the one leading on to the back straight), the rear was noticeably moving and not holding as tight a line as I’d have liked. Nothing too drastic, I just felt like when I got on the power early, the rear tyre wanted to run out and the limit was somewhere close. And that made me think that about the front, too. Despite not giving me any bad feedback, I was potentially closing in on what could be expected of the front. I didn’t want to be at angle with the rear moving around a bit, and to shut the throttle or use the brakes and have the front wash out.

While this might not sound like the most glowing review, it’s worth bearing in mind I was running at Fast group pace on a stock bike and overtaking plenty of riders on slicks. The tyres are good.

When I came into the pits after session three, I asked the Dunlop technician to check the tyre pressures as the bike felt like it was losing traction front and rear. The front was 41psi and the rear was 43 (it went up to 44psi in the next session). I asked Dunlop if I could reduce the tyre pressures but they stuck to their original message: this is a Sports tyre that doesn’t need warmers.

And yes, you could get away without warmers. Would I choose to? Well, if I were heading out in the Fast group, I probably wouldn’t choose these tyres, but if I was on these tyres, I’d almost certainly run warmers if I could and crucially, I’d also lower the pressures.

Traditionally, Dunlop’s sporty tyres have had an NTEC casing, which allows you to run them at ridiculously low pressures (in the 20s) but the Sportsmart Mk4 doesn’t run NTEC. This is partly to make the tyre a better road tyre, with a faster warm-up and more feel.

However, if it were up to me, I would have dropped the pressures down by at least 5psi, so that the hot pressures were perhaps 35 front as a starting point and 37 rear. Even then, I’d be tempted to drop them down a touch more and would work on that session by session. But that’s not what Dunlop would advise you to do and they’ve forgotten more about tyres than I’ll ever know.

So we stuck with the standard cold road pressures, which inevitably meant that after a handful of laps, the pressures were up and the bike started to feel a little more vague. Again, all easily cured, or at least addressed by reducing the pressure and letting the tyre deform a little more.

Some of this may sound negative, but the Sportsmart Mk4 is a really good tyre. I think it would have felt better and I’d have had more confidence in it if I was allowed to reduce the pressures. I’ve ridden to loads of trackdays on road bikes, with road tyres, without warmers and always reduced my pressures accordingly. I would just pump them back up again at the end of the day.

Would I choose the Sportsmart Mk4 for Fast group trackdays? No. If I were running Dunlops, I’d probably go for the Sportsmart TT, which you could also run without tyre warmers if you wanted to. If I were using warmers, I’d run the D212 or D213, which are both much more suited to track riding.

However, these are Sports tyres and judging them on what they can do on a trackday at Fast group pace is missing the point. They warm up very quickly, and considering the pace they were being run at, they were excellent. I’d have no hesitation running these on the road.

The most impressive thing? The wear …or lack of it. These bikes went out for pretty much every session of every group. By the end of the day, they’d clocked up the equivalent of three trackdays. If you take a look at the images in the gallery, you can see how evenly they have worn and also how little they have worn.

With the Sportsmart Mk4s you could ride to your trackday, put the tyres through their paces on track and not have to visit the tyre fitters the following weekend. Not all Sports tyres can do that, most would be well-used after one track day.

The Sportsmart Mk4s are decent road tyres and can handle a trackday too. Just make sure you pack your tyre pressure gauge..

Dunlop’s Product Information

Dunlop launches SportSmart Mk4 as latest premium hypersport tyre

• Dunlop’s new premium road-focused hypersport tyre
• Huge improvement in all performance-related areas
• Massive progress in wet grip and handling

Replacing the highly popular SportSmart Mk3 in the range, which was launched in 2019, the new SportSmart mk4 represents a substantial improvement thanks to the relentless continuous development of every component in the tyre. Designed for use predominantly on roads, SportSmart mk4 sits in the range alongside the road/track-focused SportSmart TT.

New compound delivers improved wet weather performance

The new tyre’s compound enables dramatically improved wet weather performance with a 20% gain in traction on low grip surfaces and an 18% improvement on medium grip surfaces, along with improved dry weather traction. The new MultiTread compound features a new polymer blend and the latest high surface area silica, wet and dry grip resins and ‘Fine Carbon’ technology.

OPTIMISED FRONT PROFILE AND REVISED SIDEWALL TRANSITION
Provides light handling and reduced stand-up tendency when braking in curve whilst delivering perfect feedback.

NEW COMPOUND BLEND
All new compound blend which combines wet grip resin in the shoulder compound with silica and ultra-fine carbon black. This provides increased safety margin on wet surfaces and better outright performance within a wider operating range.

DFF-OPTIMISED MOULD PROFILE AND SECTION SHAPE
Using Dunlop’s proven DFF (Dynamic Front Formula) the front and rear tyres’ section shapes have been intricately optimised and matched to provide responsive handling and confidence-inspiring stability.

Race-winning technology gives a more precise and rewarding ride

The SportSmart mk4 features most of Dunlop’s key technologies and benefits from the latest advances in motorcycle tire development, such as Dynamic Front Formula, which helps to obtain the perfect balance between reduced steering effort, grip, stability and feel for the right match between both tires, Carcass Tension Control System to tune the casing tension and optimise the footprint to get the most out of the tread compound, and Single Cord JLB in the front tire.

As a result, SportSmart mk4 gives riders an easy turn-in, low-effort direction changes, excellent steering precision and neutral behaviour in corners. Rider comfort is improved for a more enjoyable and precise ride on bumpy or poorly maintained roads.

“Feedback from test riders indicates a near absence of stand-up when braking at lean, and that the tires are impervious to load changes in general,” explains Dmitri Talboom, Product Manager, Dunlop Motorcycle Europe. “This is an indication of the improvements our R&D team has made in all aspects of the tyre’s performance to give sports bike riders of all abilities a rewarding experience. The most demanding riders will value the incredible level of performance, especially in colder or wet conditions, while other riders will notice the precision, ease of turn-in and added comfort to make their rides more enjoyable.”

Tyre Sizes

Front Sizes

• 120/70 ZR17 M/C (58W) TL

Rear Sizes

• 160/55 ZR17 M/C (69W) TL
• 180/55 ZR17 M/C (73W) TL
• 190/50 ZR17 M/C (73W) TL
• 190/55 ZR17 M/C (75W) TL
• 200/55 ZR17 M/C (78W) TL