Tire Reviews is a big fan of two wheels, and we gladly cover new motorbike tire launches whenever we're invited to them. Sadly, our driving is better than our riding, which is why we leave the high risk motorcycle tire testing to people who aren't highly likely to destroy the bikes and themselves trying to do a fast lap.
Luckily for us riders, the excellent British magazine Fast Bikes has tested five of the very fastest extreme performance / track tires, using a Suzuki GSX-R1000R, wearing 120/70 R17 and 200/60 R17 "hoops".
The magazine took the rider, bike and tires to the challenging and bumpy Spanish circuit of Parcmotor. The test procedure was simple, warm the tires in blankets, and then two twenty minute sessions for each tire, in glorious 25c Spanish sun.
The rider obviously did a fantastic job, as the results speak for themselves.
Dry Handling
Dry handling time in seconds
Lower is better ↓| Position / Tire | Result | Gap to best |
|---|---|---|
| 108.22 s | Best | |
| 108.72 s | +0.50 s | |
| 108.97 s | +0.75 s | |
| 109 s | +0.78 s | |
| 109.22 s | +1.00 s |
All the tires in the Dry Handling test finished less than 3% apart.
Not only was the Dunlop the fastest tire on test, it also seemed to give a class leading balance between turn speed and the ability to soak up the bumpy track, giving the rider a huge amount of confidence to play with the bikes power.
Pirelli, and its co brand Metzeler were second and third, with similar times and largely similar feedback, and Continental finished a very strong fourth place, which surprised the rider given his relative lack of experience with the brand.
Michelin will be disappointed with fifth and last place overall, but as the only tire manufacturer to supply a 190 rear tire, it isn't really a comparable test against the other manufacturers.
Fast Bikes did a great job in the full article, so if you can find a copy of the March 2020 issue, it's well worth a read.
Results
Dunlop D213 GP Pro
200/60 R17
All discipline results (1)
Discipline positions compare the ranked tires in this test, not the whole market. These are individual measurements, not weighted overall scores.
| Test | Position in discipline | Result | Gap to best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry HandlingLower is better | 1st / 5 | 108.219 s | Best in this discipline |
Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC
200/60 R17
All discipline results (1)
Discipline positions compare the ranked tires in this test, not the whole market. These are individual measurements, not weighted overall scores.
| Test | Position in discipline | Result | Gap to best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry HandlingLower is better | 2nd / 5 | 108.716 s | +0.50 s |
Metzeler Racetec RR
200/60 R17
All discipline results (1)
Discipline positions compare the ranked tires in this test, not the whole market. These are individual measurements, not weighted overall scores.
| Test | Position in discipline | Result | Gap to best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry HandlingLower is better | 3rd / 5 | 108.971 s | +0.75 s |
Continental Race Attack Comp
200/60 R17
All discipline results (1)
Discipline positions compare the ranked tires in this test, not the whole market. These are individual measurements, not weighted overall scores.
| Test | Position in discipline | Result | Gap to best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry HandlingLower is better | 4th / 5 | 108.997 s | +0.78 s |
Michelin Power Cup Evo
200/60 R17
All discipline results (1)
Discipline positions compare the ranked tires in this test, not the whole market. These are individual measurements, not weighted overall scores.
| Test | Position in discipline | Result | Gap to best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry HandlingLower is better | 5th / 5 | 109.216 s | +1.00 s |
Which one can you recommend?
I'm not sure I understand the question
This is old continental tire. Why you did not test the new tire for 2020 ContiRaceAttack 2 Street?
Not my test, once for the magazine. I would imagine this was tested before the new version was available in the test sizes
For the Michelin, it's worse noting that, not only it wasn't the proper size (Michelin doesn't have a tire in this size), but also, it's an older tire that has been replaced by the Cup 2.
Good information, thank you
Power Cup 2s are superb track tires, I've a pair on my ZX10R and managed 4 track days, although I eased up somewhat on the last day, still 4 good days being hammered with zero "moments" is good going..