Drivers of the Dunlop SportMaxx RT largely praise its strong dry and confident wet grip, stable high-speed manners, and generally quiet, comfortable ride with good aquaplaning resistance. Many note predictable handling and strong braking, often comparing it favorably to OE or budget tires. The most consistent drawback is very fast wear, with several owners reporting short lifespans and rising noise as the tread diminishes; a minority also mention softer sidewalls that dull initial steering response. Overall, it's a high-performing summer tire best for those prioritizing grip over longevity.
What owners mention most counted across 157 reviews
I'm having two set of this tires. On a suv 235/55 r19, on a sedan 225/45 r17.
The wear is surprisingly very good, both of tires around 30.000 kms (19000 miles) and more the half of the thread left (5-6mm!)
The only concern is the noise.. In the firs year it was exceptional good. The next year it was good. This is the third season, in this season, it is unbearable. On highway speed (around 90 mph), if the asphalt is not brand new, we cant talk. The radio cannot be loud enough.
So its terrible. I'm trying to survive this year, and next year i will buy another brand.
Member
Nissan
225/45 R17
A Combination of Roads
Average
On wet surface ----useless... These are very good on dry conditions / Highway - for city useless...
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Fitted as std equipment to my eGolf, initially I was pleased with these tires. Dry grip is good, noise is very low. However one rear punctured quite easily, the other rear developed a slow puncture which could not be located. Despite a new valve, rim clean and refit the air loss persisted. The fronts began to develop cracks in every tread and at 12000 miles were worn . I replaced the set with Michelin E primacy. I’m unlikely to purchase Dunlop again.
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I bought the Sport Maxx RT’s on my A6 to replace the P Zero’s that were OE fit. The Dunlop’s are far superior imho because they warm up much quicker than the P Zero’s and don’t understeer like the Pirelli’s. The are quieter, grippier in all weather especially the wet, but as far as longevity goes all I can say is so far I’ve put 13000 miles on them and they still look like new. I think the P Zeros were quite a hard tire as I got nearly 40000 miles out of them and they used to understeer a tad in cooler weather or in the wet compared to the Dunlop’s.
57%
Member
Skoda
225/45 R17 W
2,500 miles
Mostly Town
Average
These tires came stock fitted on my new Skoda Octavia Estate. The tires have simply terrible grip on greasy wet roads from a standstill in colder temperatures, wheels spinning with average pressure on the throttle and forget about a quick start.
Dry performance is better as expected, wet and dry braking times are decent enough. The road noise is however pretty bad.
Can't wait to change them out for Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2's.
I had some cheap GT Radial Champiro FE1 and the grip was poor. Beside bad handling the car was bad at braking, after i change the to the Dunlops, the car change totally, much better grip in the dry and much better handling. And breaking got much better too. So for this size of tire. This is a tire i can really recommend.
I live and drive an above normal amount across Colorado. I have these tires fitted to my 2018 Subaru WRX Limited (Vehicle is stock). These tires were the O.E.M. fitment from Subaru. While they are sporty and do fit the vehicle’s driving dynamics, they leave a lot to be desired. Straight line, high speed grip was a little floaty at first but as the tire wore this settled out. At highway speeds the tire tends to try and track any ruts in the road which causes constant steering input to stay centered in your lane. At city speeds, as the tire wore down, it began to track more aggressively in these ruts resulting in an increasing amount of steering input. Driving in the mountains, spiritedly of course, the tire felt on the limit well before you reached that limit. There was a vagueness when you turned in on what would be the acceptable speed for a corner, regardless of previous speeds entering the same corner. This vagueness was consistent throughout the life of the tire. In the wet, the tires performed admirably. Significantly less grip in the wet when cornering, but no aquaplaning issues. On highway in the wet, the tires were stable and relatively predictable when encountering aquaplaning through deeper water. In the snow you are better off walking to your destination. The road noise was a bit loud, and when encountering bumps and cracks in the road you felt every millimeter of rebound. At 25,000 miles I expected a bit more life from these tires, seeing as majority of the mid-to-outer tread was still well within the legal limit. However, the inside edge of the tires began wearing suddenly and rapidly causing a light grey band of wear to appear which also began a slight squeaking noise. Upon checking my alignment, finding nothing abnormal, and resetting the alignment even more accurately, the tires continued this odd wear pattern. In summary, these tires were acceptable tires fitted from the factory, but with the staggering amount of options available with better characteristics I would not purchase them. They are no cheaper than any Michelin, Goodyear, or Continental offering, which would be the only reason I would repurchase them. These tires will do when you first purchase your vehicle and start to learn its characteristics. But once you’ve achieved a certain proficiency with your vehicle, the next step up in tires is a necessity.
Tires have developed cracks (some span 1/3 of the tire) when the tire wear indicator shows plenty of life left in the tread. Investigating more there appears to be some quite severe cases of tire failure. Worryingly, my tires developed the cracks on the inside tire walls so were unnoticeable until I removed them to change Xenon bulbs. No idea how long they have been like that
I got these tires as a temporary substitute when I changed my wheels. They were excellent in the dry and very good in the wet. The Dunlops also made the car quieter overall. Very little noise. I noticed too that the more they wore, the stickier they got. The sidewalls on these isn't as hard as the previous tires, but the all out grip was impressive none the less. I would definitely buy a new set, but the price and availability make it hard to get.
Bought thee to replace a pair of dreadful Arrowspeed Performance UHP's after less than 1000 miles on them.
The Arrowspeeds were borderline dangerous on the rear, Stability control was triggering a lot and the car would sway about if changing lanes or changing direction quickly....simply can't say a good thing about them.
Dunlops have transformed the car, quieter, much more stable and very grippy in every way a nice match to the car
Positive : Good at dry and wet handling, good performance, low fuel consumption, quiet.
Negative: high price, very very low wear. (tire almost done at 13000 miles). For this reason, i dont buy again.
