The DUNLOP Sport Maxx Race 2 has been developed closely with Porsche’s Motorsport Road Car Performance division. The co-operation means the tyres and car can be developed together to extract the best performance balance between road and track.
The brief for the successor to the Sport Maxx Race was to improve dry grip and lap times plus steering response. This has been done by using a compound derived from Dunlop’s motorsport program plus a casing with a hybrid top layer containing aramid that maximises the contact patch throughout the speed range and while cornering. It also evens out the pressure and reduces hot spots. See the pressure footprint of the tyre alongside that of a Sport Maxx race slick and they are very similar apart from the road version’s water shifting longitudinal grooves.
The outer one of those grooves on this asymmetric tyre has bridges spaced along its length filing the gap between the huge outer blocks and the inner tread. These reduce distortion of blocks and groove sharpening the steering.
This new tyre has already had an outing in Australia, aboard Matt Close's Porsche 911 GT3 RS in this year's Targa Tasmania. Matt was running a close second to ultimate winner Jason White in his Dodge Viper ACR Extreme when he crashed out of the event.
The tyre is now available in Australia in 4 sizes, with more to follow in the near future.