Dunlop Sportmax Q5S

[Dr.Manhattan]

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Anyone have much experience with the new Q5S series from Dunlop? I've run the Sportmax Q3+ for the past few years and fell in love with them after I dialed in the right psi. The reviews I have heard from the Q5S have all been pretty negative in regards to how fast the tire gets chewed up / wear. Granted a lot of the reviews are from track days and I am looking for aggressive street riding. Riders were saying they were getting 5-7 track days out of Q3+ but are only getting 1-2 out of Q5S which is sad considering they cost on average $120 more.

I would just continue to get the Q3+ but it looks like they discontinued it for the front tire, and Im not looking to mix and match the front and rear. Looking like I might just have to bite the bullet and get a front and back Q5S or go back to Pirelli unless some user reviews can convince me otherwise.

 

[Evoex]

I have them on my ZX4R, pretty happy with them after about 3k of street riding.

there is some online chatter about the outer layer separating at the point where the material is fused together after some track days, Dunlops position is it does not affect safety. But that the tire can be returned for a replacement from the mfger.

 

[Ash]

They've discontinued the Q3+ for both front and rear. Any Q3+ rear that you find will be old stock.

I used the Q3+ exclusively on my 300 track bike until the Q5/Q5S was introduced. I liked the Q3+, but I didn't really have anything to compare them to. They never did anything unexpected, but the feedback was subtle to the point of being imperceptible. I had one Q3+ rear that showed the same kind of separation between the two compounds as noted by some riders on the Q5S.

When the Q3+ was discontinued, I switched to the single-compound Q5. Wear was slightly worse on the Q5 than the Q3+, but nothing to complain about. The extra mileage of the dual-compound Q5S was not a factor worth considering for a 300 on the track. The edge compound of the Q5S is supposed to be same as the Q5 so hopefully the rest of my experience is relevant.

The Q5 was even more sensitive to pressure than the Q3+, like down to changes of half a psi. There was a lot more feedback than the Q3+, but not in a good way. I was getting abrupt little slides on front and rear all over the place, even when I was 10 or 20 seconds off my usual pace. I still don't know exactly what that was all about. My Q5 were from the very first batch, which might have something to do with it.

Dialing in the pressures helped, but I never really felt confident on them unless it was a blazing hot day and I could keep pushing every lap to keep temperature in them. For that reason alone, I wouldn't want them as a street tire, but that goes for all of the current generation track day tires out there. The sticker on the Pirelli SuperCorsa SPv4 tires that I'm using now tell you not to store them below 5⁰C, and not to flex them below 10⁰C, for example.

 

[Brian P]

Street bike, ZX10R. I found that the Q5S lasts longer and holds its profile better (longer) than the Q3+ did before the steering starts getting messed up.

 

[gsxr guy]

Anyone have much experience with the new Q5S series from Dunlop? I've run the Sportmax Q3+ for the past few years and fell in love with them after I dialed in the right psi. The reviews I have heard from the Q5S have all been pretty negative in regards to how fast the tire gets chewed up / wear. Granted a lot of the reviews are from track days and I am looking for aggressive street riding. Riders were saying they were getting 5-7 track days out of Q3+ but are only getting 1-2 out of Q5S which is sad considering they cost on average $120 more.

I would just continue to get the Q3+ but it looks like they discontinued it for the front tire, and Im not looking to mix and match the front and rear. Looking like I might just have to bite the bullet and get a front and back Q5S or go back to Pirelli unless some user reviews can convince me otherwise.

You ride street. Metzeler

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