Soup tested Dunlop's latest street and track Q2 tire at Pahrump --steering, traction and a solid feel on the tire's edge place the new Q2 in a world series league of DOT performance. image by brian nelson

Dunlop's second-generation Qualifier, the Q2 has been four years in the making and is now available. This latest-generation Q2 started life in a development stage only days after the original Qualifier was officially released. In the world of motorcycle tire development, a quarter-decade time span is an eternity, and in this interim, tire technology and its tooling have literally progressed by leaps and bounds in the past four years. Current-day tire development now has the aid of technology such as full on-bike telemetry using TPS, wheel-speed sensors, internal accelerometers, global positioning systems, finite element analysis, computer-assisted design, and countless hours of seat time. Using the might of Dunlop UK, Dunlop Europe, Sumotomo Rubber, and even Goodyear here in the US, Dunlop's US products are truly the result of a group effort. This latest generation of Qualifier was designed and engineered in Dunlop's Buffalo, New York, headquarters, compounded in the UK, and extensively road-tested at Dunlop's Huntsville, Alabama, proving grounds.

Dunlop's current tire lineup consists of three different road-going Sportmax model segments. For the US, at the top of the market is Dunlop's Sportmax GPA spec-production supersport race rubber. These tires are specifically aimed at racetrack environs and are available in two different compounds. Next, the Sportmax Q2—again all-new this year—has been developed both for track and street applications. This latest-generation Q2, at least in the US, is destined for the aftermarket only. The Q2 tire has been designed both for high-level sport performance, while providing an extended life over that of its GPA racing sibling. The third segment of Sportmax is aimed directly at sport touring. Designated the RoadSmart, this Sportmax incorporates similar technologies applied with the other Sportmax models, but offers even longer-wearing compounding, while also featuring increased tread area for maximum wet-weather performance.

The Latest Q2

Riding 600's or 1000cc equipment, Dunlops newest rubber yielded exceptional limits, even in Nevada's summertime 100+ temps. We expect they will work as well under the opposite conditions too. image by brian nelson

As for the newest generation of Qualifier, much has changed. In testing, these latest tires produced more lateral grip at higher lean angles and, when pressed on the track, their better overall handling yielded considerably lower lap times. For specifics, Dunlop has designed the Q2's profiles on the computer using a three-dimensional Finite Element Analysis (FEA) program. The program was used to determine pressure forces at the contact patch. By studying tire performance using different construction materials, the results helped engineers determine an ideal computer-generated Intuitive Response Profile, or IRP. The resulting change in design made the tires slightly taller, narrower, and profiled more steeply. For their efforts, Dunlop's engineers drastically improved the Qualifier, which has more linear steering, exerts a bigger footprint, and is now capable of greater lean angles matched with higher overall cornering speeds. In studying their numbers, the previous Qualifier was capable of generating a maximum lean angle of 49 degrees. With the new tire this number increases to an impressive 52 degrees of possible lean.

Several other important factors also play a crucial role in the Q2's increased performance levels. Dunlop has incorporated their race-proven Multi-Tread (MT) technology into the rear tire. MT bonds a longer-wearing, higher-mileage rubber in the rear's center section. The compound selected is a current-generation mixture that was used in the previous single-compound Qualifier. On either side of the new center section is a softer mix of racing-derived rubber direct from the GPA series Sportmax tires. This compounding will heat more rapidly and provide increased lateral traction.

Also helping the Q's larger footprint, more neutral steering, and softer compounding, the tread pattern has been changed, the front resembling the same variable pitch and non-repeatable design tread pattern used on the successful D211 race-spec tires. With the new rear, slightly more treads are used when compared to the 211's pattern, but the Q2's pattern now has a minimally higher land-to-sea-ratio tread design when compared to the previous Qualifier, meaning there is slightly less siping in relation to the slick area on the new Q2 profile.

Below the surface and within the new tire's construction, both of the Q2's receive a lighter-weight continuous hex-bead package. Although lighter, the bead is also stiffer which adds a significant amount of stability to the tire where it meets the rim. This increased stiffness serves to enhance the front tire's steering response, while also adding greater sidewall stability to both the front and rear tires. Other construction details find that the new front, as with all of Dunlop's front tires, retain a single compound and shares its radial design with the older Q, using two nylon carcass plies and two jointless aramid (kevlar) reinforcement belts.

In the rear, jointless belt construction technology remains, but now there is a new race-derived JLB aramid belt that is uniformly wound before the tire's carcass is formed. As a result, once profiled, the JLB belt yields differing tension, providing greater centerline stability with a tighter wind at the center, while also increasing side grip with lessening belt tensions towards the shoulders. The rear tire construction from sizes 180/55, 190/50, and 190/55 will retain single nylon and JLB aramid belting, while another option, and one not previously available, a larger 200/50 series rear is also now available. For added load capacity, this tire is constructed using two nylon plies, as well as a single JLB aramid belt. The Q2 will be available in the following seventeen-inch sizes: 120/60 & 120/70 fronts and 160/60, 170/60, 180/55, 190/50, 190/55, and 200/50 rears.

The end-result has the Q2's producing a 15% increase in overall dry traction, drive grip also improves 15%, and the tires are 5% more responsive. By far, the greatest measured improvement is found in cornering stability, which has been increased over the previous Qualifier by 25%. These are all impressive numbers, and our overall track impression supports each of these figures. By Dunlop's account, the testing of these tires at Virginia International Raceway in a back-to-back comparison had the latest Q's outperforming the previous Qualifiers by three seconds a lap.

The life of a motorcycle tire tester can be very trying. Internally and within a tire company, a final product's performance and success can be placed solely on testing's shoulders. Although a tester's overall impressions and the results of countless evaluations will ultimately fall upon the manufacturer, the subjective results of such testing will always be critically imperative. Testing tires at and around their limits is a daunting and very dangerous endeavor. The individuals in this field who specialize in reading tire behavior and using direct performance comparison must be analytical and accurate in their approach. Not only must they have a total understanding from an engineering perspective of how tires are constructed and the multitude of dynamics that tires in flight generate, they must also be expert-level riders. Finding that combination in this field could be considered heroic, as true tire testers continuously place themselves in danger.

Although the final-spec Q2's are the product of countless combined efforts from engineers in Alabama to Dunlop's headquarters in the UK, two key individuals stand out as to whom and where the buck stops at Dunlop's Huntsville Proving Grounds (HPG). The testers ultimately responsible are Danny Roberts, senior test rider and test manager, and Rich Conicelli. Both of these individuals are accomplished roadracers, having done their homework with the Q2 and, at the very least, each deserve Soup's honorable mention for their accomplishments.

Availability

In the states, Dunlop has told us that the new Qualifier 2's will be sold as an aftermarket, or a replacement-only tire, this being available through all Dunlop retailers and distributors. In addition, for 2010, the European motorcycle market will use Dunlop Qualifier "RR" tires on a percentage of their new models. This RR Euro version of the Sportmax is almost identical to the Q2 being sold statewide, the biggest difference being that the Euro tires will available in two front compounds and three different rears, the rears also using a tread pattern closer to that of the GPA series 211's. Soup recently had the opportunity to ride MV's 2010-model 1090R Brutale at the Misano circuit and also on the local roads surrounding the track. The big Brutale will receive 100% Dunlop Qualifier RR tires for its original equipment fitment and at that test, the Euro-spec tires we used were every bit the performers that we experienced earlier during the Q2 launch. Riding at Misano, tires must undergo maximum lean angles, high-speed stability, demanding acceleration drives, and fairly heavy braking. Either on the road or track, even when riding a completely new motorcycle, this tester feels the latest generation of Dunlop production tires is seriously improved, perhaps the best yet.

Soup's Testing

Dunlop's Rich Conicelli puts his full testing telemetry GSX-R through its paces on what literally must have been another of countless, but obviously very productive laps. In quantitative comparisons, the new Q2 is stiffer, steers far better, leans further, and in lapping, has proved to be at least a 3-second better than its predecessor. image by brian nelson

For the introduction and testing of the Q2's, Dunlop organized a fair mix of new OE motorcycles, all waiting for us on new rubber at the Pahrump circuit in Nevada. Our test conditions met with 100+ degree air temps, and by afternoon, close to blazing track temps.

In truth, the hot ambient temps affected us much more than our tires and, on every motorcycle we tested, the Q2's worked to perfection. Steering was light and predictable, with turning in to the corners resulting in a solid "set" feel. Our impression was that, once at full lean, the response from both ends provided exceptional traction, matched with a mid-corner stability that is much improved over the last-generation Qualifier. Whether braking vertically or trail braking, the new front continuously provided solid feedback and response. At the rear, when under hard acceleration, the tires dealt predictable traction and, surprisingly, exhibited little visual wear. With the outside temperatures being what they were, heating the tires was never an issue, but Dunlop has also selected compounding for these tires with a new mix of rubber, designed to work in a wide range of temperatures and despite Multi-Tread compounding, to wear evenly.

New profiles, compounding, constructions, and performance. It might have taken these street DOT's four years to reach maturity, but the newest Dunlop Qualifiers have truly come of age. Besides proper personal protective gear, the tires on your motorcycle are the most important safety investment you can make. Should your sportbike or sport-tourer need new shoes, it's going to be hard to beat Dunlop's latest Q's.