Anyone Ever Hear Of Dunlop Sp Sport 2070 Tires?

[cduluk]

I've found someone on ebay selling a set of rx400h wheels with Dunlop SP Sport 2070 Tires (235/55R18) with excellent tread life left.

My only concern is, are the tires any good?? These would be my summer set, so they'd need to be decent in dry traction, good against hydroplaning etc.

But i can't seem to find specs for them???

[RX400h]

I have a feeling they originated in another country. Why not give Dunlop a call at

1-800-321-2136 M-F 8:30AM - 5:00PM EST

I'm sure they can give you more info.

[cduluk]

I have a feeling they originated in another country. Why not give Dunlop a call at

1-800-321-2136 M-F 8:30AM - 5:00PM EST

I'm sure they can give you more info.

ah thanks!! i'll give them a call on monday...

I have been doing some research on what little is on google about "dunlop" and found this excerpt from an article:

"Tire manufacturers supply the two distinct—albeit related—markets:

OE and replacement. Automobile manufacturers buy in large volumes

that give them influence over tire prices and specifications. They demand

tires with characteristics that suit their vehicle designs, marketing strategies,

and production schedules. In turn, OE orders allow tire companies

to keep their production facilities operating at efficient volumes. The OE

business also can help generate future sales of replacement tires. By linking

its tire lines with a specific vehicle make or model, a tire company can

draw on the brand loyalty of motorists. Because four times as many

replacement tires as OE tires are sold, such brand loyalty can be valuable

to the tire manufacturer.

Background on Passenger Tires 27

Like makers of many other consumer goods, tire manufacturers seek

to distinguish their products from those of competitors through branding.

Most sell under heavily advertised manufacturer (or national “flag”)

brands as well as associate and specialty brands, some acquired through

mergers and acquisitions of well-known tire companies. Goodyear, for

instance, sells under its own name and several other nationally recognized

brands; it owns Dunlop (in the United States) and Kelly. Likewise, Michelin

has acquired the BFGoodrich and Uniroyal brands in the United

States, and Bridgestone also sells tires under the Firestone and Dayton

brand names. These nine brands accounted for 51.6 percent of the replacement

tire consumer market in 2005 (Modern Tire Dealer 2006, 39).

Most major tire companies supply both the OE and the replacement

markets. They typically use their flag brands for the former and a combination

of flag and associate brands for the latter. An exception to this

practice is Cooper Tire, which concentrates on serving the replacement

market. It sells tires under its own brand name and under associate

brands such as Starfire, Dean, and Mastercraft. In addition, most tire

makers supply replacement tires to retailers selling under private labels,

such as the Sears Guardsman, Wal-Mart Douglas, and Pep Boys Futura.

In these cases, the retailer creates and controls the brand, often contracting

for supplies from one or more tire makers offering the lowest

price or other valued attributes such as supply reliability.

OE"

found here: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr286.pdf

Do you think this means the dunlop tires are basically the Goodyear's with a different name... I've heard some pretty poor things about Goodyears...

[katzjamr]

i went to tire rack online and they have real world ratings of almost all tires, people report on their actual exprience with the tires. dunlop has an sp 270 grand touring tire there rated by thirty people. it is a summer touring tire for luxury vehicles, got decent ratings in traction wet and dry, only one third of the people said they would buy this tire again, but it doesnt look like its junk. take a look, dave

[cduluk]

ah yes, that's it!!

It's called the SP Sport 270 apparently.

Here's the ones from ebay:

And here's the same one from the Dunlop site:

http://www.dunlopdriversclub.co.uk/tyres/d...car/SPSport270/

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...P%20Sport%20270

When on the UK Dunlop site, i typed in Rx400h and these were the tires that fit.

I e-mailed a few people on the UK ebay who sell dunlop tires and asked them if they'd ever heard of them. A few responded stating they were OK tires, one rated them 7 1/2 out of 10 and said that they were still better than the goodyear RS's that come stock on the Rx's- which is good to hear. They also said this is a poor tire in snow, but since these would only be my summer set, that's OK with me :)

And these tires are about $280 each which is about $100 more than it's competitors...

[cduluk]

Well two out of the four wheels arrived today. The tires look pretty good!

I found this pdf of the "Dunlop Original Equipment Guide - April 2008" and these tires are indeed OE for the Rx400h in other countries.

http://www.gdmarketingservice.co.uk/downlo...t/Dunlop-OE.pdf

If you go down to Lexus you'll see:

Lexus RX400:

558435

225/60R17 SP SPORT 270 RHD 99V TL 1

SP Sport 270

So these tires must be OK since Lexus opted to put them on their cars. Must be for overseas Rx's because here in the US they usually come stock with oodyear or Michelins.

And these tires in the 17" size are $257 USD EACH, yes EACH. I can only imagine what the price is on these 18's...

[RX400h]

.....great investigative work by Cduluk and Katzjamr. Keep in mind that OEM tires often do not last as long as a good replacement tire. Since Cduluk bought the tires and wheels as a set and for a good price, the wear factor is not as important, but when they do wear out, I recommend you look at the Bridgestone Alenzas. I think I paid $600 for all four and they still look good after 25,000+ miles.

Dave

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

Until recently, (LRR) low rolling resistance tire data was very difficult to determine ... as though it was some kind of national security issue. But since autos are now being forced to obtain higher mpg's / smaller carbon footprint, the LRR topic has become a real hot button. You think Dunlops cost a lot? Michelin REALLY takes the cake ... but on the other hand, they were one of the 1st to publish their LRR data. Other manufacturers are more recenly getting on board. Here's a nifty web site for that kind of data:

http://www.michelin-green-meter.com/main.php?cLang=en

Funny thing is, tire manufacturers know what side of the bread their butter is on. Often they'll state WAY lower tire pressures on their side walls than you'd really want to run. Granted, your ride will FEEL better, but although it sounds counterintuitive, higher pressures can actually deliver a greater degree of road to tire contact ... besides less rolling resistance, and longer tire life.

[cduluk]

Interesting thoughts! According to tirerack, the dunlop's have pretty bad tire wear, 4.9 / 10 according to people who surveyed.

But i'll only be using them from May-Oct (switching back to the silver wheel/Michelin set in winter), so theoretically the dunlop's should last me double as long since they'll only be on the road half a year. So if they'd normally last me 30k miles and 2 years, they should last me 4 years- theoretically...

My next tires will definitely be something better though. I had the Dueler Alenza's on the Rx300 and loved them. But since the tires on the chrome set will only be used in the summer, i'd want something that's better in dry and wet traction vs snow. There's one more tire on tirerack that beats the alenza in these two categories (starts with a Y i think?).

But for sure, the alenza's are the best for all three, dry, wet and snow.

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

Interesting thoughts! According to tirerack, the dunlop's have pretty bad tire wear, 4.9 / 10 according to people who surveyed.

But i'll only be using them from May-Oct (switching back to the silver wheel/Michelin set in winter), so theoretically the dunlop's should last me double as long since they'll only be on the road half a year. So if they'd normally last me 30k miles and 2 years, they should last me 4 years- theoretically...

We do the same ... during winter the big 'O' steel rims with studs go on. Then the Michelins in the summer. It lengthens the life of both sets, but only to a certain point. Once so many years pass, many tires will start to rot/crack ... turning on what kind of environment they're used/stored in.

[cduluk]

I usually clean the winter set before putting them away in one corner of our garage for the summer. They stay clean and the temp and humidity is avg. During the winter, i clean the chrome set and leave them in the same place in the garage. The garage doesn't get too-too cold and the air is always dry, the best condition for the chrome...

I figure i avg 15k miles a year, so the tires should last me about 3 years each...