Dunlop SP Sport 4000

Price Paid:  $140.00 from Lexus of Englewood

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1998 Lexus LS400

Summary:
These were the original tires on my Lexus LS 400. They lasted far longer than I expected, with over 60,000 miles before I replaced them with another pair at the same new car dealer from whom I bought the car. The tires handled extremely well in all conditions except snow. The last 12,000 miles or so they were very poor on snow and, at the end, even in heavy rain, so I decided to replace them even before they reached the low tread marks. I always kept the tires inflated at 32 and rotated them every 5000 miles.

Strengths:
Extremely long lasting (I notice other critical reviews; perhaps this has something to do with the particular tire for the Lexus LS 400?). Handled extremely well in all conditions except snow; no problem with very fast accelerations, sharp turns, sudden stops, etc.

Weaknesses:
Expensive--not a problem if you're buying an expensive car. Only fair to good on snow--fair to poor on snow when the tread was wearing down.

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Dealer, OEM

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2000m Mazda MPV

Summary:
These tires were a disappointment. Although "performance"tires, dry handling left a little bit to be desired. Tire wear was atrocious.

Strengths:
Fairly quiet. Will still replace with another brand.

Weaknesses:
Short tread life (no doubt exacerbated by being on a minivan) Will replace before 25k miles. Excessive tire squeal on cornering.

Similar Products Used:
Pirelli P6, P600; Michelin MXV4, X-One

Price Paid:  $90.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Audi A4 2.8 Q

Summary:
205/55/16 z-rated. I did get 30,000 miles out of them, but I probably should have replaced them at 25,000. The last couple of months (winter of 2000/2001) got a bit dicey in the snow/slush. Excellent tires - great for aggressive driving on the highway and back roads in any weather. Well matched to the character of my car - Audi A4 2.8 quattro.

Strengths:
Decent dry road performance. Quite good rain performance. Decent snow/slush performance.

Weaknesses:
dry road performance could be better. Snow performance could be better.

Similar Products Used:
I got these tires to replace the goodyear eagle's that came stock on the car. They were horrible. I took these Dunlops on the advice of the local tire shop. I have been very satisfied with them.

Price Paid:  $110.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1995 Honda Prelude

Summary:
I highly recommend this tire to anyone who can accept the fact that the tradeoff for performance is tread life. I just reached the end of my set's life (approx. 25,000 pretty hard miles) and I'm hoping I can find another set of SP4000s. I think Dunlop may have dropped the line, in which case I'll probably steer towards the SP9000s (a friend put them on his Audi and was delighted). Overall, Dunlop is my new tire manufacturer though - everyone I know who's purchased Dunlop's has been very happy.

Strengths:
Excellent grip, strong sidewall reduces roll (feels more like a 16 or 17" tire). Was impressed by performance in rain and snow (used to live in New York).

Weaknesses:
As stated, the tire will wear out quick - the Z-speed rated versions particularly. That's the trade off for good wet performance in a performance tire capable of safely crusing in excess of 120mph.

Similar Products Used:
Previous tires were Hakkepelita snow tires - which were actually very good tires! But the Dunlops were head and shoulders above the Hakk's.

Summary:
Good performance tires for sports cars/coupes. At $100/tire for a 205/55-15, though, they wore out far too fast for me to replace them with another set.

Strengths:
Very good grip in all weather. Better than expected performance in snow, including deep snow.

Weaknesses:
They wore very quickly -- less than 20,000 miles of smooth driving, even with regular rotation. Very noisy towards the end of their life.

Similar Products Used:
Slightly better performance than the Pirelli P600 M&S they replaced, but wore much, much faster.