Dunlop’s new tour de force unveiled in vietnam

Dunlop Tires recently held a regional launch of its new Dunlop SP Sport LM 705 touring tires in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Tyremart Inc., the exclusive distributor of Dunlop Tires in the country led by its president Chris Chilip, invited its key dealers and some members of the motoring media to the launch, to try out the new tire model in simulated road conditions. Tyremart has been the distributor of Dunlop Tires since 1988. And in 2014, it opened its first company-owned tire retail shop, and went on to open two more in Metro Manila to provide premium mounting and alignment services to its customers, ensuring Dunlop tire buyers run their tires to their optimum potential.

The Dunlop SP Sport LM 705 tires replaces the LM 704 tires, and features a new asymmetrical thread pattern with a larger number of blocks that allows greater dispersion of shocks from the road to suppress vibration. The new tire profile also gives a rounder footprint, which makes the treads contact the road gradually from its center outward, further softening road shocks and vibration. Road bumps and potholes, and other deformations cause vibration, and the energy is transmitted from the tires and into the vehicle cabin through the suspension and car chassis.

LM stands for Le Mans, the world’s oldest running endurance race held since 1923. It is also often referred to as the “Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency,” which probably serves as the DNA of the LM 705 and its previous generation of LM series tires. The series’ new 5th generation LM 705 model was conceptualized as a mid-priced and yet premium “comfortable performance” tire, with fuel efficiency, road comfort, and minimal tire noise in mind. It has varying sizes to fit most sedans, wagons and MPVs, marrying the virtues of good tire performance, comfort and excellent tread wear.

Unlike high performance and ultra-high performance tires that are primarily designed for precise handling, and better grip and responsiveness at the expense of higher gas mileage, ride comfort, and even lower treadwear just to gain superior control on the road. Touring tires on the other hand, offer all-season capability, and while they are also designed to have great handling, these tires have a much longer tread life, and lower noise and better ride comfort.

The Dunlop SP Sport LM 705 tire’s target market is the general passenger car, but offers its buyers a better deal by making its tires more premium in comfort, safety, efficiency and performance. The revolutionary tire profile is designed using proprietary Shinobi Technology that allows the sidewall to flex and cushion road imperfections and improve ride comfort, but at the same time, ensure a strong grip on the road in all driving conditions. The tire performs silently like a “Ninja’s footsteps” as Dunlop exclaims. As silent as possible, but also sure-footed just like the ancient Japanese warrior.

The simulated road test track was done on an enclosed road in Hoi An, the resort town of Da Nang, and the test vehicles were mounted with the Dunlop SP Sport LM 705’s and were pitted against the pricier (and considered more premium) Michelin’s Primacy 4 tires. The comparison isn’t necessarily apple-to-apple since the French tire brand’s positioning is for a higher tier segment.

The comparison test used two Mazda 3 sedans each fitted with a set of Dunlop SP Sport LM 705’s and Michelin Primacy 4’s. The first exercise is to drive both cars with a top speed of 40kph along a series of road bumps to see how well the tires absorb these bumps, and the second exercise had the participants drive the cars and cruise at about 60kph and see if there is any audible differences in tire noise. Both exercises were supervised by professional instructors and followed by a survey after the exercises. Participants noted significant differences in terms of tire noise and road comfort in favor of Dunlop.

Preliminary tests showed that compared to the previous generation LM 704, the LM 705 tires had registered 24% lower road noise equivalent to 1.2 dBa (A-weighted decibels), while pattern noise is lower by 26% or 1.3 dBa. A-weighted decibels are an expression of relative loudness of sounds in the air perceived by the human ear. As a rule, humans can only distinguish between two sound levels that are 3 dBa or higher in difference. So if one compared the previous and current generation LM tires, the difference in loudness will be considered insignificant. However, there was a discernable difference in between the simulated road tests between the Dunlop and Michelin tires used during the event. But the lack of instrumentation present at the event made it impossible to determine how much difference in measurable terms.

Given the price positioning of the Dunlop and its beautiful and performance-oriented tread pattern, these tires will surely be a hit in the local tire market.