Dunlop Tires Review: Brand Guide

About Dunlop Tires

Originally founded in 1889, Dunlop is one of the most popular tire brands in the world. It opened its first tire plant the same year in Dublin and later opened its first tire factory in Birmingham.

From there, the company has experienced significant growth, and it’s now one of the most popular tire companies in the world.

Currently, Dunlop operates under different companies across the globe. In North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, Dunlop is managed by Goodyear. And in Japan, the company operates under Sumitomo tires.

Most Popular Dunlop Tires

From SUV tires to truck tires, winter tires to all-season tires, passenger tires to sport tires, Dunlop designs and manufactures a wide range of tires. Some of its most popular tires include:

Dunlop Direzza DZ102

If you drive a sporty coupe, sports car, performance sedan or any other high-end vehicle, you will need a tire that can keep up with the vehicle. And this is where the Direzza DZ102 comes in.

It’s built to deliver great handling response as well as excellent cornering, on both wet and dry surfaces.

Dunlop has equipped this tire with various design features and technologies, to ensure it meets the buyer’s expectations. So, how does this tire perform in different conditions and terrains?

Dry Performance

The Direzza DZ102 is essentially a summer tire. And as you may expect, its performance on dry pavement is impressive.

Its tread compound features a combination of silica and carbon black, which helps to increase the tire’s traction on dry pavement.

At the same time, its directional tread pattern, featuring 3 center ribs and wider shoulder blocks helps to boost its steering stability as well as tight cornering.

Wet Performance

As much as the Direzza DZ102 is a summer performance tire, it’s also a capable performer on wet surfaces.

It comes with wide circumferential grooves, which help to evacuate water from its surface. These four circumferential grooves, therefore, help to reduce the risk of hydroplaning, thus enhancing the tire’s traction on wet surfaces.

But as much as this tire may deliver some traction on wet surfaces, you shouldn’t try to use it in extremely wet conditions or during winter.

So, if you frequently drive on snow-covered or ice-covered roads, then you should use a dedicated snow or winter tire.

Ride Quality

Most performance tires tend to be noisy. And this can be attributed to their larger tread blocks. But with the Direzza DZ102, you will enjoy a quiet ride, even as the tire wears out.

It also delivers smooth performance at highway speeds, which can be attributed to the tire’s use of Jointless Band Technology.

Should You Buy the Direzza DZ102?

If you are looking for a sleek and sporty-looking ultra-high performance tire, then the Direzza DZ102 will be an ideal choice.

With its powerful grip on dry and wet conditions, a smooth and comfortable ride as well as a long-lasting tread, this tire delivers in almost all areas.

Grandtrek AT23

The Dunlop Grandtrek AT23 is a premium all-season tire, designed for people who drive SUVs and larger CUVs.

It’s available as an OE for various Toyota and Lexus models. It’s also purchased as a replacement tire for vehicles that need 18-inch tires. So, what are the key features of this Dunlop all-season tire?

All-season Tread Compound

Just like other all-season tires from this company, the Grandtrek AT23 comes with an M+S-rated all-season tread compound.

This tread compound is designed to deliver confident all-season traction, whether you encounter mud, rain, or snow. Its performance on dry pavement is equally great.

Dunlop has also outfitted this tire with a continuous center rib, which helps to increase steering response and vehicle stability, even when your SUV is cruising at high speeds.

Wide Circumferential Grooves

This tire also comes with wide circumferential grooves, which help to channel water away from the surface, thus minimizing hydroplaning.

And with reduced hydroplaning, the tire can deliver better traction and performance on wet surfaces.

5-Pitch Technology

Dunlop has also equipped this tire’s tread with its exclusive 5-Pitch technology, which helps to minimize road noise, for a smooth and quiet ride.

If you are looking for a highly versatile tire for your truck, SUV or large crossover, then the Grandtrek AT23 is a choice you can count on.

Grandtrek AT20

The Grandtrek AT20 is an all-season highway tire, designed for SUVs and light-duty pickups. It’s engineered to deliver year-round traction, a comfortable and smooth ride as well as minimal road noise. Some of the key features of this tire include:

All-season Tread Compound

It comes with an all-season tread compound, featuring an aggressive tread pattern. This combination allows this tire to provide dependable traction on dry pavement.

Another notable feature is the center rib, designed to provide responsive steering. Dunlop has also outfitted this tire with its exclusive Dunlop VersaLoad technology, designed to provide enhanced braking and cornering performance.

Wide Circumferential Grooves

This Dunlop all-season tire also features four wide circumferential grooves, as well as cross-cut sipes, which work together to provide enhanced traction on wet and slippery road surfaces.

The four wide circumferential grooves also help to eliminate hydroplaning, resulting in a better grip on wet surfaces. Its tread also features additional sipes, which provide extra biting edges in snowy and icy conditions.

Multi-Pitch Tread

Dunlop has further utilized a multi-pitch tread design, which helps to prevent excessive road noise, resulting in a comfortable ride. The VersaLoad technology, combined with the tire’s Dimensionally Stable Polyester body helps to enhance ride quality even further.

Available Sizes

The Grandtrek AT20 is available in a wide range of sizes, ranging from 15 inches to 18 inches.

Also, it's compatible with several vehicles such as the Toyota Tacoma, Cadillac Escalade, Dodge Ram, GMC Sierra, Lincoln Navigator, Jeep Wrangler, Suzuki Equator, Subaru Outback and Chevrolet, Suburban, just to name a few.

If you are looking for an all-season highway tire for your truck or SUV that can deliver a comfortable ride, traction all-year-round and minimal road noise, then you should check out this tire.

Dunlop Graspic DS-3

If you live in any of the areas that experience harsh winter conditions, then you will need a tire that can provide adequate traction on ice-covered, snow-covered and slush-covered roads. And this is where the Dunlop Graspic DS-3 comes in.

Designed for crossovers, sedans, minivans and coupes, this studless winter tire has been equipped with a wide range of premium features and technologies, to ensure it delivers serious winter performance.

First, Dunlop has utilized a silica-based winter tread compound, featuring its exclusive Rolling Simulation II technology. This tread compound delivers maximum traction on snow-covered roads.

Second, the tread features high-density sipes, sporting a 3-D zigzag shape. These sipes interlock when the tire is rolling over ice and snow, resulting in enhanced traction and added top-notch steering response.

Dunlop has also furnished this tire with snow indicators, which have been placed within the tread. These snow indicators make it easy for you to determine when the Dunlop Graspic DS-3 has worn beyond the point of providing usable traction.

Available Sizes

Dunlop manufactures this tire in a wide selection of sizes, ranging from 13 inches to 19 inches. It can fit several types of vehicles.

With the Dunlop Graspic DS-3, you are getting a winter tire that will deliver impressive performance on ice and snow, without sacrificing ride quality. And with its long tread life backed by strong warranties, you are assured of getting value for your money.

Dunlop Signature HP

The Dunlop Signature HP is an ultra-high performance all-season tire, built for drivers of sports cars, sporty coupes and various types of high-performance sedans, among others.

According to Dunlop, this tire is engineered to deliver enhanced all-year-round traction, better steering response, enhanced handling, as well as long tread life.

You may be probably asking yourself why you should choose this tire instead of the other options in the market. Well, here are a few reasons to convince you:

Excellent Wet and Dry Traction

This tire comes with a superior all-season tread compound, featuring an asymmetric tread pattern. These two features combine to deliver excellent wet and dry traction, as well as short braking distances.

Also, it has been equipped with four circumferential grooves, which help to evacuate water away from its surface, thus preventing hydroplaning. At the same time, its unique tread pattern combined with the added sipes help the tire to grip icy and snowy roads.

Controlled Handling

Handling and steering response is another area where this tire outshines some of the others in its category.

And this can be attributed to the addition of larger shoulder blocks together with the continuous center ribs. The addition of these two features enables the tire to deliver quick and responsive steering as well as confident gripping during cornering.

Quiet and Comfortable Ride

Some ultra-high performance all-season tires tend to be noisy, especially when the vehicle is moving at highway speeds.

 But with the Dunlop Signature HP, you won’t have to worry about such issues. Dunlop has utilized contoured edges all around its shoulders, which help to minimize road noise while increasing ride comfort.

Available Sizes

This tire is currently available in various sizes, ranging from 16 inches to 19 inches. It can fit numerous models of vehicles and it's currently going for approximately $100.

Compared to other ultra-high performance tires, the Dunlop Signature HP is a great all-around performer. However, its cornering grip is not as impressive as you would expect from a Dunlop tire.

Radial Mud Rover

If you are an outdoor enthusiast who loves wandering off the beaten track with your truck, SUV or pickup, then you will need a set of tires that can deliver serious off-road performance.

And that tire is none other than the Radial Mud Rover from Dunlop. Dunlop has equipped this tire with various design features and technologies to ensure it can provide maximum traction on a wide range of off-road driving conditions. They include:

Aggressive Lug Pattern

Its tread compound comes with an aggressive lug pattern, featuring a wide-open shoulder design. This design enables the Radial Mud Rover to self-clean itself of rocks, mud, sticks, and other types of debris.

Center Tread Bars

This tire also comes with robust center tread bars, engineered to enhance the tire’s lateral stability while creating a higher level of directional control, for both on-road and off-road driving conditions.

Variable Pitch Tread

As much as the Radial Mud Rover is essentially an off-road tire, its on-road performance is impressive, thanks to the variable pitch tread design.

It helps to minimize the amount of road noise the tire is producing during highway driving, leading to a quiet ride.

While this tire may produce some noise on the highway, its on-road manners are surprisingly impressive.

If you are looking for a mid-range off-road tire that will deliver a solid performance on various off-road conditions like sand, mud, gravel, rocks and dirt, then the Dunlop Mud Rover will be a decent choice.

Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D

Dunlop is mainly popular for its all-season tires. However, it also sells a couple of high-performance winter tires. And the SP Winter Sport 4D is one of such tires.

This ultra-high performance winter tire is built to compete with some of the best tires in its category when it comes to winter weather traction and overall handling.

Designed for a wide range of sporty sedans and coupes, this Dunlop winter tire performs exceptionally well in almost all areas. And this can be attributed to its various design features and technologies like:

High-grip Silica Compound

The Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D features a high-grip silica rubber compound, which is designed to stay flexible and pliable, even in sub-zero temperatures.

At the same time, its directional grooves and the biting edges dig deep into the ice and snow, thus providing the required traction needed to keep the vehicle moving.

Deep Snow Notches

This tire features deep snow notches on its tread surface, which helps to boost its grip and traction when you are driving through ice, snow or slush.

Also, the company has outfitted this tire with its performance-proven 3D sipe technology, featuring added traverse sipes. This combination allows this tire to deliver excellent handling and cornering grip on snowy and ice-covered roads.

Lightweight Construction

Most winter tires tend to feature heavy-duty construction. And as a result, the vehicle will require plenty of fuel to keep the tire rolling.

But with this tire, that’s not the case. It features lightweight construction, which means the vehicle will expend less energy to keep it rolling, which translates to higher fuel efficiency.

However, just because this tire has lightweight construction doesn’t mean it’s not long-lasting. It comes with a bead seat system, which helps to reinforce it, thus boosting its stability and durability.

Warranties and Guarantees

As noted earlier, Dunlop is managed by Goodyear in North America. Therefore, its tires also qualify for most of the warranties and guarantees that Goodyear offers. Some of the warranties and guarantees that accompany Dunlop tires include:

Treadlife Limited Warranty

Most Dunlop tires come with a tread life limited warranty of up to 6 years from the purchase date or the mileage indicated on the tire, whichever comes first.

So, if the tire’s tread wears out and reaches the final 2/32-inch before it reaches the mileage promised or before 6 years after purchase, then Dunlop will replace that tire.

However, it’s important to note that the replacement will be done on a prorated basis, meaning you will not get a new tire. Instead, you will get a refund based on the difference between the mileage promised and the mileage delivered.

Highway Auto & Light Truck Tire Replacement Limited Warranty

Dunlop also offers a workmanship and materials warranty, known as the Highway Auto & Light Truck Tire Replacement Limited Warranty.

Under this warranty, if your Dunlop tire becomes unserviceable due to a workmanship or materials defect, then you will get a free replacement with a comparable new tire. The replacement can be done either free of charge or on a prorated basis.

Radial and Special Trail Tires

If your radial light truck tire, special trailer tire or highway radial auto becomes unserviceable due to a condition covered under this warranty, then it will be covered during its first 2/32-inch of tread wear or the first twelve months after purchase, whichever comes first.

So, if your radial tire or special truck tire becomes unserviceable due to a condition covered by this warranty, you will get a free replacement with a comparable new one. The replacement will also include free mounting and balancing.

Other Highway and Light Truck Tires

Any other highway auto or light truck tire will be covered during its first 1/32-inch of usable tread.

So, if your Dunlop tire is covered under this warranty, then you will get a free replacement with a comparable new tire, including mounting and balancing.

Temporary Spare Tires

If your Dunlop temporary spare tire becomes unserviceable as a result of a condition covered under this warranty during its first 50% of usable treadwear, you will get a replacement with a comparable new Dunlop tire, including mounting and balancing.

Satisfaction Guarantee

Similar to other tires sold by the Goodyear brand, Dunlop tires also come with a 30-day customer satisfaction guarantee.

So, if you are not satisfied with a Dunlop tire after purchasing it, then you can return it within 30 days after purchase and you will get a free replacement.

But it’s important to note that you must return the tire undamaged for you to get a free replacement.

If the tire is damaged due to road hazards, improper use, or the vehicle’s mechanical issues, then it will not be replaced.

And if you want to exchange the tire for a more expensive one, then you will have to pay the difference out of pocket.

Why Choose Dunlop Tires

There are dozens of tire brands that sell tires in the U.S. So, why should you choose Dunlop instead of the other options? Here are some reasons why you should consider buying Dunlop tires.

Technological Expertise

Over the years, Dunlop has developed various tire technologies and design features, which have significantly improved its tires’ overall performance. Some of the brand’s exclusive technologies include:

• Noise Shield Technology for road noise reduction
• Specific Bead Seat System for precise control
• Multi Blade System for superior winter performance
• Hybrid Overlay Technology for superior high-speed stability and uniform wear
• Dual Silica Tread Compound for dependable traction and excellent handling

Reputation for Durability

Dunlop tires are renowned for their outstanding durability. Drivers who have used these tires can attest to the fact that most of this company’s tires deliver the expected mileage.

Dunlop tires are outfitted with Dupont Kevlar, which creates sturdy sidewalls, thus helping decrease premature tread wear while increasing the tire’s tread life.

Vast Selection

Dunlop has a vast selection of tires to choose from, regardless of the terrain you drive over or the vehicle you drive. Its range of tires features:

• Direzza for reliable summer performance
• Signature for a smooth and cozy driving experience
• Grandtrek for SUVs and trucks
• Graspic for outstanding winter traction
• SP for all-year-round performance
• SP Sport and Sport MAXX specially built for high-end luxury vehicles

Cost of Dunlop Tires

Dunlop produces mid-range tires. Hence, most of its tires are cheaper than premium tires.

For instance, if you were to buy the Dunlop Direzza DZ102 ultra-high performance tire, you will spend approximately $85 to $240 per tire.

And if you were to purchase a similar tire from Michelin such as the Pilot Sport 4S, then it will cost you approximately $190 to $900.

Dunlop Tires Pros

• Fairly priced tires
• Strong warranties
•  Great tires for everyday use

Dunlop Tires Cons

• Its winter tires are a bit noisy

Our Take

If you are looking for affordable and durable entry-level performance tires, then Dunlop has a tire that will suit your driving needs. On the other hand, if you are looking for tires that will deliver premium traction and handling response, then Dunlop tires may not always meet the mark.