209 GPA's...Thoughts after my first set

[snikwad]

JRA;78160 wrote: Did you see Josh Herrin win two DSB races at VIR last weekend or all of those guys qualifying with lap times well under 1:30? They were all on 209 GPA's just like the ones you can buy from Derek or Moon.

Here's the deal with the 209 GPA's. They are priced competitively with the Pirelli Supercorsa Pro and less than the Diablo Supercorsa. They are a better tire than both of those (IMO) and they last longer (which I think is indisputable).

The main thing is that Dunlop stepped up to support NESBA members with tires and special pricing. They have also given out some great discount coupons, as well as this buy seven sets get the eighth set free deal (which would be an awesome group buy idea).

Everyone can support the club, and in turn support our sponsors, by buying their products through NESBA. Whether it's buying 211's, 209 GPA's, or NTEC slicks doesn't matter. My whole point of this thread was just to give members such as yourself some feedback on the 209 GPA's. Sinkwad, the reason I keep replying to your responses is that you don't seem convinced, which is fine (you're entitled to your opinion), but you keep saying things that might place doubt in the minds of others and you've never even tried the tires.

i disagree, at one point a lot of you were skeptical about them and you all tried em, i get the feeling im one of the few guys on here that isnt signing dunlop praises. I think anyone no matter how dumb, will listen to you and other CRs and A group guys, before they pay attention to me.

with that said, it comes down to one thing, if i dont have confidence in a brand then its gonna be hard to take me money and try them because everyone including pros are on em and love em.

what works for pros and you faster guys, may not work for me. and as ive said, im willing to try 211s as ive heard from guys i know personally and trust that they are better. Yes they are more expensive, but im still looking for that deal, when i try a set of take offs, if i like em, my mind might be changed enough and i'll try some 209s.
your thread here has been a tremendous influence, when i see a pirelli guy like yourself who was skeptical at 1st singing praises for dunlops it means a LOT, especially with you being a CR. that ssh1t is almost like written words from the bible to me, but hey, im not the most religious. so im not gonna follow you word for word either. But your writeup is basically what is making me thinking of trying a set and actively looking for some take offs 1st. so im coming around, but i swear to you, the way they scared me when i 1st started riding i have zero confidence in dunlops, and ive been that way since. I understand thay are very different tires, but the brand jsut in my head got marked as squirmy and uninspiring, and put the fear in me. Im trying to work around it and threads like these are helping but im gonna do it my way. I t was either you or someone else that said they do move a bit, but not much, and thats what scared the life out of me back in the day, i dont know how i'd react to that now, as im a much better rider than i was then, so we'll see how it goes.

you best believe if i like em i'll be doing a frikin write up similar to yours, but in no way is my phobia scaring others away man, if it is, theyre frikin retarded, mine i s a personal thin, that i have to get over, and who the hell am i to influence someone, im too slow... cmon now.

 

[Fatboy]

I have no problems with the 209 spec tire. They last a long time too, but I'm tellin ya....rode those 211's @ NJMP and took 1.8 sec. off my best time. I came back in the pits and was like "Did any one around here mess with my bike b/c its friggin awesome!!!" $60 more then 209 is well worth it

 

[snikwad]

1.8 !!!! snap

 

[ekraft84]

JRA;78160 wrote: Did you see Josh Herrin win two DSB races at VIR last weekend or all of those guys qualifying with lap times well under 1:30? They were all on 209 GPA's just like the ones you can buy from Derek or Moon.
If you're going to do AMA stuff, that's the only option. If you have the money and aren't doing AMA, the N-Tech is Dunlop's top tire as far as I know.

JRA;78160 wrote: Here's the deal with the 209 GPA's. They are priced competitively with the Pirelli Supercorsa Pro and less than the Diablo Supercorsa. They are a better tire than both of those (IMO) and they last longer (which I think is indisputable).

Based on the post starting this thread, I would dispute this. I'm a Pirelli rider and the life we get out of our tires is more than you had mentioned. I can't speak comparatively to your experience directly, but I think that information is misleading. The laps we do are at race pace consistently and of course suspension, tire warmers, etc. all play a part in tire life as well. We count laps and can get 100 laps on a tire. Also, that's with a Pirelli blue rear and green front. We don't flip tires and if I'm doing trackdays and such, getting more laps out of the tire isn't a problem, as the pace generally isn't the same.

I don't mean to start anything and I know you want to support the tires that support you. I just wanted to clear some information that may be misleading about the Pirelli tires. With that said, thank you for the comparison. I will likely be trying a set of the 209's, as that's the only option for AMA competition.

 

[D.Brown]

Im no tire vendor, but if its a very competetive tire your looking for, use the 209s. If you want to up the pace than get the211 N-Tecs. I ran used N-Tecs all last year when NESBA was sponsored by Pirelli,and my used Dunlops at road Atlanta had better feel throughout the day and are simply a better tire!! I ran a new set of Pirellis the day before with similar lap times,but they went away after lunch. Again, the used N-Tec DOT, I said used is a better tire .:doh:
D.Brown#10+

 

[JRA]

Eddie, I know of you and don't doubt that you know what you are talking about. My post was intended to relate my experience with both brands of tires as they relate to track days. I realize that 211's and the N-Tec slicks are the top line tire, but the 209 GPA's are the tire that's priced competitively with the SC pros and Diablo SC's. I've run a ton of Pirelli's so I feel I have a pretty good basis for my opinion as I'm sure you do yours.

Since the GPA is your only option for DSB (if that's what you guys are going to run) I think you'll find you like it pretty well. Seriously.

 

[puckshaw]

After reading all this I'd love to try the 209 GPA's but I need a 160 rear. Anybody know of something comparable in that size?

Nate

 

[robfromga]

I was very skeptical of the dunlops also, I called them dunflops for years. Never had a set that work, they always were unpredictable.

I put on a set of 209s at cmp, mostly because that's all derick had and I needed tires. The first session out I thought holy crap are these things sticky!! Good God! They did turn in kinda slow compared to power ones. I added 3ish mm to the rear and the bike came back to its nimble self. I felt like I could do no wrong.....until I crashed. I tend to trail brake way deep and I was a little too hard, too fast, too heavy on the front and I lowsided. Tire fault? Don't think so. But it didn't give me any warning, again I was riding a lil over my head at that point. I went out after the crash and retech, at a slower pace still dig'n the tires.

They work way better than any dunlops I ever tried

 

[JRA]

Fatboy;78325 wrote: I have no problems with the 209 spec tire. They last a long time too, but I'm tellin ya....rode those 211's @ NJMP and took 1.8 sec. off my best time. I came back in the pits and was like "Did any one around here mess with my bike b/c its friggin awesome!!!" $60 more then 209 is well worth it

Greg I agree. If I had Cyclerant's tire budget D) I'd never run anything else, but $60 is a lot of money. However, you'll probably see me on a set of 211's or slicks at Barber. Are you going? We usually have a pretty good time there you know.

 

[D.Brown]

JRA;84768 wrote: Eddie, I know of you and don't doubt that you know what you are talking about. My post was intended to relate my experience with both brands of tires as they relate to track days. I realize that 211's and the N-Tec slicks are the top line tire, but the 209 GPA's are the tire that's priced competitively with the SC pros and Diablo SC's. I've run a ton of Pirelli's so I feel I have a pretty good basis for my opinion as I'm sure you do yours.

Since the GPA is your only option for DSB (if that's what you guys are going to run) I think you'll find you like it pretty well. Seriously.

:agree::agree:

 

[Ruhe52]

The slick's make me think sick thoughts. First time on the bike I ran 3 sec better at RA after lunch.
They are sick Dunlaps are like strippers. Out front they are like 209s. Pretty nice and do all the things you want right. They will do 40 table dances in a row and be happy with what ever attention they get.
The slicks NTechs are full on Double VIP they expect you to roll with the Dom want tons of excitement and make everything around feel sticky.

I must admit. Bridgestone to Michelin to Pirelli to Dunlops. The Dunlops just feel the best on my set up and love the wear. Rhon I have a set of NTech Take offs and will by that time have a set of GPA take offs. If you want and are ambitious I'll bring my changer you can run the Ntechs AM at Full and the GPAs PM at full and get a real life comparo. Of course they will have some laps on them but assure you not beat plenty o life tires will be your sample. I do think if we keep set up in mind you will find these rubbahs to be worthy.

 

[emry]

Last Barber event me and a friend could run consistant 1:46's, don't tease me because I am slow. He was on brand new Power One's. I was on 209's I got from Derek (new then) I had 2 days at Braber and 3 at RoadA, not flipped yet on them already. By the end of Sunday, the Power Ones were Shagged - I know he needs some suspension work, but I'm going to flip my rear and finish this year at least out. Grip wise they feel the same as the SuperCorsa's but wear wise there is not a comparison. (SC's lasted me about 5 track day with a flip)

 

[deanbosch11@mac.com]

+ 1 you can use these tires out and run confident on them. I raced them to death and they will let you know when they are reaching there limit, they start to slide around like your in the rain. It really is a great tire for the price and has excellent grip for all of the tires life.
This year racing I have run Bridgestone BT-003's, Pirelli DCIII's, Diablo's, and this Dunlop. It's a very competitive tire and I have been top 5 and podium with these tires. The front end feels so planted going through to the apex, and the rear end equally as planted as you can really abuse the throttle coming out of the corners. Me likes the Dunlop 209 GPA's

 

[NoBull]

I had a new set of D209GP-A's on for the Summit Main weekend last weekend. After 1 session it was clear already that my suspension wasn't quite right for this tire. I fooled around with it a little but was unable to come up with something that made it better. The recommendation was that I probably needed a different spring in the rear.

After the first day the wear on the right side was such that I felt I needed to flip the tire for day 2. I had it flipped and ran the second day like that. Running the tire flipped wore the "new" right side the same as the "old" right side, but at the same time cleaned up the "old" right side. I got 132 miles on day 1 and 141 miles on day 2 for a total of 273 miles. I was running mostly 24's and 23's with a best of a 22.4 which was middle of the A group on that weekend and was using warmers religiously. BTW I ran my best time at the end of day 2 so they definitely keep their grip through their life.

I've now flipped the rear tire back to it's normal rotation and think I can get one more day out of it. If I get another day out of the 'lops it would be 1 day better than the soft compound Michelin PR5's I was running earlier in the year that wouldn't last more than 2 days but I got a significantly better deal on those.

 

[Buckwild]

Lot of good info on the Dun's
I'm a Pirelli convert as well and am impressed wth the performance.....

 

[600killer]

If you like the 209 you should try the 211 ntech tires that dunlop has that tire is even better

 

[D.Brown]

600killer;100420 wrote: If you like the 209 you should try the 211 ntech tires that dunlop has that tire is even better

Yes yes,I agree. A used N-tec will last longer than a new Pirelli with better results! You owe it to yourself as a rider to try them!
D.Brown#10