Dunlop Mutant tyres review | On-road, off-road and on-track test

Date reviewed: June 2021 | Tested by: Steve Rose | RRP: £119 (f) £161 (r) | www.dunlop.eu

Dunlop’s Mutant tyre has ambitious targets. A high-performing tyre for road bikes (it doesn’t matter if they are road, sports, adventure or Supermoto) for all weathers. Designed for quick warm-up, sharp steering, high-speed stability and longevity with outstanding wet-weather performance and grip too. If you, like me are thinking ‘cake’ and ‘eat it’ then I guess you’ve been waiting for a thorough review of the tyres too.

BikeSocial has a couple of pairs on test. Both are on road bikes – our own personal weather-beaten hacks that get thrashed about in all weathers, usually with the challenge of being somewhere fifteen minutes ago. One is my 130bhp 2002 Yamaha Fazer 1000 and the other is Luke’s 94,000 mile 2001 VFR800.

They are available in 17,18 and 19-inch front and 17-inch rears from 150-190mm wide meaning there’s a fitment for most road bikes from 500cc upwards, supermotos, nakeds and most of the adventure bikes too.

Multiple tread compounds, jointless belt technology and cunning profile design – modern motorcycle tyres are complex things

Dunlop Mutant Construction

In order to meet Dunlop’s ambition for the grip of a hyper sports tyre, wet-weather performance of a racing-wet and the durability of a touring tyre, they’ve gone all-out on the technology. And, not surprisingly, they are keeping the details close to their chest. What we do know is that their Jointless belt construction is claimed to give a more stable contact patch between tyre and road. The use of Rayon belts, Hisilica and considered carcass construction enable faster warm-up in all weathers and that dual-compound technology allows softer edges for more grip and a harder middle for longer life (because however sporty your riding almost every tyre these days need replacing because the profile squares-off rather than because it goes bald)

Dunlop Mutant fittings

Four available front sizes;

• 110/70-ZR17

• 120/70-ZR17

• 110/80-ZR18

• 120/70-ZR19

And five rears

• 150/60-ZR17

• 160/60-ZR17

• 170/60-ZR17

• 180/55-ZR17

• 190/55-ZR17

This range means you can fit Dunlop Mutants to pretty much any road-style bike (apart from cruisers and some of the retros) and many of the big adventure bikes over 500cc built since the early 1990s. The obvious choice of bikes most suitable for these tyres are those ridden in all weathers where dependable performance – wet or dry – and confidence on cold, wet roads are needed. If you use the same bike for Sunday fun as you do for three-season commuting, the Mutants will be ideal. For two-season touring on a fully-laden adventure bike or tourer doing lot of motorway miles there are probably better choices.

Supermoto-style tread patterns look a little odd on a Fazer 1000, but the Mutants suit the bike very well

Dunlop Mutant Road use

Evaluating tyres can be tricky. If a tyre steers well, grips consistently and has excellent high-speed stability you tend not to notice it. Instead, you enjoy the ride, happy that you are indeed the finest motorcycle rider in East Sussex and you chose the absolute perfect bike.

It’s only when a tyre doesn’t suit your bike or your riding that you notice.

Most modern radials work very well and, unless you’ve put a track day tyre on your commuter (which will never even get close to operating temperature on the road), you’ll be happy. The Dunlop Mutant fit into the first category here. I don’t notice they are there. Never feel them doing anything untoward and instead, just enjoy the ride from the minute I set off to when I get back. The Fazer steers quickly enough to feel like the sporty road bike it is, remains stable at the speeds I ride at and doesn’t react to raised white lines or overbanding. 

Rear grip is excellent in the wet but it’s the way the front steers that really impresses

Dunlop Mutant Wet weather performance

Dunlop’s biggest claim for the Mutants is that they offer much of the performance of a racing wet tyre with the longevity of a road tyre. I’ve never used a racing wet tyre, but I can say that, having headed out in the rain deliberately to test these tyres on a few occasions (and of course, being caught in it as many times as you do as a UK rider), the performance is excellent.

It’s not just about grip. When I ride in the wet I instinctively ride more smoothly, which helps tyres find grip. My biggest bugbear with tyres that don’t work in the wet is how they affect steering going into something like a slippery roundabout.

Many sports tyres on bikes with wide bars and sporty steering geometry (super nakeds are a good example of this, as is my Fazer where the fork legs have been raised through the yokes to make it steer quicker) feel really unsure as you brake into a roundabout, release the brakes and then steer.

On unsuitable tyres they feel like really don’t want to turn-in, needing a lot of effort (and faith) to turn right at the point where you are trying to be smooth and subtle. With the Mutants fitted, my Fazer steers easily into slippy roundabouts and that’s a big test passed in my book.

Plenty of grip on the dusty, back roads too

Dunlop Mutant Confidence

As mentioned above, for me tyre performance is all about confidence. If I don’t notice tyre performance then generally it’s because they are working well. I was really curious how the Mutants would feel because the tread pattern is so unlike most other modern tyres.

The answer is that they feel just like every other tyre – demonstrating that most of how a tyre performs (in the dry, at least) is down to the construction rather than the tread. In the wet that tread pattern obviously helps shift a lot of water and the compound warms up fast enough to grip.

I had wondered if a tyre with so many small tread blocks would feel a little ‘loose’ at high speed if the tread blocks were able to oscillate, but if they are, then I don’t feel it on the road.

Only 1100 miles so far. It’ll be interesting to see whether the front tread pattern wears evenly or forms ridges on the tread blocks

Dunlop Mutant Longevity

So far they’ve only done about 1000 miles so it’s too early to say how long they’ll last. Looking at the tread pattern and knowing how long modern tyre compounds last I suspect they will either ‘square-off’ at 3-4000 miles (around 1000 miles before becoming illegal) because that’s what tyres seem to do these days.

I’m happy if they give 3000 miles of this level of performance rather than less performance, but last 4000 miles where the last 1000 miles are plagued with notchy steering and horrible wet weather performance because the tyre has squared-off.

And the other interesting thing I’ll be looking for is how the tread blocks wear, especially on the front. These kind of patterns can form small ridges on the edges of the tread blocks, which knocks the edge off the stability. Having said that, my last experience of this was on a Yamaha FZ750 in 1990 – tyre compounds, construction and design have moved on a long way since then.

But those are both thoughts and questions, not a review, which is what you came here to read. So I’ll update this review as the miles increase.

Tyres – essential but dull to look at. So here’s another picture of Steve’s Fazer

Dunlop Mutant: Verdict

I’m guessing that when the marketing department at a tyre company visits the R&D department and says, ‘Our studies show that riders want fast warm-up, plenty of grip, predictable steering, long life and great wet-weather grip on all bikes from a Supermoto to a sports tourer please?’ there is usually much rolling of eyes, vague promises made and a a hope that this year’s new ‘Panda paw’ tread pattern will suffice.

Dunlop’s engineers didn’t seem to get that memo and, instead, have listened to marketing and actually built a tyre that does what their road-riding customers want.

I’m really impressed with the performance of the Mutants in wet and dry conditions. Longevity will be the decider, I’m doing my best this summer to wear them out. Watch this space.

Dunlop Mutants review: John Milbank second opinion

After 3,000 miles with the Dunlop Mutants it’s time for a new rear on my 2019 BMW R1250GS.

It’s got life left in it, but it’s squared off to the extent that I can feel the difference now on more spirited rides. Tight, twisty, bumpy back-roads are where I love riding most, but the weight of the GS has still taken its toll.

Could I fit something harder and still have as much fun on the faster turns as I do now? Probably, but the mud and snow rating on the Mutants has me convinced.

While I’m not willing to go back and try it again to see how much difference another tyre would make, a 100 mile back-road winter’s ride almost ended in disaster on a downhill section that saw the front tuck on a hidden area of slick mud covering the road. I slid from one side of the road to the other – with enough time to think about how I could bail without getting caught up with the bike – before the front gained traction again and everything calmed down.

This is the view back up the road I slid down. You can see my tyre tracks veer from the right of the pic across to the left. The mud looks obvious here, but from the other direction, it was really hard to see the change in surface

I’d like to say it was down to my skill and experience, but honestly I think it was the tyres, which while overwhelmed on what was a horribly grotty track on an awkward incline with me backing off as a flooded section came into view, they also managed to haul this 249kg bike (plus accessories and 95kg rider – let’s guess 360kg) back under control.

I don’t put anywhere near as many miles on my GS as I’d like to – this year has mostly seen me riding the Zontes ZT350-T – so when I do go out on it I want it to handle everything I throw at it easily. The handling has been excellent, with a neutral profile that combines with the BMW’s Telelever suspension to make any lean angle easy on the faster bends, but they still have that confidence-inspiring all-weather performance.

This is the Dunlop Mutant on the front of the GS, which appears to have plenty of life left in it

Dunlop positions the Mutants as a crossover tyre, splitting it into riding styles:

I’d agree with that… while I think an adventure is whatever you make it, if you’re going to be spending a lot of time on very loose surfaces like mud and sand, these aren’t the perfect tyres for you (and though capable, the GS is a bit too bulky there for most riders as well). The Mutants can do a lot, but they’re not knobblies.

This was the Dunlop Mutant front tyre after nearly 6,000 miles and three track sessions on the VFR800

Only 25% suitable for sport though? Yeah, they’ll not wear as well as a dedicated sports tyre, but I also had a set of Dunlop Mutants on the 2001 Honda VFR800. They proved great on the road, and while I’m not the fastest track rider, I was more than happy getting my knee down at Cadwell with them on a BikeSocial member track day.

I also rode with them at Snetterton, but perhaps a better endorsement is that John McGuinness took the bike through 100,000 miles on the track with these on. After that there was some stepping on the front tyre likely caused by John’s hard braking, and the handling went off a bit so I replaced then.

They had already done almost 6,000 miles though, and would otherwise have had some life left in them.

So, given my experience on fast road, track, gentle off-road (local byways on the GS), rain and slick mud, I would thoroughly recommend the Dunlop Mutants.

John McGuinness thrashes the Dunlop Mutants

Watch him ride them hard at a Bennetts BikeSocial track day