In the rear, the central compound is
the road-racing-derived full-silica com-
pound—K2 in the shoulder, while the
base
is a soft carbon-black mixture.
Compared to the Sportec 01, the
RS is all about the track, with claimed
significant improvements in edge
grip, handling on hard surfaces,
and overall racetrack performance.
Metzeler claims stability is the same as the 01, but
the RS suffers a significant reduction in wet grip and
mileage (check out the accompanying pie charts).
Metzeler has paid close attention to the transition
point where the soft shoulder compounds connect
to the harder center on both front and rear tires.
They've improved this over the years, so the shift is
now barely perceptible to the rider. This gives the
obvious advantage of greater stability, especially
when you're either hard on the gas out of a corner or
transitioning from hard upright braking to a medium/
full lean with the front tire fully loaded.
P124
FEATURE I METZELER SPORTEC 01 AND 01 RS TEST
For the track-specific RS variant,
the starting point is already more ag-
gressive. Its void ratio is claimed to be
4.6
percent for everyday use, tighten-
ing to just 2.7 percent under heavier
loads. Again, more tire
on the track
gives more grip and (hopefully) more
smiles.
The RS 01 front uses a full-silica
central compound, while the shoulder
is derived from the Racetec K2 slick,
using full carbon black. The base
itself is a new, ultrasoft full-silica
compound that helps maintain a good
contact patch as the tire heats up
from fully cold, the most dangerous
time for a front-end crash.
Here's one of our favorite spider charts.
This is the road-focused 01, where you can
see soft handling (road speeds) and stability
are the top priorities for the Sportec 01
(in yellow) over the older M9 RR.
A deep look at the
Metzeler Dynatread
pattern. At high
speeds/forces from
braking and (on the
rear) acceleration,
those grooves
close right up and
almost form a slick.
Pretty neat.
