Tires – New motorcycle tire: Metzeler Racetec RR, the road racer! –

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New motorcycle tire: Metzeler Racetec RR, the road racer !

Tires - New motorcycle tire: Metzeler Racetec RR, the road racer! -

Metzeler continues to renew its sports range by unveiling a new circuit oriented but road-approved tire, the Racetec RR (for "Road racing"). The result of the experience acquired by the Pirelli group brand through road racing, this tire will be available from March 2015 in three different hardnesses..   

Metzeler continues to renew its sports range by unveiling a new circuit oriented but road-approved tire, the Racetec RR (for "Road racing"). The result of the experience acquired by the Pirelli group brand through road racing, this tire will be available from March 2015 in three different hardnesses..   

Already winner at TT in Supersport ! 

The Racetec RR succeeds the Racetec Interact, a tire whose sporting potential has been highlighted in the most famous motorcycle road races, such as the Tourist Trophy, the Ulster Grand Prix, the Southern 100 and the North West 200 ( read our). With a total of 39 podiums and 16 victories in 2014, including a promising first success won last year on the Isle of Man with a Daytona 675 fitted with a Racetec RR..

Strategically speaking, promoting its Racing range through the impressive world of road racing is very skillful on Metzeler’s part. First, because the link between the competition and the "consumer-biker" is more direct: the tire used in the famous "TT" is identical to that of the trade, and not an "inspired" version of a developed racing prototype. for a specific championship.

On the other hand, this choice allows the Pirelli group to clearly identify its two flagship brands: in Pirelli the image of tires cut for pure performance, in Metzeler that of products with less exclusive profile, more versatile and therefore more suitable for use. current. 

Thus, if the elephant brand obviously communicates on notions of precision, grip and handling to promote its Racetec RR, it also praises its endurance and especially its ability to cope with changing grip conditions, which they are due to meteorological factors or to the variable quality of the bitumen. 

So many essential qualities for a tire aiming to win in road races and, by extension, for the "lambda" biker looking for a sporty fit for mixed use. Or a tire capable of slamming a pendulum for a track day, then being – and putting! – comfortable in the winding the rest of the week.

A sports profile

To achieve this objective, the Racetec RR first uses dual-compound technology at the rear, in order to combine grip on the angle and resistance on the tread. These two compounds are structurally linked thanks to new polymers, but also through the different tensions applied to the strands of the steel belt at 0 °. 

A solution specific to Metzeler and whose main interest is to ensure a more homogeneous distribution of the heat generated by friction with the bitumen over the entire tire profile.. 

Thanks to this close link between the shoulders and the tread, called "Cap and Base" by Metzeler, the sidewalls would not drop too much in temperature when not in use, such as after a long straight line for example. Finished – on paper – the anguish of "crossing skis" while plunging into a tight curve after a long straight passage !

The arrangement of the grooves is also thought out to reconcile efficiency and versatility: the grooves are stretched enough in the direction of rotation – a guarantee of good water evacuation and stability – but little developed at the edges to promote grip on the ‘angle.

Finally, like its predecessor, the Racetec RR is available in three different hardnesses of rubber, a characteristic which reinforces its "racing" side and above all makes it possible to be certain of finding "rubber on its rim". The softer mixture is designated under the code "K1", recognizable by its blue line running on the tread.

This is the recommended choice for an "intensive" track practice, on hot and well paved asphalt. Then comes the intermediate compound "K2" (green line on the sides), more resistant to wear because more rigid. Here again, it is a rather preferred solution for an essentially track practice because its mixture remains extremely tender..

For road use, Metzeler recommends moving towards the "K3" solution (yellow line), a choice which would reconcile performance, versatility and duration over time, ie the compromise sought by most bikers..     

No but "in the water", what !

Invited to test the Racetec RR on the magnificent Almeria track (Spain), MNC was unfortunately not able to complete a single lap with the brand’s new sporting reference to the elephant, due to unfavorable weather conditions …

Soaked by a nighttime downpour, the asphalt of the circuit thus remained saturated with water until the end of the morning, before drying intermittently thanks to strong gusts of wind, then being re-moistened again by small showers. scattered! Faced with these delicate, because changing conditions, Metzeler preferred to swap the Racetec RRs with Sportec M7 RRs, less sporty and more road tires therefore with a wider range of use..

A small disappointment for MNC, who would have liked to discover the Racetec RR on a drying track in order to validate or not their announced versatility, especially in the face of changing conditions. Especially since it is after all an approved road tire, therefore usable in all circumstances, including the most delicate …

"The Sportec M7 RR is more suited for these conditions than the Racetec RR. It is also the ideal day to make you discover the qualities of the M7 on the circuit and its potential in the wet!", We were told. answered to justify this choice.

Racetec RR: dimensions, prices and first fittings 

Available in stores from March 2015, the Metzeler Racetec RR is only available in 120/70/17 at the front – the standard "combination" of current sports cars -, with the three choices of rubber hardness (K1, K2 and K3). 

At the rear, the choice is wider and goes from "small" 160/60/17 to "big" 200/55/17 which is generalized on Superbikes, through the 180/55/17 specific to Supersport. However, not all dimensions are available with the three types of rubber hardness (see table below).

Questioned by MNC, Metzeler reveals that its price will be around "295 euros" for a train in 120 mm at the front and 200 mm at the rear in rubber "K3" and around "370 to 375 euros" for a train of the same size in choice K1 and K2. 

The elephant brand is currently working on the original equipment approval of the Racetec RR (in K3 version) on the most recent sports motorcycles, in particular the new BMW S1000RR. A logical continuity insofar as the previous model of the Bavarian missile was originally fitted by the predecessor of the Racetec RR, the Racetec Interact.

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