Pirelli have released a performance tyre in the Asia Pacific market called the Dragon Sport (same name as the Euro motorbike tyre). Feedback on chat forums is very positive. They are extremely cheap for a Pirelli tyre. As this UK website is read across the world, I thought I should give an initial review on them here.

First impressions are very good. They are quiet and give excellent feedback, much better than the original fitment Bridgestone Turanza ER300s. There is some slight 'slap' from road joins, but not like a hardcore track-ready tyre (eg: PS4).

Wide grooves give excellent wet grip and wet braking. USTQ rating of 400 indicates a relatively hard compound, so they aren't for track use and may not be so great in emergency dry braking. But they should last a long time.

It is too soon to give a considered opinion, but at this point they seem to be an excellent choice for anyone upgrading from standard rubber to something better. I will be recommending them to friends who say "I need some tyres but don't know what to buy."

For enthusiasts, I would say "Buy the Adrenalin RE003s, Michellin PS4s or PZeros instead". (All Continental tyres are overpriced out of contention here in Australia, as our coarse chip roads can eat them in less than a year.)

Easy to damage. I do a lot of kms and never had a tyre so easy to damage with the exception of Kapsen cheap garbage.
I was sold these with the promise of getting a lot of mileage I wouldn’t know about that because they burst or have severe sidewall damage with fairly minor hits. I’ve damaged a third tyre. The grip I would say is very average. I’m surprised others are saying it’s good. Rather than replace the one that popped I’m getting all four relatively new tyres stripped off and changed back to Goodyear Eagle F1, which are better in all respects.

Chinese made Pirellis, who'd have thought. Fitted at the front end. Only had them 8000km so far, but very impressed. Noisier than I think I'd think my wife would like, but wet/dry traction and handling are more important. And these deliver. I subsequently fitted Momo's to the rear. They'll be be reviewed separately.

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Clearly a different compound compared to previously bought Cinturato P7.

Insane amount of wear for tyres barely 12months in service, decent grip but wet grip drastically drops as it wears. For the price, will not buy again.

These tyres are good tyres for daily driving on reasonably smooth roads, but I have found they struggle when pushed on backroads and make above-average noise on highways and course chip country roads. The tyres do not have as high a level of grip as the 'Sport' name would suggest, and shouldn't be compared to PS4/RE003 or equivalent tyres. Anyone looking at these should think of them as a mild performance tyre, with more grip than the average commuter tyre, but less than an 'enthusiast' tyre. However, at the limit, the tyres let go progressively and hold up well to braking. Some slight understeer and chatter can be felt in the rain, but can be driven around.

These shouldn't be marketed as a sports tyre. They're a replacement to the P1 Cinturato - a passenger tyre.

They're cheap for Pirellis and seem like a good deal for an entry level performance tyre. They're not performance focused though. Front end grip is not strong, heavily understeer biased, steering is a little sloppy due to softish sidewalls. At least they're safe dynamically at their low limits. Wet performance fine.

The reality is these should never have been called Dragon Sport - They're most like am entry level touring tyre from any of c the major brands - which checks out when you look at the price.

If you want an entry level performance tyre just get RE003 or Michilin Pilot Sport instead. Even tyres like the Dunlop FM800, which is similarly priced but marketed more as a Touring tyre - has a more sporty handling characteristic than the Dragon Sport.

best tyre last me 4 years still plenty tread left amazing tyre i need bigger size me commodore but dont make them only me front awseome tyre

I have used these tyres on my 523i F10, then I sold the car and on my audi I swapped the original tyres to the michelin Ps4. The first 1000km wasn't very good on the ps4, however after that they grip was really good. Even better in the rain. It felt really good in the corners but unlike the pzeros. But the ps4's life span was not good. After 20k km it started peeling and I didn't have the confidence to drive with them. So I swapped to a set of dragon sport. Immediately notice them improvement in comfort. It felt like a comfortable touring tyre, less road noise but with steering response and no float like touring tyres. Comparing to the ps4, I would say maybe a 10% reduction in sporty feel but more comfortable and these tyre last longer than the ps4. I used them around 35k km on my previous car. I would I buy them again, yes unless the pzero's are on discount

I bought these tyres to replace my worn out Michelin Pilot Sport 4. I bought it because of the high treadwear rating of 400. Quite expensive I must say and more so than the outgoing Michelins. Instantly, felt this tyres made my ride more comfortable and despite being a performance oriented tyre, it performs like a luxury tyre with minimal tyre noise. Very good in the wet and enjoy taking corners with confidence. Best part of all is that, I hit a large rock in the middle of a dark road at 80km/h and amazingly enough the tyre did not rupture. My rim was damaged and the tyre shop could not believe it. This tyre is one tough tyre! Now the downsides, for a long distance commuter like myself, it did not last as long as I had hoped. After 24,000km I had to replace all 4 corners considering that I am gentle on throttle and I rotate and inflate my tyres regularly. As a high mileage driver, I would not buy it again.

Good performance, reasonably cheap.

These tyres came with my Golf R. Honestly hadn’t heard of them before until I did a search. What I can say is that I’m pleasantly surprised! For a budget tyre they are quite good. I’d almost say that I’d buy them again however I think it only fair that I try the Michelin PS4 simply because they seem to come highly recommended? Of course the PS4’s are $100/tyre more expensive but until I drive with them on my R I’ll never be able to give an honest opinion! Happy motoring👍

My Audi A 3 came with the Cinturatto P7 as OEM tires. I blew 3 of them because of potholes, so I changed it for the Dragon Sport. My take: Dry: Great Grip and traction, they gives you confidence for spirited driving. They have good braking ability, something I didnot expect because the treadwear is above 400. Wet: they have above average performance in the wet, they were a little below the Cinturatto P7. Still they have good overall performance in the wet. Noise: the noise is ok, noisier than the P7 Cinturatto, but aceptable. Tread: the tire has a hard compound, I drove the car for around 16000 miles and they seem to have mid life. Design: The tread design is assymetric and sporty, the sidewall has a Dragon with the letters which it looks cool. Conclusion: It is a great aftermarket sporty tire, it handles well in wet and dry, stiff sidewall which helps with the handling and the price is just above midrange tires but with Pirelli premium quality. And by the way it is a UHP Tire, not a extreme neither max performance tire.

I had these DragonSport tires mounted on a turbocharged Corolla Altis and I've now had them for about 9,000 miles (15,000 km). Dry grip is phenomenal for the price, wet grip is also very good, much more so than some of my previous tires. Overall, grip and handling are on par with the more expensive Michelin PS4 and Bridgestone RE003. After 15,000 km, they still pretty much look new btw, I expect they will last at least another 30,000 km.

I have put these tyres onto a 2010 Jaguar XF with 19” oem wheels. My main priorities were noise and comfort, followed by price, wear, and grip.

I’m located in NSW, Australia so my experience here has been a mix of new and old roads, smooth and coarse chip, mostly dry, and mostly at 60-100kph speeds.

My tyre search started due to the fact that I was previously using kumho ku39, and had discovered that one of the near new front tyres was out of round, and I wasn’t willing to take the risk again with a mid tier brand. My ku39 had 95% tread on the front and 15% on the rear.

The DragonSport grip has been good however I am not a spirited driver, with the exception of taking roundabouts a bit faster at times. I haven’t had any issue with these tyres on various roads. They feel quite stable and not floaty.

The tyres have fairly good noise levels over coarse chip roads, and are very quiet over smooth asphalt. I suspect it would be hard to do much better without going to a Michelin primacy, which has a significant price increase.

Comfort/harshness is good. They are definitely more comfortable than the ku39 and less “crashy” over joins in the road. A minus for me is there’s still a decent amount of road feedback, as I wouldn’t have liked for it to absorb the bumps a bit better. I am running them at 36 psi, instead of the jaguar recommended 32.

Fuel economy has been good, with around 5% better fuel economy than the ku39.

Ultimately I chose this tyre due to the number of reviews noting its noise level over coarse chip, a good treadlife rating above most of the competition, brand name, and the fact I found it on sale ($239 each). However I would still buy it at it’s more normal pricing of ($285 each).

Overall I would definitely buy this tyre again. Its a good touring tyre, that is well priced, which is surprisingly hard to find in the 245/40/19 size.

I did find that the tyres took a few hundred kms to break in. I had some steering wheel shake at 80ks despite having had a balance and alignment when fitted. Since then, it has gone except at 110kph where there is a pronounced shake but it is very specific to the speed so I suspect it just needs another balance after wearing in.

In my research prior to purchase I considered the Pilot sport 4 (too expensive, never on sale, noisy), RE003 (pricier, noisier, this would have been my #2 choice), Cooper CS5 (hit and miss reviews, USA based reviews particularly poor), Goodyear eagle f1 asymmetric (pricier), Primacy 3 (expensive, poor tread life), Falken FK150 (limited reviews online, mid tier brand), contisportconact5 (very poor treadlife), Hankook Evo2 (harsher,noisy, fuel inefficient)

Had on my Nissan Primera p11 for a year fronts wore ok for how hard I drive never rotated them ended up having wheel spin after a few months on one wheel but were good tyres