What the manufacturer says: “The Viper Supersport’s tread grooves stop short of the tyre’s shoulders to improve cornering stability, response speed and agility. Firm emphasis is placed on maximum grip. High-speed stability has been engineered into the Supersport too, making it the tyre you can rely on when you’re really pushing hard.”
What Whitham says:
Damp: 1:22.58
On the brakes the front felt good and planted and even when the back came round, it felt controllable and actually made me feel like a bit of a hero, though I was a bit nervous of turning it in on the brakes as hard as I normally would. While there seems to be quite a lot of grip, there’s not as much feel as the other sports tyres here. Mid-corner they’re pretty vague and you’re never quite sure where you are with them. Where you’ve got to be really careful is that initial crack of the throttle. It was letting go three or four times at every corner – they never had me out of the seat, you just need to be progressive with the throttle on the transition from leant over to upright. Good grip levels, but the lack of feel doesn’t inspire the confidence to find out exactly how much.
Dry: 1:13.54
I was trying really hard on these to push them to get some feel. You’ve got to be a lot more careful on these than with the Michelins or the Dunlops not to be on the gas over any damp patches as it lights up straight away. Even on the dry exits, it wanted to spin-up quite a lot, but you can still pedal it round at quite a pace. I was impressed at just how quick they’d let me go, but they did feel as though they were right at their limit – I wouldn’t want to push my luck with them any more than I just did!
What the manufacturer says: “The Viper Supersport’s tread grooves stop short of the tyre’s shoulders to improve cornering stability, response speed and agility. Firm emphasis is placed on maximum grip. High-speed stability has been engineered into the Supersport too, making it the tyre you can rely on when you’re really pushing hard.”
What Whitham says:
Damp: 1:22.58
On the brakes the front felt good and planted and even when the back came round, it felt controllable and actually made me feel like a bit of a hero, though I was a bit nervous of turning it in on the brakes as hard as I normally would. While there seems to be quite a lot of grip, there’s not as much feel as the other sports tyres here. Mid-corner they’re pretty vague and you’re never quite sure where you are with them. Where you’ve got to be really careful is that initial crack of the throttle. It was letting go three or four times at every corner – they never had me out of the seat, you just need to be progressive with the throttle on the transition from leant over to upright. Good grip levels, but the lack of feel doesn’t inspire the confidence to find out exactly how much.
Dry: 1:13.54
I was trying really hard on these to push them to get some feel. You’ve got to be a lot more careful on these than with the Michelins or the Dunlops not to be on the gas over any damp patches as it lights up straight away. Even on the dry exits, it wanted to spin-up quite a lot, but you can still pedal it round at quite a pace. I was impressed at just how quick they’d let me go, but they did feel as though they were right at their limit – I wouldn’t want to push my luck with them any more than I just did!
