Dunlop Max IMF Series rackets
- Thread starter joe sch
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Grafil Injection
Legend
Until I get a decent 1989/90 magazine, the best I can do is a 1991 advert that shows: 800i at £110, 500i at £90 and 200G at £63. By then the 300i and 400i had basically been retired. The same advert has the three Impact wide-body rackets from Dunlop (£116, £100 and £60), and by late 1991 the first Revelation rackets took over as the top of the range sticks.
Grafil Injection
Legend
And here's the advert from Serve & Volley Jan/Feb 1988, which shows the 300i and 400i as 'new', although I also have the 1986 instructions pamphlet with the 300i and 200G together. Note the reference to Martina's 200G use!
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michael valek
Hall of Fame
Using a max800i is like trying to swing the anchor from a battleship.
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Gonna have a max 400i and 300i incoming. What should I expect above and beyond the 200g? Never hit with either.
Grafil Injection
Legend
The MAX 300i is very similar to a 200G, just a tad more stiff. Probably more powerful on serves and a tiny bit less smooth feeling on slower shots, but it's really close. They can range from whippy 360g models to 390g+ bruisers, just like the 200G.
The MAX 400i is certainly distinct given the slightly different mould shape, and slightly more stiff again. But it is still incredibly comfortable compared to any other graphite racket. Higher launch angle encourages spin application. Serves are very good with the aerodynamic beam. Longer handle probably helps if you have a 2hbh. Weight ranges are lower IME, usually between 355g and 375g max, but it is still rock solid on returns and can deliver huge shots despite the theoretically low RA.
In good condition, both are industrial design classics as well as astonishing rackets, like the 200G.
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
I personally think the 300i was the best performer of the bunch. The 300i came out in the 1986 catalog, btw.
Grafil Injection
Legend
I found an advert from August 1990 for you, with those rackets at full price.
Some interesting other sticks too.
wedge
Semi-Pro
400 just feels straight up modern to me. It's been said before here but something about it -- maybe the small head which feels so aerodynamic -- makes it feel way, way lighter than it is. Feels the most surgical of the bunch, and yeah the way you're encouraged to use spin is just so different from all the others. It whips!
I find the 400 to be actually more comfy overall than the 300, which has a bit of a crispy feel to it, and possibly the most comfortable of all of them other than the 200. The 800 seems to absorb the most vibration of all of them, but it's an unwieldy, disconnected thing, so not "comfy" in that sense. The 400 also has a comparatively direct feel compared to the others in my opinion. Just feels like a players stick in a way none of the others do. I switch over to it in competitive play and just don't feel like I'm giving up much except head size. I love them all so much but the 400 I think is the "best racket" of the bunch. Just so usable. Anyone agree? It may just be that I got a light one that's 345g/338sw with nothing on it.
I found an advert from August 1990 for you, with those rackets at full price.
Some interesting other sticks too.
Thank you @Grafil Injection for this catnip lol!!!
michael valek
Hall of Fame
All the 400 I tried felt like they were gonna snap above the handle
vsbabolat
Talk Tennis Guru
Back in 1988 I broke quite a few 400i’s just above the handle. I then switched back to the 200G because that never happened the 200G.
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Yes that’s the feeling I got. They didn’t break but it felt like they would.
Backspin to the Future
Rookie
Interesting list- thanks for posting.I found an advert from August 1990 for you, with those rackets at full price.
Some interesting other sticks too.
I picked up a Wilson Profile DTK last year for a snip and never realised it was once near the top of their retail range
Grafil Injection
Legend
Yeah, in the same magazine there is an advert for the Profile DTK and it mentions being a little softer than the Original. Perhaps the DTK was the 3.6 before they started adding the SI numbers.
wedge
Semi-Pro
You know after picking up on this thread I brought out an 800i to the court today and I just have so much appreciation for it. It's such a monster but in a weird way it's so dialed in.
Like the power is nuts just because of the weight, but it's so flexy (and the injection molding) you just don't feel anything. The head feels more like a 98, and while the sweet spot is well defined it doesn't feel unforgiving outside of it. It finds tons and tons of spin, but since the string pattern is so crazy dense in the center of the stringbed, you always feel (mostly) in control.
The head shape is so odd, anyone have any idea what it's about? Must be some concept having to do with the sweet spot or something.
I dunno, I think it's really unfortunate that this kind of racket didn't become more of a thing for Dunlop. It's so unique and as long as the mass isn't an issue, it's a highly competitive baseliner frame. Or maybe the production process was just never going to make any of these frames a real moneymaker for them regardless.
@Grafil Injection you might recall I have one with a very odd three-part bumper which surely must have been added later in the run as a concession to modernity, but I think even though they did their best to use as little mass as they could up there, it just throws the swingweight and balance so out of whack that the racket really becomes more of a "goofing off" frame. My bumperless is 359g/332sw with overgrip and dampener, but the weird mohawk version (granted with a leather grip) is 376g/358sw -- too heavy!! Which is a shame because the Gamma Boron string job on it -- which dates from 30 years ago -- feels absolutely sublime. Shocking comfort.
But anyway 332 swing weight on a 800i makes it a perfectly rational racket I think. Not that maneuverable obviously but the stability is ridiculous and it eats up volleys, provided you can get the racket there lol. But I could absolutely main that crazy creature, and the thing just looks tremendous under court lights. Stuck a pink quake buster on it and it was like being back in 1991!
Anyone have string recommendations for any of these IMF frames? I have the 800 strung with OG Sheep which is "fine" but I feel like it's not a great match.
Like the power is nuts just because of the weight, but it's so flexy (and the injection molding) you just don't feel anything. The head feels more like a 98, and while the sweet spot is well defined it doesn't feel unforgiving outside of it. It finds tons and tons of spin, but since the string pattern is so crazy dense in the center of the stringbed, you always feel (mostly) in control.
The head shape is so odd, anyone have any idea what it's about? Must be some concept having to do with the sweet spot or something.
I dunno, I think it's really unfortunate that this kind of racket didn't become more of a thing for Dunlop. It's so unique and as long as the mass isn't an issue, it's a highly competitive baseliner frame. Or maybe the production process was just never going to make any of these frames a real moneymaker for them regardless.
@Grafil Injection you might recall I have one with a very odd three-part bumper which surely must have been added later in the run as a concession to modernity, but I think even though they did their best to use as little mass as they could up there, it just throws the swingweight and balance so out of whack that the racket really becomes more of a "goofing off" frame. My bumperless is 359g/332sw with overgrip and dampener, but the weird mohawk version (granted with a leather grip) is 376g/358sw -- too heavy!! Which is a shame because the Gamma Boron string job on it -- which dates from 30 years ago -- feels absolutely sublime. Shocking comfort.
But anyway 332 swing weight on a 800i makes it a perfectly rational racket I think. Not that maneuverable obviously but the stability is ridiculous and it eats up volleys, provided you can get the racket there lol. But I could absolutely main that crazy creature, and the thing just looks tremendous under court lights. Stuck a pink quake buster on it and it was like being back in 1991!
Anyone have string recommendations for any of these IMF frames? I have the 800 strung with OG Sheep which is "fine" but I feel like it's not a great match.
Grafil Injection
Legend
My L3 800i is 380g, 30.75cm (11pt HL) balance strung, with original leather grip. So there was clearly some variation in the specs! Feels fine to manoeuvre though, with I estimate a swing-weight around 340sw.
The dense main-strings lead to an average cell size of the central 100 cells akin to a typical 18x20 95sqi racket (1.2cm2). I wonder if, because it is so comfortable, that they increased the density of strings to give a sense of control.
I can't recommend any strings from experience, but perhaps Kevlar or Problend would be an interesting one to try.
Grafil Injection
Legend
A few threads suggest that 'Pro' versions of different IMFs have different weights or stiffnesses, some say heavier others lighter. However, they are based on single samples, so are not really conclusive given that we know each frame had at least a 30g range in weights (and stiffnesses are probably linked slightly to weight). On the other hand, what I can say is that it seems like the Pro models were rarer in the UK compared to overseas markets like Italy and Japan, so it is possible that the 'Pro' text was reserved for L or SL models destined for export. If you look around there are Pro II and Pro III models of both the original graphite injection and the teal models, with no specific description of a change in specs, so it's most likely just paint-job 'updates'.
Similarly, whilst the adverts with the 'Pro' models are of course described as having the 'latest' development in vibration absorption etc, I have never seen an indication of a different 'layup' for such models. The one thing that does hold true is when the MAX 200G Graphite Injection Pro came out (1987), they ran adverts saying it was lighter, but that is likely to be a decision to produce more 'L' models as the heavier 'LM' and 'M' were proving less popular by that time. I.e. most L 'Pro' models were still in the 360-370g strung range.
A further minor point to note is the MAX 200G Glossy Pro model was usually distinguished from the Glossy non-Pro by having the longer handle that they produced from about 1990 continuing into the Purple final model.
Hence, I suspect the 800i Pro is just a 1-year paint-job update, as most other IMF 'Pro' models were. The 500i and 800i were produced for probably less than 18 months in total, and not very popular at the time, as the Max Impact series and Slazenger Silhouette and Phantom had taken over as the most up-to-date models from that stable, by 1990.
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michael valek
Hall of Fame
certainly both max200g pro rackets I previously owned were lighter than non-pro I couldnt detect any other differences.
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Agreed the ones with purple on seemed thinner and less solid, more hollow.
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