PORTOROZ, Slovenia — Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. is rolling out the third generation of its top-of-the-line ultra-high performance (UHP) tire, the Ventus S1 evo 3, which will debut in Europe in early 2019, but not until 2020 in North America.
Developed at Hankook's European development center in Hanover, Germany, the new tire will be made primarily at the company's 11-year-old plant in Rácalmás, Hungary, the company said.
At a press event in Portorož, company officials said the tire offered improvements over the Ventus S1 evo 2 in wet-grip, handling/steering and rolling resistance, while maintaining the wear properties of its predecessor.
The new Hankook flagship initially will be offered on the European market in 72 versions covering 17- to 22-inch rim diameters from early 2019 onward. Tread widths will range from 205 mm to 315 mm.
Driving characteristics of the Ventus S1 evo 3 have been "optimized" for wet and dry roads by using "high-performance natural resins" in the tread compound, Hankook said.
This, it said, "not only increases the grip level at the peak of performance output, the tire also remains at this grip level across a significantly larger range of temperatures, resulting in a very wide threshold range."
A high-grip full-silica tread compound and a special mixing technology were used to enhance distribution of polymers and fillers in the tread compound.