Hankook launching all-season UHP tire in N. America

NASHVILLE — Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. has developed an all-season high-performance tire, the Ventus S1 AS, that it's launching in North America this spring.

The new product — being manufactured to a high degree in the U.S. — can be considered the successor to the Ventus S1 noble 2 and will be sold alongside the Ventus V12 evo2 and Ventus V2 concept2 tires in Hankook’s performance tire lineup.

The tire launches in 75 sizes covering 16- to 22-inch rim diameters and tread widths up to 305mm, making it suitable for performance cars, sports sedans and luxury cars, as well as popular CUVs and SUVs, Hankook said.

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The new product uses a four-season high-performance tread compound — featuring a higher silica concentration and maximized material dispersion — that the company claims delivers enhanced grip on all surface conditions.

The tire also features an asymmetrical tread pattern with four circumferential tread grooves and a convex tread-block design that Hankook said provides improved drainage in wet conditions compared with conventional concave designs.

Select models carry a Y speed rating (prolonged running at 186mph), providing a "cutting-edge" all-season tire for some of the fastest vehicles on the road, Hankook said. The majority of the sizes are W rated (up to 168 mph).

"The ultra-high-performance all-season segment is becoming one of the most innovative and exciting markets in the industry," Hankook Tire America President Curtis Brison said. Hankook estimates UHP all-season tires represent about 10% of the total U.S. passenger tire replacement market and demand is growing at an average annual rate of about 5%.

"The Ventus S1 AS showcases the level at which Hankook can engineer a single tire to perform across a variety of seasonal road conditions and satisfy high-performance driving benchmarks."

Hankook attributes the tire's performance improvements to a number of design elements, such as:

• a 3% larger lateral groove pattern in the tire's interior section for enhanced water evacuation and snow traction;
• higher sipe density on the interior tread elements for snow traction;
• wider and stiffer tread-block arrangements at the outside section for increased dry-handing performance, lateral stability and steering response.

Sizes start at 205/55ZR16W and range up to 285/35ZR19Y XL.

Kijong Kil, vice president of replacement market development, stressed the new tire's performance is enhanced due the interaction of the new raw materials applications/ mixing technology with the asymmetric tread pattern.

Hankook is backing the new tire line with a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty. Pricing information was not disclosed.