Hankook Tire became the supplier of OE tires for Audi’s Q8.
Korea’s Hankook Tire announced that the company will be the supplier of the original equipment for the new Audi Q8. Three Hankook tire lines are used for the four-door SUV coupé — ultra-high-performance Hankook Winter i*cept evo2 SUV, and the summer Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 SUV in size 285/45 R21 (113 V XL and Y XL), as well as all-season Hankook Dynapro HP2 Plus in sizes 275/50 R20 113H X, 285/45 R21 113H XL and 285/40 R22 110H XL., with additional dimensions to follow.
The winter and summer models will be initially released for European markets, while Hankook Dynapro HP2 Plus tires are designed for the North American market.
«We are very pleased that our products have again been selected for a new Audi model» — said Hyunjun Cho, Head of Hankook’s OE Division. Even as a long-standing supplier to Audi, it is an honor to have been named original equipment supplier for the top-model of the Q-Series. In addition, we are proud that we will supply the full range of our treads for the Q8 to various markets».
According to Klaus Krause, Head of the European Research and Development Center at Hankook, Q8 first of all needed tires that would ensure excellent maneuverability at high speeds.
«The central requirement in the course of the development was the tire design — he said Because of the generally higher vehicle loads with large SUVs and the resulting load index to be fulfilled in combination with the possible high speeds, the durability of the tire design was of course particularly important. In addition, we paid special attention to the required vehicle attributes in both wet and dry conditions».
The Ventus S1 evo 3 is constructed with «bead packing» technology, a special nylon material in the side wallarea, which increases the sidewall strength. In addition, the two-layer carcass and the use of an aramid composite material reduce the unwanted growth of the unwinding circumference at high to very high speeds (over 300 km/h) by up to 60% compared to previously used materials. This gives the tire significantly better driving stability and a longer running life due to less heat generation and thus remains at a consistently high level of grip even over a very wide temperature range. In addition, the sporty dynamic performance on both dry and wet roads is guaranteed by a special tread compound using high-performance natural resins.
