march 12, 2018 - Hankook

Hankook is convincing in independent product tests: 1st place in Auto Bild summer tyre test 2018

The #hankook Ventus Prime³ has confirmed its top performance once again in independent product tests¹⁾. Following its excellent victory in the tyre test conducted by Europe’s largest automobile consumer magazine #auto Bild in its debut season in spring 2016 and further international top placings in 2017, the comfort-champion of the successful #hankook Ventus product family has repeated its success this year again in tests by the specialist #automotive press. After the renowned ADAC had awarded the Ventus Prime³ the top overall mark "Good" (best mark in the test) in its 2018 summer tyre test and praised the tyre for its outstanding braking performance as "very balanced tyre with top marks on dry roads and good in the wet", the #auto Bild followed suit. In probably the largest-scale tyre test involving 51 products²⁾ including all the top brands, it was crowned the winner for the second time since 2016. The crucial factors included the best braking performance as a combination of wet and dry braking distance out of all brands – probably the most important safety feature for all car drivers. #auto Bild editors testified that the #hankook pattern to be the test winner with outstanding driving characteristics on wet and dry roads, precise steering behaviour, short wet and dry braking distance along with pleasant ride comfort amongst other things.

The #hankook Ventus Prime³ was developed to provide an ideal blend of performance, comfort, safety and environmental friendliness. The very good braking performance on wet surfaces was a key task for #hankook engineers during development. To achieve this, Ventus Prime³ uses a high-grip silica tread compound and a new compounding technology which provides better distribution of polymers and fillers in the tread compound. This improved both wet braking performance and rolling resistance. The effective contact surface between the tyre and the road was increased by using a specially designed, asymmetrical tread. Along with a high tread stiffness in both radial and lateral directions, and in conjunction with special “hybrid hardness” tread ribs with different hardness levels at the outer and inner shoulder areas, the Ventus Prime³ provides an exceptional dry performance. The very good dry braking performance is achieved applying chamfered tread block edges across the entire tread surface and being able to enlarge the tyre's contact surface during braking.

Newly-developed, functionalised polymers with a high molecular weight in the tread compound of the Ventus Prime³ increase its wear-resistance. The tyre is equipped with a highly-modern, lightweight, and especially sturdy Rayon carcass and a wide steel belt package including a jointless bandage and high-strength bead fillers. Besides improving handling, this ensures precise steering feedback and great control, even at high speeds. Thanks to an improved pitch design and the optimised angle of lateral profiling, as well as a sidewall optimised for air resistance, Hankook's development engineers were able to further reduce the noise level of the tyres, once again improving the tyre's comfort features.

More information on the press release