Neu-Isenburg/Germany, September 25, 2018 – As a completely new development, the Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 is the logical continuation of the success story of Hankook’s Ultra-High Performance tyres. Like its predecessor, it offers a very safe and sporting-yet-comfortable driving experience in both dry and wet conditions. The latest member of the Hankook Ventus family, which celebrated its market launch back in 1994 with the original “Ventus”, sets a new focus, in particular in the area of environmental protection and resource conservation..
A milestone for the company was the introduction of the first Hankook high-end UHP tread, the “Ventus S1 evo” in 2005, which caused the public to sit up and take notice following a continuous stream of top test results in the international trade press, as a tyre for sports vehicles. Its successor, the Ventus S1 evo 2, has so far developed into the most successful tread in the company’s history – also being fitted as premium original equipment by leading German car makers, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Based on DTM-proven technology, it excels thanks in no small part to its high steering precision and excellent handling behaviour. Hankook has succeeded in further optimising these driving characteristics in the Ventus S1 evo 3 through a range of features that also address its environmental properties (rolling resistance and durability).
“We’ve been present on the global tyre market for almost 25 years with our Ultra-High Performance products, and our tyres have established themselves as premium original equipment amongst leading car makers, including the high-performance sports car segment,” explains Han-Jun Kim, President of Hankook Tire Europe. “With our new flagship, we're consciously continuing along our chosen path. To this end, we have brought a large number of new technologies to series production over the last few years, and these are ready to be deployed for the first time. I am therefore certain that the new Ventus S1 evo 3 will be an immediate success with our customers from its launch in early 2019.”
Thanks to continuous basic research, a new generation of innovative materials is being used for the Ventus S1 evo 3. Hankook’s compounding experts have optimised the driving characteristics of the Ventus S1 evo 3 on wet and dry roads by using high-performance natural resins in the tread compound. This not only increases the grip level at the peak of performance output, the tyre 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 for a significantly better distribution of polymers and filler material are used in the tread compound. This results in a clear improvement in brake performance in the wet as well as in reducing rolling resistance.
A new type of compound for the tyre’s side wall also contributes to this reduction, further lowering the rolling resistance of the Ventus S1 evo 3 by at least an additional 2.5%.
A new 0-degree cap ply made from aramid composite reduces the unwanted growth in rolling circumference at high and very high (300 km/h and more) speeds by up to 60 per cent compared with traditional nylon-based fabrics, giving the Ventus S1 evo 3 significantly better driving stability and a longer life thanks to lower heat generation.
The cap ply also contributes to an improvement in cornering forces of just over five per cent. So-called ‘hyper slants’ in the centre tread bar ribs also help to increase the cornering force by enlarging the contact surface under load, for example when sudden evasive manoeuvres are necessary. The blocks of highly rigid and especially widely outer ribs of the asymmetric tread have been reinforced with additional connecting bridges to provide precise and stable handling through corners.
The pronounced outer tread groove within the special block design is a purely visual feature reminiscent of the distinctive first Ventus S1 evo design, with its typical line in the outer tread area. From a technical perspective, the so-called ‘interlocking groove', in combination with the further flow-optimised 4-channel design, effectively reduces aquaplaning whilst also greatly increasing wet grip without causing any loss of performance on dry roads.
Engineer Klaus Krause, head of Hankook’s European development centre in Hanover, says: “For the Ventus S1 evo 3, our engineers set their sights on beating its predecessor – as Hankook's most successful tread in the market to date – in virtually every area. The result of their work is an Ultra-High Performance tyre whose handling and driving characteristics have been optimised in such a way as to make driving emotion a true experience. Furthermore”, Krause continues, “the future requirements of so-called real driving emissions that the automotive industry needs to meet in the WLTP tests that are now mandatory for approval, have already been incorporated into the development of the S1 evo 3.”
The development for the Ventus S1 evo 3 was undertaken in the tyre maker’s European development centre in Hanover, which is part of the global Hankook Tire research network. Production will take place primarily in the company's ultra-modern production facility in Rácalmás, Hungary. The S1 evo 3 will also be available at market launch in an adapted version for SUVs with a two-ply rayon carcass. A number of versions have already received original equipment approval from German car makers for their latest models. The new Hankook flagship will initially be launched across the entire European market from early 2019. The initial line-up will include over 72 dimensions ranging in size from 17 to 22 inches in the 50 to 25 series, with tread widths ranging from 205 to 315 mm.
