The Hankook Ventus V12 evo ultra-high performance tire, available in the United States, has received very strong praise from tough critics in Europe.
According to the March 2008 issue of the German magazine Auto Bild, the Ventus V12 evo tied for first with the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric in the UHP segment, outperforming all competitors in the "Safe handling under all conditions" category. Both tires received "Very Recommendable" ratings.
The Bridgestone Potenza RE050A and the Continental SportContact 3, which finished third and fourth in the testing, also were named "Very Recommendable."
The Ventus V12 evo also received the highest possible recommendations of "Exemplary" and "Very Recommendable" in the Auto Bild Sportscar and Auto Zeitung summer tire tests, respectively.
Hankook Tire Co. Ltd.'s Ventus Prime, another UHP product, was ranked first in the "automotive premium" segment by another German publication, Auto Motor und Sport. It was labeled a "sensation" and was awarded the only "Very Recommendable" rating.
"Technical innovation is at the heart of everything we do, and the quality of our high performance tires is driving our reputation in global markets," says Hyun Shick Cho, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of Hankook Tire.
"These annual tests are known for how rigorously they test the tires, and we will continue to benchmark our tires against these and higher standards."
All four tire tests compared the performance of an extensive range of ultra-high performance tires on premium European automobiles including the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and S-Class, the Opel Corsa OPC and the VW Golf GT.
Hankook says it grew its UHP tire business by 10.5% last year. The company also launched a $250 million expansion of its flagship facility in Geumsan, Korea, which will increase UHP tire production capacity by 50%, or 5 million units annually, by late 2009.
