Hankook Tire is continuing its supply of original equipment tyres to the Volkswagen Tiguan with deliveries of the Ventus evo SUV for the third-generation model. The compact SUV is available with the Hankook tyre in five 18-to-20-inch sizes.
Announcing this factory approval, Hankook emphasises that all the tyres are “precisely matched to the respective model.” For example, the developmental focus for the 18-inch and 19-inch variants was primarily on excellent driving comfort, but the top-of-the-range 20-inch variant is “characterised by a particularly sporty design.” Each of the tyres feature the ‘+’ symbol for Volkswagen original equipment on the sidewall, indicating its development for a specific VW model. VW dealers will also stock the tyres as a replacement fitment.
“The close and trusting collaboration with Volkswagen in the tyre development for the new VW Tiguan has paid off. We have achieved the optimum match for each tyre size and are able to contribute to the unique driving characteristics of the popular Volkswagen model.” says Klaus Krause, Vice President and Head of Europe Technical Center at Hankook.
Reduced noise level for greater driving comfort
Hankook says its engineers “worked intensively” during the two-year development period to “combine the excellent driving characteristics of the Ventus evo SUV with a particularly low noise level.” Both tread design and the mix of materials in the tread contribute to a noise level below 66 decibels, which is lower than the specification requirements and meets the overall vehicle limit of 68 decibels.
The engineers pulled Opti Pitch technology out of their bag of tricks; this focuses on the ideal size and positioning of the tread blocks and, together with kerf design, helps minimise noise level. Next out of the bag was Dual Pitch technology, with which the engineers optimised the number of blocks on the inside and outside of the tread for maximum steering precision when cornering. This technology also takes the requirements for a low-noise tread pattern into account. They also adjusted tread height to reduce noise without compromising traction, braking behaviour, cornering stability or maximum mileage.
Finetuning at the Nürbugring Nordschleife
The Hankook team developed each OE tyre with specific features to match the varying power levels of the Tiguan models they’re intended for. As mentioned before, the aim with the 18-inch and 19-inch versions of the Ventus evo SUV is to offer maximum driving comfort. But when designing a tyre for the Tiguan R-Line, the Hankook engineers gave this a sportier configuration to emphasise the SUV’s dynamic character. A 20-inch sports version of the tyre is also available; this has a special tread compound that its developers tried and tested on the racetrack and subject to demanding driving tests on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Designed for efficiency & made in Europe
When developing OE tyres for the VW Tiguan, which is also available as a hybrid, the Hankook development team applied their expertise into achieving the lowest possible rolling resistance. Hankook Tire produces the Ventus evo SUV exclusively at its factory in Hungary and offers all sizes of the Ventus evo SUV worldwide for the Volkswagen Tiguan.
Hankook Tire has supplied original equipment tyres to the VW Tiguan R since 2022, with the SUV driving on Ventus S1 2 SUV or evo 3 SUV.
