Tuning at the highest level as well as development and construction of exclusive high-performance supercars have made BRABUS one of the world’s leading mobility brands.
The company from Bottrop never would have been able to achieve and successfully defend its top position in the field to this day without the professional support from the best automotive suppliers in the world, let alone be able to strengthen it continuously.
Hankook, the renowned manufacturer of high-performance tyres, now joins the illustrious circle of BRABUS technology partners.
Hankook Tire was founded in Seoul in 1941 and over the past eight decades has grown into one of the world’s leading tyre manufacturers. The company maintains eight production sites and five development centres around the globe today. Among the premium carmakers that use Hankook tyres as original equipment are such brands as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Tesla and VW. In addition, the Korean company has earned an excellent reputation in motorsport and is a key supplier of tyres for various racing series all over the world.
Now BRABUS will also mount high-performance tyres from Hankook on its alloy wheels up to 23 inches in diameter. In a first step, these will be predominantly the UHP Ventus S1 evo 3 premium summer tyre and the UUHP Ventus S1 evo Z tyre. Both stand out from other modern tyres for their high-strength aramid-reinforced hybrid belt. This complex design offers particularly high grip and an especially high level of safety reserves on dry and wet roads. As winter tyres for many BRABUS automobiles, the new partners rely on the Winter i*cept evo 3 ultra-high-performance tyre.
“As the result of numerous driving tests with different BRABUS supercars on proving grounds, racetracks and of course on public roads, we have decided to make premium manufacturer Hankook part of our range,” explains BRABUS CTO Jörn Gander. “The company’s broad line of products enables us to equip a wide variety of BRABUS Monoblock wheels and thus a multitude of different vehicles with Hankook tyres. However, another criterion for this cooperation for us was that our new technology partner will also develop special tyres for us in the future that will be precisely tailored to the specific, extremely high requirements of future BRABUS supercars.”
To this end, the development engineers and technicians of both companies are now working together closely in order to draw upon the huge wealth of experience of Hankook and BRABUS and as a result develop even better tyres for optimal performance and safety.
“We look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that this cooperation will generate,” says Roland Hehner, Head of Product & Tuning at Hankook. “Of course, the valuable experience we have amassed in motorsport will also help up with these tasks. For example, as the exclusive technical partner and tyre supplier of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, we have also gathered a lot of experience with high-performance tyres for electric cars under extreme conditions. Going forward, this know-how will be tremendously helpful in our technology partnership with BRABUS, which of course will also extend to new energy vehicles.”
The technology partnership between Hankook and BRABUS comprises more than very close cooperation in the area of technology, however. There will also be joint marketing and sales activities all over the world.