Brabus selects Hankook as technology partner

Hankook Tire has entered into a partnership with automotive tuning company Brabus, making the tyre maker an official technology partner. While one goal of this cooperation is for Hankook to develop customised tyres for Brabus, the German firm will initially equip its cars with Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 and Ventus S1 evo Z tyres in rim diameters up to 23-inches. For customers specifying winter tyres, Brabus will offer the Hankook Winter i*cept evo 3.

“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,” shares 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.”

Brabus will fit Hankook tyres in sizes up to 23” (Photo: Brabus)

Developing even better tyres

To this end, development engineers and technicians from both companies are now working closely together and drawing upon their combined knowledge to “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, Hankook’s head of product & tuning in Germany. “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.”

In addition to close technological cooperation, the partnership between Hankook and Brabus will see the companies engage in joint marketing and sales activities all over the world.