Hankook Tire Malaysia introduces the iON evo and Ventus Prime 4 tyre series for the Malaysian market

Recently Hankook Tire Malaysia officially launched and showcased the new iON evo product lines and Ventus Prime 4 range of tyres for the Malaysian market. With the participation of over 200 stakeholders and dealers, Hankook Tire Malaysia have introduced these new product lines and offered special promotions to those that had attended the event..

The Hankook iON evo and iON evo SUV - the EV exclusive Performance Tyre range

Hankook's iON evo, which is also available for SUVs, is the latest in the brand's iON series of Electric Vehicle (EV) specific tyres.  They are developed with a focus on offering uncompromised performance in handling and mileage with the mostly low rolling resistance desired by EV manufacturerrs. It also has been desisng to have good wet grip, and has low noise properties too. The iON evo is available in 4 sizes ranging from 18 to 21 inches and iON evo SUV is available in 4 sizes ranging from 19 to 22 inches. 

 In order to explain further on what is so different about EV specific tyres is that the EV-exclusive iON evo and iON evo SUV offer superior handling and grip performance in response to the initial and almost instant torque delivery of EVs. The tyres are made of high-concentration silica compound and eco-friendly materials to meet the desired durability and design ideal for spreading the ground pressure evenly. This allows a longer tire tread life usage and requires lesser tire replacement.

Aside from that, Hankook’s EV Contour Technology which increases cornering stiffness by 10%, iON evo and iON evo SUV are designed to further enhance cornering stability and deliver greater handling performance. Also, a reinforcement belt mixed with the most advanced fiber ‘Aramid’ is applied to improve steering performance and to maintain an optimized shape during high-speed driving.

 Additionally, the pattern block rigidity is further optimized to prevent slippage caused by the high torque of EVs, with extended outside shoulder blocks for maximum road contact.

Moreover, iON evo and iON evo SUV are designed to manage the characteristics of EVs which have 30% heavier battery weight and 20% faster tire wear out compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. With an optimized ground pressure distribution feature that reduces rolling resistance, the tires manage to provide excellent driving quality and energy conservation of the battery allowing a longer-lasting drive. Above all, the iON evo and iON evo SUV offer the noise-proof feature Hankook Sound Absorber™ technology which optimizes the multi-pitch sequencing by minimizing tread pattern noise to offer a quiet and pleasant ride in all speed ranges.. 

Seunghyun Kim, Team Manager of Consumer Marketing said “The introduction of our newest iON evo and iON evo SUV is in response to meet the unique demands that high-performance EVs place on tires. Hankook Tire has extensive experience in developing tires dedicated to EVs that are already being used by leading global automotive brands. The iON tires push the limits of performance EVs with class-leading handling, secure wet grip and enhanced mileage while delivering the low rolling resistance, safety and comfort that EV drivers appreciate.”

It does seem that an EV specific tyre does require a slightly different set of parameters that a tyre manufacturer has to looking into. The iON range seems to hit many of the points required, especially the torque delivery of these vehicles and the extra weight these vehicles seem to carry around due to the heavier nature of carrying battery packs.

Hankook Tire Malaysia has informed that they intend to expand its range of tire sizes tailored for electric vehicles in Malaysia in line with the development of the EV market here.

The Hankook Ventus Prime 4 Tyre

Ventus Prime 4, the newest development of Hankook for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, is a the latest generation of the award-winning Ventus Prime tire series that provides a more optimized blend of performance, safety, comfort, and durability. Ventus Prime 4, together with SUV tyre variants, is available in 5 sizes ranging from 15 to 19 inches.

In detail, the tread compound of Ventus Prime 4 comprises a new and highly enriched quality of silica content which is vulcanized at low temperatures for twice the duration compared to regular tires. This enables increased blending between molecules bringing greater tread block rigidity and leading to lower rolling resistance with less wear.

In addition, the tread pattern and contour of Ventus Prime 4 are also optimized to achieve a precise level of contact area. The dual structure of the carcass fiber stiffener used for the development of Ventus Prime 4 assures greater resistance. On top of that, it is equipped with a jointless full-cover reinforcement belt that brings ideal tread strength and also utilizes high-strength belts to absorb external shock perfectly.

With these features, the Ventus Prime 4 offers excellence in durability as much as bringing customers amore comfortable driving experience. The technological improvements in the Ventus Prime 4 deliver significant benefits including minimized wear, improved mileage, solid driving performance, and at the same time enhanced safety with outstanding braking performance, particularly on wet roads.

“With the Ventus Prime 4 for ICE vehicles, our goal is to continue offering customers the award-winning Ventus Prime tyre series with bolder improvements, specifically on the wear properties. This was available without compromising on other criteria and has led us to the success of the series,” said Oh Hyun Nam, Managing Director of Hankook Tire Malaysia. 

“The Ventus Prime 4 offers a remarkable durability increase of about 20% compared to its predecessor while achieving even better handling, comfort, and rolling resistance properties.” he added.