Hankook Gets OE Fitment for BMW 7 Series

Hankook Tire has cemented its reputation in the tire industry by bagging the OE fitment for the BMW 7 seires. The new luxury limousine will be fitted with Hankook’s UHP tire Ventus S1 evo2 in special runflat sizes 245/50 R 18 Y *RSC as part of its Runflat Safety Component. It will also use Hankook summer and winter tires as OE fitments. In winter, the BMW 7 series will be fitted with i*cept evo in size 245/50R 18 H *RSC while for the summer it will have Hankook Ventus S1 tire in 245/45 R19 Y*RSC for the front tires and 275/40 R19 Y*RSC for the rear tires.

This attest fitment adds to Hankook’s growing list of OE fitments for the BMW Group. Hankook had bagged fitments for six other models including the BMW X5, MINI and the BMW 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Series. However, this OE fitment marks an important milestone in the relationship between the two companies as this will be the first time that Hankook will be supplying both winter and summer tires to the BMW Group as OE fitments.

Commenting on this achievement, Ho-Youl Pae, Head of Hankook Tire Europe said, “We are proud to be supplying not only our UHP flagship tyre to the new 7 Series, but for the first time have also been chosen as the winter tyre original equipment supplier with our advanced runflat technology within this prestigious segment.”

The tires were extensively tested during the trial phase and proved that in addition to a dynamic driving experience, they provide a high level of driving comfort. They were expected to meet the highest demands with respect to dry handling performance, interior and external noise and their rolling resistance.

According to Klaus Krause, Head of the European Technology Centre (ETC) of Hankook in Hanover, where the tires for the BMW Group were developed, the tires had to exhibit exceptional wet and snow performance in addition to providing a high degree of comfort and an exciting drive. The team not only had to develop a new tread but also had to working on finding a new balance between tread design, construction and compound.

The development of the winter tire was even more challenging, especially in terms of noise levels as generally winter tires have more block edges which lead to higher noise levels.

Hankook’s UHP snow tire Winter i*cept evo tire in size 245/50 R *RSC is ideal for use in winter in western and central Europe as it optimizes performance in wet, dry and snow conditions. The tire comes with an inside-to-outside asymmetric groove tread and an enhanced pitch design for delivering an optimal driving experience. The design went on to win the renowned Red Dot Design Award.

Currently, a team of about 50 engineers and technicians are engaged in coming up with bespoke tire solutions for European automakers at Hankook’s European Technical Center in Hanover, Germany. This is the same place where the company has developed and tested the OE tires for the BMW Group though the tires were manufactured at Hankook’s plant in Ráclamás, Hungary. The company’s highly advanced factory in Ráclamás caters to the demand for passenger car tires in the European market and is one of the most modern tire factories in the world.