Tyre manufacturer Hankook will again be equipping the new 2014 MINI with its tyres. The first generation of the BMW Group’s premium small car has already been outfitted with Hankook tyres since 2011. Now the stylish new edition is rolling of the assembly plants on Hankook tyres as well. Various treads will be factory equipped in the suitable MINI sizes of 15, 16 and 17 inches, partially with emergency running properties. All tyres are supplied directly to the MINI production sites from the tyre manufacturer’s European high-end factory in Hungary.
Premium tyre manufacturer Hankook has been selected by the BMW GROUP to supply the original equipment for the recently presented new MINI models ONE, ONE D, COOPER, COOPER D and COOPER S. The Hankook supply portfolio has thereby been significantly expanded with the new edition of the sporty premium small car. Aside from the 15 inch basic tyres for the ONE and COOPER models, as well as 16 inch for the COOPER S, a sporty 17 inch Hankook option is also available for the first time. In addition to the standard versions, Hankook also supplies the 16 and 17 inch versions with the Hankook Runflat System (HRS) as tyre sets with emergency running properties. Various summer patterns suiting each car’s respective engine power are utilised here to effectively support the sporty-direct handling of the MINI . For the North American market, the tyre manufacturer also supplies an all-season tread in all three sizes with 15 inch in the standard and 16 and 17 inch in the runflat version.
The extended original equipment portfolio mirrors the further intensifying relationships with the BMW Group. In addition to the MINI, Hankook tyres are already being fitted as original equipment on five other models from the Munich based premium automobile manufacturer (BMW 1-, 3-, 4- and 5-series, as well as the X5). The MINI’s chassis with its go-kart style handling properties places special requirements on the tyres. They must optimally transfer the performance of the vehicle in order to support the renowned, typical MINI character.
“We have shown that our summer and all-season tyres ideally highlight the driving characteristics of the MINI without neglecting important safety and environmental parameters like wet grip or rolling resistance”, explained Engineer Klaus Krause, Head of Hankook’s European Development Centre. “We are very happy that our tyres have made a positive performance impression with the previous MINI generation and that we are now again fitted as an original equipment to the new MINI edition with an extended tyre portfolio.”
In addition to the high performance tyres Ventus Prime2, which has already been utilised since 2011 in the original equipment of the MINI, Hankook is also represented in original equipment with its ultra high-performance flagship tyre Ventus S1 evo2, the particularly energy efficient Kinergy Eco as well as the all-season pattern Optimo H426 for the North American market.
| Tyre size: | Tread: | Application: | HRS *: |
| 175/65 R 15 H * | Hankook Kinergy Eco | Summer | – |
| 175/65 R 15 H * | Hankook Optimo H426 | All-Season | – |
| 195/55 R 16 V * | Hankook Optimo H426 | All-Season | √ |
| 195/55 R 16 W * | Hankook Ventus Prime² | Summer | – |
| 195/55 R 16 W * | Hankook Ventus Prime² | Summer | √ |
| 205/45 R 17 V * | Hankook Optimo H426 | All-Season | √ |
| 205/45 R 17 W * | Hankook Ventus S1 evo² | Summer | √ |
* HRS: Hankook Runflat System
