The Ventus S1 evo Z, an ultra-high-performance super sports tire that Hankook Tire & Technology will supply as original equipment for the Porsche 911 Carrera. [Hankook Tire & Technology]
The Ventus S1 evo Z, an ultra-high-performance super sports tire that Hankook Tire & Technology will supply as original equipment for the Porsche 911 Carrera. [Hankook Tire & Technology]

Hankook Tire & Technology will supply original equipment tires for the Porsche 911 Carrera, the German automaker's flagship sports car. The ultra-high-performance tires were engineered specifically to accommodate the different load distributions between the front and rear axles of a high-performance sports car.

Hankook Tire & Technology announced Monday that it will supply its Ventus S1 evo Z as original equipment (OE) tires for the Porsche 911 Carrera, with 19-inch tires fitted to the front wheels and 20-inch tires to the rear.

Across the automotive market, tires are playing an increasingly critical role not only in electric vehicles but also in high-performance combustion-engine models. As output and braking performance improve, road grip, high-speed stability and wet-surface braking have become key factors that determine overall vehicle performance.

The 911 Carrera is Porsche's defining sports car. Its rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout means the front and rear wheels carry different loads and behave differently. That demands tires engineered beyond simple size compliance — balancing steering responsiveness, grip, high-speed stability and performance on both dry and wet surfaces.

Hankook Tire & Technology developed the tires on the back of roughly a decade of OE collaboration with Porsche. After years of research, development and validation, the company completed a tire designed exclusively for the 911 Carrera and earned Porsche's official certification marking, NA2, which confirms the tire meets Porsche's required performance standards.

The Ventus S1 evo Z belongs to Hankook's flagship Ventus tire lineup. The 911 Carrera fitment uses different tread designs and profile shapes for the front and rear tires, tuning each axle's performance to match the distinct roles the front and rear wheels play while driving.

The tire compound was also developed from scratch. Hankook Tire & Technology said it applied a special resin and high-content silica while refining the mixing process to deliver stable performance on both dry and wet surfaces. The filler blend was also adjusted to maintain grip and braking capability on roads prone to hydroplaning.

The validation program was broader in scope than a typical OE tire project. Hankook Tire & Technology tested lane-change and handling performance at Papenburg in Germany and Idiada in Spain, assessed high-speed dry-surface handling at Nardò in Italy, and refined wet-surface handling at Pferdsfeld in Germany, among other venues.

Technical collaboration with Porsche ran in parallel throughout the process, with the focus on tuning tire responsiveness and stability to match the 911 Carrera's driving characteristics and delivering the handling feel required of a high-performance sports car.

The supply deal extends Hankook Tire & Technology's Porsche OE portfolio into the automaker's core sports car segment. The company currently supplies OE tires to approximately 40 vehicle brands and more than 300 models worldwide.

Hankook Tire & Technology plans to continue developing high-performance OE tires using its Technoplex headquarters, the Hankook Techno Dome research and development hub, and the Hankook Techno Ring test track. As automakers demand increasingly specialized tire performance, the ability to develop vehicle-specific tires is expected to become a key competitive advantage in the OE market.


kwater@heraldcorp.com