Performance, luxury, practicality, safety… Blurring the lines between a sports car and an SUV, has the Audi Q8 found the perfect tyre to match its capabilities?
If the Audi Q5 has five seats, and the Audi Q7 has seven seats… How many seats does the Audi Q8 have? That’s right: five seats. But it’s all for good reason, as Audi’s biggest Q is out to strike a slightly different balance than its lower numbered siblings. Trading in a pinch — and just a pinch — of practicality for some sports performance, without undermining its functional status as a family-ready SUV.
Combine these attributes with the Q8’s luxuriousness, and you’re into a relatively unique category, alongside the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLS and the BMW X5 SUVs. And a unique offering such as this, needs a unique tyre to match — which is where Hankook enter the fray with the Ventus S1 Evo 3.
Already equipped to handle whatever level of performance is thrown at it, Hankook have created a custom marked tyre variant to enhance the capabilities of both car and rubber — ensuring Audi’s flagship model has a tyre to match.
Image credit: Audi
Enhance that
As hinted at by the Q8’s aggressively angular styling cues, the big Audi packs something a little more potent beneath the bonnet than its siblings. With 335 hp and 500 Nm of torque, 0-62 mph is gone in a mere 5.6 seconds. Pretty quick for your average run to the shops, but fear not, should speedy sections of road feature en route, the Ventus S1 Evo 3 is here to help — adding an extra layer of safety too.
The tyre’s Aramid reinforcement belt keeps the handling right where you want it throughout acceleration, and all way up to high speeds by providing optimised contact between rubber and road. But, what happens when this sizeable German machine reaches a corner? Not a problem: the Evo 3’s stiff outer shoulder can handle the heavy load, giving you the confidence to safely navigate through corners thanks to a 15% improvement in dry handling.
Image credit: Audi
Now, spring may be springing, but sunny weather is far from guaranteed just yet. Luckily, this dry handling comes without compromise in the wet, as interlocking grooves prevent hydroplaning and provide grip on wet rainy roads — letting the Q8 deliver performance all year round.