Hankook debuts Kinergy XP all-season tire

NASHVILLE—Hankook Tire America Corp. has launched the Kinergy XP, an all-season grand touring tire designed for premium sedans, CUVs and SUVs.

Rob Williams, president at Hankook America, said drivers expect an all-season tire to perform in all types of weather and road conditions.

"Kinergy XP is designed to do just that—with improved wet and snow braking performance," Williams said. "In addition to these handling enhancements, drivers can look forward to enjoying a more comfortable and quieter ride with longer tread life that we're backing with a 75,000-mile warranty."

The Kinergy XP was engineered to perform year-round in most weather conditions, including rain and light snow, while maximizing cabin comfort and longevity of the tire, Hankook said.

It features a new all-season performance compound with advanced silica that improves wet handling by 6 percent and wet braking by 2 percent, compared to its predecessor, Kinergy GT.

Hankook said 3D sipes and beveled edges on the shoulder grooves improve snow acceleration by 15 percent and snow braking by 14 percent, compared to the GT. Hankook said the XP replaces the GT replacement line, not the original equipment version of the Kinergy GT.

Corvex Tread Radius Technology provides even tread wear, highly flexible materials to maintain flexibility and an optimized foot shape, which the company said should result in a treadlife that lasts 20 percent longer than the GT.

Hankook said there is also up to a 5-percent cabin noise reduction compared to major competitors because of knurling technology, expanding shoulder grooves and optimized multi-pitch sequencing to reduce tread pattern noise.

Kinergy XP is available in 41 popular sizes ranging from 16- to 20-inch rim diameters, with additional sizes to be introduced at a later date, the company said.

Kinergy XP comes with a road hazard warranty, 30-day-free trial and a 75,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

Hankook's Kinergy tires are built to meet the everyday needs of drivers with well-balanced performance and ride quality in all-season and all-weather environments and are designed for a wide range of vehicles from compacts and sedans to medium and large SUVs, the company said.

Kinergy XP joins other leading Kinergy tires such as the all-weather Kinergy 4S2, the premium touring all-season Kinergy PT for passenger and crossover vehicles, and the standard all-weather touring Kinergy ST.