Kumho has been announced as the exclusive OE tyre supplier for the fastest Mini model ever to be released - the recently launched, limited edition John Cooper Works GP.
The 162kW Mini pocket rocket will be shod with the road-legal, semi-slick Kumho ECSTA V700(V70A) in a new 215/40 ZR17 83W size especially developed in conjunction with Mini parent company BMW for fitment to the new Mini GP.
The choice of the Kumho ECSTA V700 215/40 ZR17 followed exhaustive tests on the daunting Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany, which saw the Mini GP lap the 14 km circuit in 8 minutes 23 seconds - a full 19 seconds faster than the original Mini Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP Kit launched in 2006.
This latest mighty Mini GP was originally unveiled during the Mini United 2012 event at the Le Castellet circuit in France last May.
The V700, long favoured by motorsport competitors, is readily available in many sizes from 13 to 18 inches and in four different compounds - super soft, soft, medium and hard.
According to David Basha Kumho Tyres Australia's national marketing and training manager the choice of the Kumho V700 for the new Mini GP underlines the company's growing performance credentials and the respect manufacturers like BMW have for Kumho's tyre engineering.
"Mini was seeking an ultra high performance tyre with little compromise to match the performance credentials of the Mini GP and give buyers ultimate levels of grip both on road and on track and the tests at Nurburgring proved that," said David Basha.
"The technological developments made in developing tyres like the V700 flow on down to Kumho's range of everyday tyres providing better performance, grip, wear and efficiency for all types of cars and SUVs," he added.