Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. announced that its concept tires, Tiltread and eMembrane, were awarded with the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2014 in the transportation category.
With this recognition from the IDEA 2014, Hankook Tire says it has now completed the world’s top-three design awards along with the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award in 2014.
The company says receiving the prestigious awards is the result of Hankook Tire’s continued efforts and investment in R&D.
Earlier this week the company held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new R&D center, the Hankook Technodome, in Daejeon, Korea, when the company announced its strategic R&D vision. (See Hankook heads for ‘top-tier’ with Technodome.)
Hankook’s Tiltread maximizes performance in high-powered vehicles to keep pace with advancing car engine technology. The tilting system equipped with partitioned tires and automatic control suspension maximizes the contact area of each partitioned tire and lowers a car’s body by tilting the shaft during cornering, which enables safe and powerful turns.
Also, Tiltread’s three partitioned non-pneumatic tires are puncture-resistant and also possess high durability and elasticity for outstanding cornering, notes Hankook.
The eMembrane, designed with smart hybrid concept, is a multi-use tire for both performance and regular city driving. By using shape memory alloys that change the contact ratio of tire according to a car’s speed, eMembrane’s tread is designed to produce minimal road contact area and ground friction when driving at low speeds, and this enhances fuel efficiency with reduced rolling resistance.
When driving at high speeds, the company says the tread center extends to generate maximum ground friction with wider ground contact area, maximizing grip power to execute dynamic cornering and performance driving. Also, in order to make it easier to signal the changes in eMembrane’s driving modes, an LED system is equipped in the tire’s sidewall for operation alarm.
“Recognitions from all the world’s top-three design awards proudly reveal Hankook Tire’s outstanding design innovation and R&D capability as a top-tier tire company,” said Seung Hwa Suh, CEO and vice chairman of Hankook Tire.
“As a leading global tire company, Hankook Tire will continue our extensive investment to bolster competitive edge in tire technology, contributing to push the boundaries of driving innovation.”
