Hankook Tire’s concept tires honored with the International Design Excellence Awards 2014
Hankook Tire, the leading and one of the fastest growing tire companies in the world, today proudly announced that its concept tires, Tiltread and eMembrane, designed and produced in collaboration with University of Cincinnati, were awarded with the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA®) 2014 in the transportation category.
Hankook Tire’s award-winning 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 from the outset and also possess high durability and elasticity for outstanding cornering.
Another award-winning 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, on the other hand, 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.
Seung Hwa Suh, Vice Chairman and CEO of Hankook Tire, said, “Recognitions from all the world’s top-3 design awards proudly reveal Hankook Tire’s outstanding design innovation and R&D capability as a top-tier tire company.” He also added, “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.”
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