Winter Tire Testing
Hankook Tire opened “Technotrac,” a performance test center for tires for winter, which is about 211,200㎡ in Ivalo, and a first for a Korean tire manufacturer.
The Technotrack located in Ivalo, the northernmost tip of Finland boasts an optimal winter tire test environment. The facility will be used to develop winter tires that can perform best in winter weather and road conditions in Europe where high-performance tires and winter tires are in high demand.
The Technotrac has a total of four tracks including a flat track to test driving and braking performance, friction, and safety of tires on snowy and icy roads, and a handling track to examine the gripping and handling performances of tires on snowy roads more closely.
Hankook Tire will enhance the results of evaluations and the reliability of winter tires through various tests on the Technotrac and improve operational efficiency based on environments for winter tire tests from December to April. Besides, the company plans to actively utilize the track to enhance the value of its tires as a premium brand by accumulating technology for the development of winter tires such as road surfaces and the verification of various test conditions and studies on test methods and holding various external activities.
"The Technotrac is part of our R&D investment to provide future technologies for ultra high performance tires and winter tires, which are increasingly in high demand in Europe," said Seo Seung-hwa, vice chairman and CEO of Hankook Tire. "We will leading the tire industry based on the best technology and quality and fulfill our roles as a global leading tire company that satisfies our customers."
Meanwhile, Hankook Tire has been operating its own driving test center since 1985. Since 2005, it has been operating a tire performance test center called G'trac in Geumsan, Korea. To top it off, the Korean tire giant is carrying out high-performance tests by setting up a technical office at Spain's IDIADA, a European accredited testing organization.