Korean Tire Company to Develop World-Class Tires with New Testing Facility in Taean
Hankook Tire has completed the construction of ‘Korea Technoring’, a tire testing facility in Taean, Chungnam, in May 2022. This ambitious project by Hankook Tire & Technology aims to innovate tire technology and offers a world-class testing track.
The facility includes 13 different performance test areas, including a high-speed circuit stretching up to 250 km/h, a dry handling circuit, and various advanced test tracks to simulate wet surfaces and off-road conditions. With an area of 1.26 million square meters (38 hectares), it is the largest in Asia and boasts a control tower—unique among global tire testing facilities.
Each day, the facility tests a diverse range of tires, including passenger, SUV, and commercial vehicle tires. Remarkably, the High Speed Oval track allows vehicles to reach speeds of up to 250 km/h on steeply banked curves with a gradient of 38.87 degrees, providing an exhilarating wall-riding experience.
For safety, the control tower, equipped with CCTV, monitors the entire Technoring and communicates with test drivers in real-time to ensure a secure testing environment.
Data collected from rigorous tests, which include pushing tires to their limits, contribute to tire technology innovation, integrating feedback into product development at the Technoplex and the Technodome research lab. This has led to significant achievements, such as exclusively supplying tires for the BMW M5 7th generation model, surpassing competitors like Michelin and Goodyear.
A Hankook Tire representative stated, “We aim to develop higher-performing tire products than our competitors and will continue to push the boundaries in tire and vehicle reaction testing under extreme conditions, further developing fundamental technologies and research on future mobility innovations. We are dedicated to becoming a leading global company.”