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Mobility Innovation begins at Hankook Technoring

A massive track sits against the backdrop of an endless horizon in the middle of the reclaimed land in Taean, South Korea. This is Hankook Tire’s ‘Hankook Technoring’, Asia's largest tire test track and a stage for demonstrating tire technology from around the world. The vast amount of driving data accumulated here becomes the basis for new tire design and development.

However, Technoring is not just a testing ground. The technologies proven here lead to driving that pushes the limits of motorsports and extends into safe, enjoyable driving in everyday life. The numbers and data born in the lab are transformed into sensations and experiences. Let's explore the research and experiments currently being conducted at Technoring, Korea's leading test track, and how these findings are shaping our daily lives.

Why was Technoring created?

Hankook Tire is increasing its presence in the high-performance premium automobile market. Since first supplying tires for new Porsche vehicles in 2011, the company has completed its world-class research and development infrastructure by completing the ultra-high-performance driving test track, ‘Hankook Technoring,’ in 2022. Here, supercars such as Ferrari and Bugatti contribute to advancing ultra-high-performance tire technology through data obtained from real track driving. Recently, the company showcased its technological excellence as the exclusive tire supplier for the all-new 7th-generation BMW M5, having been selected over other leading global brands.

Meanwhile, Hankook Tire has been recognized for its technological prowess by supplying OE tires to over 30 automakers worldwide, including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. However, the company faced limitations verifying tire performance solely at its existing test sites, especially in addressing the conflicting demands of modern vehicles, such as increased weight from electric vehicle batteries, stronger output, quieter operation, and longer driving range. While data and AI simulations have advanced, it is ultimately impossible to accomplish complete verification without real-world data.

Race Beyond Limits

For this reason, Hankook Tire built a 1,256,198.35-square meter area test track, over four times larger than its previous track, and simultaneously increased the number of test vehicles from eight to fifty. With 13 dedicated tracks designed for high-speed driving, handling, wet surfaces, sudden braking, ride comfort, and noise evaluation, the facility provides a comprehensive testing environment ready to meet the demands of the next-generation mobility era.

Race Beyond Limits

Technoring: The forefront of technology verification

The essence of Technoring is verification. Here, tire performance is precisely tested by recreating real-world driving conditions for all types of vehicles, from compact cars to large commercial vehicles and even supercars. On the high-speed circuit, the car races at speeds exceeding 250 km/h, while on the skid pad, they maintain grip near the limit as they trace precise trajectories. On the off-road courses, SUVs tackle rough terrain, and trucks and buses demonstrate stable driving performance while supporting high loads.

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Technoring serves as a proving ground defined by Hankook Tire, a driving test site where tire performance is thoroughly verified and validated. Dozens of factors are recorded and quantified, including tire grip, braking stability, durability that can withstand thousands of driving cycles, noise generated during operation, and fuel efficiency. The massive amount of data collected in this way is analyzed in real time on engineers' monitors and is used as a foundation for developing new materials and optimizing designs.

These vehicle tests are completed on a total of 13 dedicated tracks, each designed to replicate diverse driving situations, including high-speed circuits and dry and wet braking test tracks to evasive maneuvers, lane changes, handling, ride quality, and noise evaluation.

  • Race Beyond Limits
  • Race Beyond Limits

Another defining characteristic of Technoring is its architecture. Although the building occupies only 1.14% of the vast 1,256,198.35-square-meter site, it serves as the brain that oversees all experiments carried out at Technoring. The control tower manages driving conditions in real time with 30 CCTVs and 360-degree monitoring, and responds immediately to unexpected situations. With wide-area video surveillance, double-layered safety management is achieved, from accident cause analysis to preventive measures that ensure recurrence is avoided.

The research building is divided into a Truck and Bus Replacement (TBR) Tire workshop, a Passenger Car Replacement (PCR) Tire workshop, a tire preparation room, and a tire disposal site, maximizing expertise in each field.

The data collected through Technoring goes far beyond verification. The ultimate goal is to deliver a high-quality driving experience based on quality, safety, reliability, and technological prowess. Accurate data analysis and predictive technology provide a detailed understanding of everything from tire wear to road conditions and driver habits, creating a more stable and efficient driving environment. Building on this foundation, Hankook Tire ultimately aims to convey the true sensation and pleasure of driving, or ‘Driving Emotion.’ How are braking distances and cornering speeds, converted into numbers, transmitted to the driver's fingertips and heart? Let's explore various technology experience events held at Technoring from 2023 to the present.

Race Beyond Limits
Race Beyond Limits

• Ventus Experience Day

First, let's take a look at the 'Ventus Experience Day' event held at Technoring this year. Hankook Tire invited prominent influencers from the global automobile market to experience supercars firsthand, focusing on models equipped with Ventus sports tires. The participants' experiences where shared globally through various content channels, demonstrating Ventus' technological competitiveness in the global market.

Race Beyond Limits
Race Beyond Limits

• Ventus air S Experience Day

The event held to unveil Hankook Tire’s new product, Ventus air S, was called ‘Ventus air S Experience Day.’ Participants experienced the Ventus air S in various conditions, including snowy and rainy roads and high-speed sections, to verify its grip, braking stability, and quietness. The tire received particularly positive reviews for its balanced performance in all four seasons as a premium all-season tire, especially for its braking power on wet roads .

Race Beyond Limits
Race Beyond Limits

• iON Brand Day

Among the events held at Technoring, ‘iON Brand Day’ is also not to be missed. The 2023 iON Brand Day was designed to directly verify the specialized performance of electric vehicle tires in response to the rapidly growing EV market, with the theme of iON. Even under high-torque and heavy-load vehicle load conditions, iON tires maintained excellent grip and braking performance, meeting the expectations of performance-conscious EV customers.

Race Beyond Limits
Race Beyond Limits

• TBR Test Driving Day

The ‘TBR Test Driving Day’ held at Technoring in 2024 was a significant event that verified the performance of commercial vehicle tires. The participants were able to experience firsthand the importance of tire stability and durability for large vehicles, such as trucks and buses, that must safely withstand loads of tens of tons .

hankook technoring
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From technology to creativity: Technoring reborn with LEGO blocks

Hankook Tire & Technology (CEO Jong-seon Ahn, Sang-hoon Lee, Hankook Tire) unveiled a special collaboration with certified LEGO artist Seong-wan Kim to precisely recreate the Technoring. This video, which received enthusiastic responses such as "The detail is crazy!", showcases a work of art created with approximately 8,000 LEGO blocks. It precisely depicts key facilities, including the high-speed circuit, circular circuit, off-road course, office building, and control tower, at a 1:700 scale that mirrors the actual structure.

This collaboration is noteworthy in that it goes beyond simple design and is a new attempt to creatively express Hankook Tire's technological philosophy. The partnership between Hankook Tire, known for pushing the boundaries of technology through precise data-based tire design and verification, and artist Kim Seong-wan, who brings imagination to life with precision craftsmanship, was born from a shared pursuit of the essence of technology. The results created by the two entities embody the meaning of a challenge toward “beyond technology,” where function meets art and technology meets emotion.

Race Beyond Limits
Race Beyond Limits

Technoring is not just a simple circular track. From an aerial view, it is a complex network of high-speed circuits, various straight and curved courses, control towers, parking lots, and even electric vehicle charging stations. To recreate this, artist Seong-wan Kim used aerial photography and CAD software to design a scaled-down model that matches the actual scale. The high-speed circuit in particular was the biggest challenge, its simultaneous slopes and curves are difficult to smoothly implement with LEGO’s rectangular blocks. Kim simultaneously captured the flow and slope of the curve through a stepped block arrangement.

“Since the real thing is the standard, if you ignore the proportions, the model will immediately become awkward. “The biggest challenge was how much of the actual composition could be preserved within the limits of the blocks.”

Most of the work was done using LEGO CAD software. Although structural stability was secured with thousands of connected blocks, Kim personally verified the combination characteristics of new blocks by physically testing the actual pieces. This process was not simply assembling toys, but rather an architectural act where structure, proportion, function, and detail intersect.

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The model’s details are vividly realized. The electric vehicle charging station behind the control tower was recreated in miniature, and the layout of the parking lot and main course were implemented to be realistic, adding to the fun of comparing the model with the actual site. Artist Seong-wan Kim said that this collaboration made him reconsider the existence of Hankook Tire.

“I was surprised to learn that Hankook Tire owns the largest test track in Asia. After studying the actual size of the scale model, I was amazed by its scale and gained a deeper appreciation for the technological prowess and quality of Hankook Tire, which operates on this scale and verifies its technology.”

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Brand: Communicating with the Future

Models made from LEGO blocks are not just exhibits. The proven technology of Technoring has been translated into the creative language of LEGO, becoming a bridge to communicate with a new generation. Technology starts with data, however, ultimately expands to culture and experience. Hankook Tire is breaking down the boundaries between technology and creativity, demonstrating that a brand can become a platform for both experience and trust.

Hankook Tire announced that it will “develop future mobility by establishing a ‘digital twin process’ through testing in the harshest environments in the future.” Technoring, which verifies the essence of Hankook Tire technology, now adds layers of experience and creativity to that foundation, continuously shaping the company’s evolving brand story. Today, Hankook Tire is evolving into a brand that designs the very "emotion of movement" on roads around the world.

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