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<\/p>\nHankook opened \u2018Technotrac\u2019, its own European test facility for winter tyres in Finland last weekend and Padraic Deane was in Finland to cover the event and test some of the company’s technically advanced new winter tyres. <\/p>\n
With a development centre in Germany, high-end production and state-of-the-art indoor testing in Hungary, as well as its very own winter test facility in Finland, Hankook stands for an integrated approach in the field of tyre development and production in Europe. <\/p>\n
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Hankook reconfirmed its place at the top table with other premium tyre manufacturers when it officially opened its very own European winter tyre test facility, named \u2018Technotrac\u2019 in Ivalo, Finland, approximately 300 km north of the Arctic Circle. Finnish company Test World Oy was commissioned to build the facility at the end of 2015. <\/p>\n
The opening of the test facility means that Hankook\u2019s winter tyres for the European market are not only developed and produced in Europe, but they can also now be tested under real European winter conditions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cEurope is one of Hankook\u2019s largest and most important markets globally, which is why we have spent a long time working towards regional product development,\u201d explains Ho-Youl Pae, head of Hankook Tire Europe. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud that not only our summer tyres, but also those with winter treads, both of which are produced in Europe, can now be tested here under ideal conditions to ensure that they are perfectly suited to the prevailing road and climatic conditions, as well as responding to market demands. Having our very own winter test facility, means that we can consolidate our position as one of Europe\u2019s leading tyre makers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new Technotrac test facility comprises three so-called flat tracks, which are used for testing braking, traction and lateral stability on snow or ice, as well as two snow handling tracks for subjective tyre evaluation, that have been specifically designed to meet the needs of premium vehicle manufacturers located in Germany. <\/p>\n
And having Test World (part of the Millbrook Group, owners of the Milford Proving Grounds, near Bedford in England) located next-door to Hankook\u2019s new Technotrac facility is another major coup. Test World are pioneers in indoor winter testing, having built the World\u2019s first objective and subjective year-round winter test facilities, including an Ice and snow Flat plus a snow handling closed circuit loop. <\/p>\n
Hankook has had a longterm association with Test World, and it uses their indoor facilities, which uses natural snow to give an accurate representation of winter conditions. The team at Test World bring snow indoors in the spring.<\/p>\n
The Hankook site also boasts an excellent infrastructure, with offices and conference rooms and even state-of-the-art workshops, as well as a large cold-storage warehouse. The stable and prolonged winter conditions in Ivalo was one of the factors that influenced the decision to build the most northerly winter test facility in the world in this location.<\/p>\n
Hankook has been investing extensively in research and development (R&D) for many years. \u201cApproximately five percent of all Hankook employees already work in R&D worldwide. That is more than 1,000 employees in total,\u201d says Dr. Hyung Nam Kim, head of global development at Hankook. <\/p>\n
Just last October, the tyre maker opened its futuristic global research and development centre, the \u2018Hankook Technodome\u2019 in Daejeon, South Korea, which the company intends to use for developing innovative technologies to position itself as one of the world\u2019s top brands. The \u2018Technodome\u2019 is the central hub of Hankook\u2019s global R&D infrastructure and connects not only the regional technical centres, ATC (American Technical Center), CTC (China Technical Center), JTC (Japan Technical Center) and the European Technical Center (ETC) in Hannover, Germany, but now also the new winter test facility in Finland. <\/p>\n
\u201cTest facilities like the new \u2018Technotrac Ivalo\u2019 are an important and logical first step towards ensuring that we are able to fully test the forward-looking innovative tyre technologies that are being developed in the \u2018Hankook Technodome\u2019\u201d, adds Dr. Kim.<\/p>\n
Since the opening of the ETC in Hannover in 1997, Hankook has expanded the scope of its research projects in Europe and today it is one of the main suppliers for many premium automotive manufacturers, including all top brands, such as Audi, BMW, MAN, Mercedes Benz cars and trucks, MINI, Porsche, Scania and VW. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur ultra-high-performance tyres, Hankook Ventus S1 evo\u00b2 SUV with \u2018sound absorber\u00ae\u2019 technology, were recently selected by Audi for the Q7 and SQ7. The continuous growth of our original equipment business activities demands the parallel expansion of testing capacities, for instance the new \u2018Technotrac Ivalo\u2019. <\/p>\n
Now that the necessary requirements have been met, we assume that we will be able to significantly improve the effectiveness of our research and development plans\u201d, says Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Krause, head of European Technical Centre, which will be coordinating the test activities taking place at the new \u2018Technotrac Ivalo\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hankook opened \u2018Technotrac\u2019, its own European test facility for winter tyres in Finland last weekend and Padraic Deane was in Finland to cover the event and test some of the company’s technically advanced new winter tyres. With a development centre in Germany, high-end production and state-of-the-art indoor testing in Hungary, as well as its very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":16470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[649,63,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brands","category-hankook","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n