Hankook’s ‘eMembrane’ Concept Tyre

[Alien DNA]

Hankook Tire’s eMembrane represents a solid result of the company’s continued efforts and investment in developing forward-looking tyre designs and concepts. With its eco-friendly and state-of-the-art dynamic features, eMembrane demonstrates the new innovative tyre concept and applies distinguished performance features that reflect imaginable future driving environment.

eMembrane’s tread design also adds to its innovative ideas. For instance, when driving at high-speeds, the tyre’s tread centre extends to generate maximum ground friction through wider ground contact area, which maximises grip power to execute dynamic cornering and performance driving. Conversely, when driving at low-speeds, the tread is designed to produce minimal road contact area and ground friction, whereby the tyre’s fuel efficiency is enhanced by reducing rolling resistance. Furthermore, to signal the changes in eMembrane’s driving modes, an LED system is equipped in the tyre’s sidewall for operation alarm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxvC35APyYo



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Now what i want to know is, are the inner and outer side of the thread going to have more wear than the middle? The middle will spend less time having contact with the road..... how did this win an award?

[playwme]

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Now what i want to know is, are the inner and outer side of the thread going to have more wear than the middle? The middle will spend less time having contact with the road..... how did this win an award?

You mean like a motorbike tyre? Tyres don't wear perfectly evenly anyway. They might on the back of a HQ where the diff holds them at the exact same angle relative to each other and the road all the time, but newer cars with indecent suspension put all sorts of different angles and forces upon the tyre.

[Alien DNA]

Looking at the video.....the point of the middle of the tyre to not touch the bitumen is for fuel consumption and reduced ground friction. But general everyday with cornering and braking would surely chew the outer and inner edges quicker than the middle of the tyre if higher speeds arent reached. Thus uneven tread wear. I cant imagine they would be cheap if they come on the market. But high 5 for coming up something outside the box

[SLR_dave]

Diamonds on the soles of their shoes. Pretty diamonds though.

Fuel savings versus cost of tyre to consumer = ?
Production emissions versus emissions at vehicle = ?
CO2 emissions to maintain tyre pressure versus emmission savings at vehicle = ?

It is imaginable that the outer edges are a harder compound, that would let the middle flex differently, how is air pressure managed, I wonder,.... hmmn, pretty evidently it has to be kept properly inflated.

Nice bling if you can get it.