As automotive technology evolves, changes shape and becomes more efficient, it’s seldom one hears of component development undergoing radical change as well. Perhaps this has something to do with the secretive nature of companies like ZF, Bosch or any of the tens of tyre manufacturers, but now Hankook Tyres out of South Korea has revealed a new airless wheel-and-tyre concept. They’re calling it the Hankook i-Flex Airless wheel and tyre.
Airless tyres are not completely new to the business: Michelin did it once with the ‘Tweel Concept,’ American company, Polaris also did something similar and Bridgestone unveiled an airless concept in 2011. But the philosophy behind the Hankook i-Flex Airless wheel and tyre concept is to eliminate the out-dated idea of a wheel and tyre being two separate entities totally; thereby lessening wheel and tyre weight and increasing vehicle efficiency due to the reduced energy conversion required in driving them. This makes the Hankook i-Flex Airless wheel and tyre far more ecologically sustainable than conventional wheels and tyres.
The unique tyre is constructed from 90% recyclable polyurethane synthetic materials, and Hankook says because the i-Flex concept is totally airless it is considerably lighter and able to offer greater shock absorption through its unique mesh structure than regular air-filled tyres with conventional wheels. Better still, the i-Flex reduces NVH noise emissions too and can never go flat or lose tyre pressure. At the moment tyres measure 155 mm wide and 590 mm in diameter with a central ‘simulated’ 14-inch wheel.
