Hankook Tire Co. is exhibiting a new concept tire on the Opel GT Concept during the Geneva auto show.
With a futuristic “roller skate design,” solid red tires are placed on the car’s front axle and black on the rear. The tire sidewall and tread design follows the curves and futuristic look of the Opel GT, Hankook said.
The design and structure of the concept tire is similar to regular road tires despite the red and black color differences, as they both provide an identical construction, the tiremaker said. The concept tires correspond approximately to the conventional tire size 225/40R18.
“Visual aspects can favor colored tires by all means. They would provide car drivers with further customization options for their vehicles, and the beautiful Opel GT Concept will certainly provide drivers with an insight to what the future can hold,” said Klaus Krause, head of the Hankook’s European technical center.
Krause notes some drawbacks to the design, “in technical terms, taking the colored design further than the sidewall would lead to significantly higher production costs.”