Abstract
The sensory environment of the vehicle is an area where customer expectations have greatly increased in recent years. For example, sound quality has become a very important factor in determining customer perception of vehicle quality and value. In this paper, a method for evaluating sound quality is presented and used in an engine design application. As part of the design of a future midsize vehicle, 14 engine component modifications were being considered as ways to improve sound quality. A subjective evaluation was carried out to determine if these modifications had any effect on perceived sound quality and, if so, which modifications provided the greatest sound quality benefit. A paired comparison method was used in which subjects judged, first, similarity and, then, preference. The similarity results showed that the vehicle sounds were indeed perceived quite differently. Additional analysis, using multidimensional scaling, revealed that most of these differences could be attributed to just three of the modifications (lightweight valvetrain, crankshaft counterweight, and accessory drive). The preference results confirmed that these three components also governed the valuative judgements. As a result of this study, these modified components were included in the final vehicle design. More generally, the subjective evaluation and analysis procedure described here offers a means for bringing human factors into the design of automotive acoustic environments.
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