A SURVEY OF PASSENGER CAR NOISE LEVELS

Results from noise tests on 18 passenger cars are reported. The sample contains both diesel and gasoline engined vehicles and two (a SAAB 99 and Peugeot 504 GLD) are examined in detail over their normal operating range. The effects of vehicle operations are examined and differences between vehicles compared.

For equivalent engines there is shown to be little difference between vehicle noise for diesel and gasoline engines for current legislative test procedures, although idle and low speed noise levels are increased significantly in the case of the diesel engine.

At vehicle speeds above 80km/h in top gear, rolling noise dominates the total vehicle radiated noise.