Malfunction or Normal Operation? Evaluation of the Subjectivity of Noise and Vibration Phenomena Accompanying the Operation of Motor Vehicles

In the age of modern automotive diagnostic instruments and automotive on-board computers, the human ear is still the benchmark for detecting and judging certain automotive noise phenomena. The human ear is an extremely sensitive, versatile “instrument,” but it does not provide information that can be stored and processed later. The sense of hearing it evokes is subjective, often different from person to person, even for the same noise/sound. Therefore, it is not possible to determine certain defects that provide a more differentiated acoustic pattern using the human ear alone. This publication deals with the comparison of measurable results and subjective impressions. For that purpose, noise measurements were performed on two different passenger vehicles, and psychoacoustic parameters (loudness, roughness, sharpness) and in addition the overall sound pressure level were evaluated. Based on the analysis, it can be stated that the evaluated psychoacoustic parameters can judge the perception of disturbing noise phenomena. So, the claims of the passengers can be strengthened through the psychoacoustic analysis.