Perception of Tyre Noise: Can Tyre Noise be Differentiated and Characterized by the Perception of a Listener Outside the Car?

When constructing a tyre, it is of importance that improvements and planned changes are not only physically measurable, but that they also can be perceived by a listener. Tyre/road noise becomes a more important focus area, especially with the growing market of electric vehicles. In the design of tyre/road sound, there are three main aims: to reduce the overall sound level, to increase pleasantness and to do so still maintaining the carried information about e.g. driving conditions. To be able to do this, an understanding of how physical changes in a tyre are reflected in the perception of the same tyre is essential. In the present study, the aim is thus to determine if the rolling noise of a tyre can be both differentiated and characterized by its perceptual qualities. The focus is on the perception of the sound outside the car, perceived by, for example, a pedestrian. Listeners have judged different road tyre combinations and their perception in terms of their emotional responses (pleasantness, activation and stress) and their psychoacoustic responses (loudnes s, sharpness, roughness, and pitch). The results confirmed that rolling noise can be perceptually differentiated. Further, it is possible to differentiate between the effects of the street and the effects of the tyre on all emotional and most psychoacoustic parameters. The results suggest that changes to both road surfaces and tyres can affect both emotional and psychoacoustic perceptual qualities