Test methodology for the vehicle-tire handling performance evaluation: objectification of driver’s subjective assessment

International audienceIn the context of vehicle-tire handling performance evaluation, subjective closed loop and objective open loop vehicle dynamics tests have been carried out in linear domain to get insights on the driver’s testing strategy. Experimental tests data analysis shows that vehicle responses have a big effect on the driver’s steering input and, therefore, on the subjective rating. In this paper, a clustering method in accordance with the test driver is developed to group, categorize and differentiate specific vehicle-tire handling behaviors. This method allows to study the correlation between objective measurements and subjective evaluation of the vehicle responses. Data analysis highlights objective metrics that can explain the variance of the driver’s subjective rating. The handling performance classification developed by the driver can be retrieved with the objective metrics previously mentioned