Engine Noise Effect on the Driver’s Ability for Controlling Vehicle Speed in Various Driving Conditions

Abstract

Engine noise is considered to decrease by electrification of the vehicle drive power. In this study, we evaluated the drivers’ vehicle-speed control abilities by the perception of the engine noise so as to investigate influence of the engine noise on their vehicle operation. As the result, the speed control ability was decreased significantly by the reduction of the engine-noise especially in accelerating and cruising conditions. On the other hand, the ability was increased by adding a high order pure-tone noise component in the reduced engine-noise reduction condition.