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Future on-board vehicle control systems can be further improved through new types of mechatronic systems. In particular, these systems'' capacities for interaction enhance safety, comfort and economic viability. The Automotive Engineering Department (fzd) of Darmstadt University of Technology is engaged in research of the mechatronic vehicle corner, which consists of three subsystems: sensor tire, electrically actuated wheel brake and smart suspension. By intercommunication of these three systems, the brake controller receives direct, fast and permanent information about dynamic events in the tire contact area provided by the tire sensor as valuable control input. This allows to control operation conditions of each wheel brake. The information provided by the tire sensor for example helps to distinguish between straightline driving and cornering as well as to determine μ-split conditions.

In comparison to other vehicles motorcycles have very special driving characteristics, so the typical use of motorcycles is clearly distinct from the use of passenger cars. At Darmstadt University the riding behavior of motorcyclists has been experimentally investigated [2, 3, 4, 5], especially in order to determine their exhaust and noise emissions in real traffic. The results and the essential differences between motorcycles and cars should be considered in the discussion of testing methods and limiting values, e.g., for exhaust and noise emissions of two-wheelers. This paper presents a comparison between the typical driving performance of motorcycles and passenger cars and contains results of motorcycle exhaust and noise emission measurements in real traffic and in statutory tests. The current legal measuring standards are found not to represent the reality of motorcycle traffic in a sufficient manner.