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A full vehicle NVH Simulator has been developed to provide a realistic interactive in-car environment where a subject can experience multi-modal stimuli ( accurately reproduced sound and vibration as well as visual ) whilst either driving or being driven. This paper describes its use in learning about the strategies subjects employ during sound evaluations, and how this information can help optimise decision making during product development. It is possible to understand how subjects assess the sound of vehicles, both in the way that they drive the vehicle and importantly which elements of the sound character have greatest influence on their evaluation of the vehicle. It is also possible to compare the strategies employed by NVH engineers, company decision-makers and non-experts such as customers.

To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of decision making during vehicle development programmes, new interactive NVH simulation tools have been introduced. For their optimum use during the target setting of NVH attributes new methodologies need to be established. A valuable step in achieving this is to further understand opinion forming processes during on-road appraisals. To achieve this however new approaches to capture the events of an appraisal are needed. This paper reports on the first steps taken towards developing these new approaches and demonstrates how attitudes towards vehicle sound quality and driver behavior can vary depending on the personality traits of the assessor and their role within the OEM. This insight will provide a benchmark to compare how expert assessors and customers make decisions.