This SAE Recommended Practice establishes a rating scale for subjective evaluations of noise and discomfort in motor vehicles. Through test procedures utilizing specific vehicles on specific roads, the scale may be utilized to assess the relative contributions of tires to noise and discomfort. The noise and ride comfort characteristics attributed to automotive tires have traditionally been estimated by subjectively assigning number designations (commonly on a 1 to 10 scale) to the audible and tactile sensations observed while traversing a given road course in a vehicle equipped with the tires under evaluation. Regardless of advances in objective measurements of tire properties related to noise and discomfort, subjective evaluation will continue to be necessary for the purpose of establishing the significance of such measurements. The rating scale of this recommendation is applicable to assessment of each of the wide variety of audible and tactile disturbances referred to by such terms as bump, thump, slap, shake, etc.
