Title: Achieving a positive driver emotional response on the new Bentley Continental V8

Authors: Uday Senapati; Andrew Jackson

Addresses: Bentley Motors Limited, Pyms Lane, Crewe, CW1 3PL, UK ' Bentley Motors Limited, Pyms Lane, Crewe, CW1 3PL, UK

Abstract: Bentley brand attributes of driving, luxury, performance, design and craftsmanship are achieved through a painstaking engineering process that addresses a wide range of vehicle attributes. A vital element of this process is the engineering of the vehicles' sound character. Bentley focuses on this attribute to achieve a positive emotional response in all driving conditions with sportiness in high load, and high levels of refinement during cruising. Bentley's commitment to the environment led to the development of a variable displacement technology engine that allows it's V8 to operate as a V4 during light load conditions. The implementation of this technology created fresh sound quality challenges for the new Continental GT. This paper presents the definition and delivery of the interior noise sound character.

Keywords: sound quality; jury evaluation; listening study; acoustic simulator; variable displacement; exhaust acoustics; driver emotions; emotional response; Bentley Continental V8; vehicle interior noise; sound evaluation; vehicle noise; positive emotions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVNV.2013.053821

International Journal of Vehicle Noise and Vibration, 2013 Vol.9 No.1/2, pp.129 - 144

Published online: 28 Jun 2014 *

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