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SOUNDBITES: VIRTUAL VEHICLE SOUND SIMULATOR
Ford Motor Company is the first North American automaker to utilize the Virtual Vehicle Sound Simulator to fine-tune sound inside a vehicle's cabin, part of a continuing effort by Ford to deliver industry-leading quietness and refinement with minimal noise, vibration and harshness. Mark Clapper, a technical leader in noise, vibration and harshness engineering, says the Virtual Vehicle Sound Simulator can shave valuable time and cost out of the vehicle development process. But even more important than that, Clapper says, it's often the "Why Buy" factor for consumers.
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| Cut #1: |
"Sound is a key item for the refinement of the vehicle, and it's a 'why-buy' on a lot of vehicles and for quite sometime it's something Ford Motor Company has kept track of on third party surveys, whether it's our own internal surveys or things like J.D. Power appeal, J.D. Power satisfaction as well as other articles like Consumer Reports where they evaluate the quietness of a vehicle and rate it as such." :21 sec. |
| In the last 10-15 years sound has been crucial to Ford, but not until now have they been able to simulate interior sound before the car is ever manufactured, so in many ways they're ahead of the curve by knowing how their cars, crossovers and trucks will sound before they even hit the test track. | |
| Cut #2: |
"The quality of the sound, not just being quiet but, the quality of the time or the quality of the powertrain, the quality of the door closing event is something that we've been much more into… that it is not only quiet, but has a certain character, a certain tone, that it's a very appealing sound and it delivers a certain level of craftsmanship for the vehicle." :18 sec. |
| When you drive a car, interior sound is vital to your evaluation of that vehicle. Ford has the fewest wind noise, squeaks and rattles issues of any full line vehicle manufacturer, according to J.D. Power and Associates on Initial Quality Sound. With this new advanced virtual sound technology, Clapper says they're fine tuning the interior sounds of cars for the year 2012 and beyond. | |
| Cut #3: |
"This new technology is really going to have application for our 2012 and 2013 programs, what we're evaluating today on the simulator are vehicles slated for that time frame and vehicles we haven't seen prototypes for yet, we're actually driving vehicles before we've seen any vehicle prototypes of these vehicles. We are using our computer models to project where we think we'll be next year when the prototypes arrive. It should reduce our prototype time and reduce some tooling costs and prototyping costs on the various systems and subsystems that we might normally do in a physical prototype." :32 sec. |
| The Virtual Vehicle Sound Simulator is demonstrated here from an accelerating F-150 Truck: | |
| Cut A: |
"F-150 Wide Open Throttle mp3 soundbite." :10 sec. |
| Another Virtual Vehicle Sound Simulator is demonstrated here from an accelerating Mustang: | |
| Cut B: |
"Mustang Wide Open Throttle mp3 soundbite." :10 sec. |
| A third Virtual Vehicle Sound Simulator is demonstrated here from an accelerating Lincoln MKZ V6: | |
| Cut C: |
"Lincoln MKZ V6 Wide Open Throttle mp3 soundbite." :10 sec. |
| Knowing how a Lincoln should sound compared to a Mustang is not rocket science, but rather a refined science that is based on years of experience and customer expectations, which this new sound simulator will enhance before the cars drive off the assembly line, providing accuracy for the customer and a financial savings to the company. | |
| Cut #4: |
"We're the first in N.A. to have this product and simulation capability in our next generation, so we'll have a very significant leg up in this and not only are we able to evaluate it as engineers we can have various key decision makers throughout the company drive the simulator and evaluate those sound as well and we've also taken this to the customer testing different theories in what we think the designs should be and making sure they're hitting the mark for the customer." :24 sec. |
| Advancements in materials, such as expandable foam pellets strategically placed in the doors, headliner and pillars, can improve sound-deadening efficiency by up to 20 percent. Interiors are quieted further with hood insulators, inner and outer dash absorbers, sound-absorbing carpet, improved ceiling baffles, additional sound absorption in the trunk, and new interior and headliner materials. |