Abstract
An extensive set of results from a research project on subjective v. objective handling behaviour was presented in 1998 by Crolla et al [1]. The authors used statistical methods to investigate correlations between driver subjective ratings and objective metrics taken from experimental measurements. This was partially successful in that some statistically significant trends were obtained, but the links were not strong enough to be used confidently in the vehicle development process. However, they did show the potential value of frequency response results which to date have not figured highly in subjective v. objective correlation work.
In a more recent paper [2], the results were effectively re-analysed using the 'four parameter evaluation method' originally proposed in 1990 at Mitsubishi [3]. Although some trends in perceived handling improvement differed, the four parameters appeared to show substantial insight into overall opinion of the vehicle's handling across the range of both drivers and questions.
In the current paper, the basic concept of the four parameter evaluation method is extended to include further metrics. A reduced set of objective metrics and subjective questions is then proposed and areas of good correlation are highlighted.