This SAE Standard is equivalent to ISO 362-1:2015 and specifies an engineering method for measuring the noise emitted by road vehicles of categories M and N under typical urban traffic conditions. It excludes vehicles of category L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5.

The specifications are intended to reproduce the level of noise generated by the principal noise sources during normal driving in urban traffic. The method is designed to meet the requirements of simplicity as far as they are consistent with reproducibility of results under the operating conditions of the vehicle.

The test method requires an acoustical environment that is obtained only in an extensive open space. Such conditions are usually provided for during:

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measurements of vehicles for regulatory certification and/or type approval

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measurements at the manufacturing stage, and

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measurements at official testing stations

NOTE 1: The results obtained by this method give an objective measure of the noise emitted under the specified conditions of test. It is necessary to consider the fact that the subjective appraisal of the noise annoyance of different classes of motor vehicles is not simply related to the indications of a sound measurement system. As annoyance is strongly related to personal human perception, physiological human conditions, culture, and environmental conditions there is a large variation and it is therefore not useful as a parameter to describe a specific vehicle condition.

NOTE 2: Spot checks of vehicles chosen at random are rarely made in an ideal acoustical environment. If measurements are carried out on the road in an acoustical environment that does not fulfill the requirements stated in this document, the results obtained may deviate appreciably from the results obtained using the specified conditions.