'ehicle design laws must match those overseas
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7rnmer chief engineer pinpoints export snag
RITISH vehicle design legislation should be comparable to that in other countries to en: British manufacturers to compete successy in overseas markets. So said Mr. C. E. J. nberton, chief engineer of Commer Cars Ltd., t paper, "The Design of Commercial Vehicles", d on Tuesday at a Midlands centre meeting of Institute of Road Transport Engineers.
The EEC had, for example, fixed maximum se levels for vehicles in various categories. Britain adopted these standards its industry uld remain directly competitive; if not.. it would placed at an economic disadvantage.
Noise assessment, said Mr. Pemberton, was gely subjective. Two carefully controlled teria should be applied: specification of the ise meter; and specification of the environnits in which the tests were made.
Contrary to general opinion, the major source noise was radiated engine noise—not the ise produced by the exhaust—and a reduction this at source would involve "fundamental gine redesign". This was not practical and mufacturers were faced with engine enclosure the only alternative, which created a number problems. Enclosure reduced accessibility
d heat dissipation and the latter could create oling difficulties. The use of damping materials ,uld also create a fire risk and coping with all
e problems would involve a great deal of rearch and development.
In his general comments on legislation, Mr. !mberton noted that production costs rose very arply as the time allowed for compliance with
e regulations was reduced; if the time interval as short the manufacturer had difficulty in 'sorbing the resultant additional tooling costs id so on without increasing the price of the ;hide. If legislation were more stringent in this country than in the countries of other major producers of vehicles, competing in overseas markets would be more difficult. Legislation should never be allowed to become so comprehensive that it "prejudiced the ability of the designer to create new design".
Dealing with research and development, Mr. Pemberton said that the manufacturer should be satisfied that new developments were something that the customer really wanted and that he was ready to pay for. For example, air suspension provided a good ride under all conditions of loading and a uniform loading height; it had not gained wide popularity because the operator was unwilling to pay for its undoubted advantages.
Mr. Pemberton stressed that service complaints must be recorded and analysed and if appropriate this information should be passed on to the designer, who must avoid the cardinal error of making the same mistake more than once. Having access to service data originating in all parts of the world, it was essential to assess the relevance of data from overseas to the domestic market.