The new Opel Adam Rocks triumphs in the acoustic laboratory

Opel is fine-tuning its new mini crossover, the ADAM ROCKS, with four months to go before it arrives at our dealerships in November. The acoustic laboratory in Rüsselsheim has been essential to the development of the ROCKS and to bringing it to the most pleasant possible levels of sound experience and absence of vibration.

The first task of the development team was to draw up a detailed list covering “noise and vibration”, that is, the smoothness of the engine, the opening of the folding roof, down to the sound of the doors closing.

The laboratory where the test takes place is fully soundproofed, both ceiling and walls. In addition, the laboratory contains numerous strategically placed microphones and loudspeakers.

The test consists of driving the Opel ADAM ROCKS over large rollers that simulate and produce the same resistance the car would experience in real-world conditions, including wind resistance and ride quality.

At different speeds, under controlled conditions and regardless of the weather, the engineers also evaluated the engine’s behaviour at various operating regimes, including the operation of the Start/Stop system.

The Opel ADAM ROCKS is powered by a 1.0 ECOTEC engine, with direct injection and turbocharging. Its powertrain is configured to deliver 90 CV or 115 CV, paired with a new six-speed gearbox.

Furthermore, several sound-related measures contribute to reaching the benchmark for engine refinement, such as the acoustic insulation of the cylinder block, the camshaft, and structural insulation of the fuel injection system and the crankshaft. The engine cover, for its part, also helps to attenuate noise levels.

Apart from Apart from being quiet, the ADAM ROCKS must have a powerful and forceful sound, especially during off-road crossings. Here, the engineers of Opel were assisted by artificial heads: plastic recreations of human heads including the shoulders, reminiscent of mannequins or the well-known “dummies”.

All of them are fitted with precise sensors that recreate the most important parts of the human ear, so that several microphones placed inside these “dummies” will capture and record the sound just as a person would perceive it.

In this way, the engineers can determine and analyse the different sources of noise, which in the ADAM ROCKS include noise from the engine, the exhaust system, chassis and body components, and even the cabin.

Source | Opel