Report of the Working Party on Noise on its September 2014 session.

Proposal from the informal working group on Un Regulations Nos. 51 and 59 for further amendments to the draft 03 series of amendments to UN R51 (document GRB/2014/5).

In document GRSG/2014/25, the AVLI informal group proposed to add classes and definitions for agricultural vehicles to the Consolidated Resolution on the Construction of Vehicles. The proposal raised consistency issues for the EU with respect to vehicle definitions that will be introduced by Regulation (EU) 167/2013 in 2016. Therefore, the EU Commission services have developed two alternative proposals: one in full alignment with the definitions used in the EU regulation and one based on the AVLI group definitions with small changes to achieve consistency with the EU legislation.

“Quick scan” study prepared for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment to evaluate the potential of “triple A” tyres to improve vehicle safety, noise emssions, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions. Tyres in the EU are labeled to convey information on their energy efficiency, safety, and noise performance. Triple A refers to tyres receiving the highest ratings across these three criteria.

This leaflet gives a short introduction for those who wants to explore the benefits and common pitfalls of silent road surfaces in urban situations.

Proposal to clarify certain terms and symbols used in Annex 7 (ASEP) of the regulation.

This proposal would correct the reference to the latest version of ISO 10844 and introduce transitional provisions for shift of the test track from ISO 10844:1994 to ISO 10844:2011.

Memorandum to the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment in response to its request for research into

• the effect of the present tyre Regulations on the exterior noise levels of tyres
• comparison of the tyre noise levels in the present distribution with the limit values defined in the tyre Regulations
• definition of the levels of “present-day technology and ambitious technology on base of the distribution of levels found in the present tyre population”.

Presentation on the ISO project to provide a basis for the type approval of vehicles using an indoor pass-by test for noise levels.

Proposal to permit a 74dB(A) limit value for the noise of micro-vans and micro-trucks.

Proposal for an informal working group to proceed with the development of a type-approval regulation for electric and hybrid electric vehicles under the 1958 Agreement in parallel to but separately from the effort to develop a global technical regulation on such vehicles.

Review of research program that quantified differences in tire noise levels between the tire population on sale before and after revision of tire regulation in 2009 (Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009).

Comparison ECE R51.03 (as adopted by GRB) versus the draft China regulation GB1495 for M1 vehicle noise and proposal for reconciling apparent differences between them.

Review of vehicle horn regulations across various markets towards assessing the minimum sound level of 87 dB(A) under UN R28.

Draft agenda for the September 2014 session of the Working Party on Noise.

The current UN R28 test procedures specify voltages that cannot be reached by many vehicles’ internal battery charges alone; however, the provisions can be met if the vehicle is warmed up and run at idle. Therefore, OICA proposes to allow vehicles to be run at idle during the test procedure. OICA also proposes to change the minimum sound level requirement for vehicles of category M and N and motorcycles of a power greater than 7 kW from 93 dB to 87 dB.

Proposal from the expert group on UN R51 and UN R59 to update the provisions of UN Regulation No. 51.

Consolidated version of UN Regulation No. 59 incorporating the revisions recommended by the Informal Working Group on UN Regulations Nos. 51 and 59 in order to align the UN R59 with the latest EU decisions.

Proposal to introduce a “Deceleration Calculator” (dω/dt) for use in the UN R117 test procedures. This procedure was developed by Russia and validated by an ad hoc group (including NAMI, UTAC, and ETRTO).

At the 58th GRB session, the expert from ETRTO introduced GRB-58-02, proposing new time measurement accuracy for instrumentation involved in the rolling resistance method (Annex 6 of the UN Regulation). The expert from the Russian Federation introduced GRB-58-13, arguing that this change of accuracy was not needed for Annex 6. This present revised proposal has been prepared the ETRTO and approved by Russia.