ˆ Red cars perceived louder than green or blue ones

tags : acoustics.org , blue cars , bluecars , car sound , carsound , green cars , greencars , red cars , red louder , redcars , redlouder

How much does color factor into your perception of how loud a car actually is? If a recently-conducted experiment is any indication, it plays a significant part, indeed. Sixteen individuals were told to listen to the sound of a car's engine while being shown photographs of identical cars in red, blue, light green, or dark green. The sounds were played at four different volume levels throughout the testing. The findings showed that the red car was perceived to be louder than the green or blue cars, even if the corresponding sound the others were shown with was of an equal level. This dovetailed with the results of a similar, earlier experiment which demonstrated that people felt red trains were louder than green ones. This is both good news and bad news for car owners. On the plus side, those Borlas you just installed are going to sound even louder (read: better) to folks if your ride's red. Unfortunately, when Officer Friendly pulls you over for having mufflers that are too noisy, good luck convincing him that it's really just his perception and not reality.

posted : 7/3/2008 @5:42:11 PM

ˆ Blue gaining on White

tags : blue , blue cars , bluecars , car color , car colors , carcolor , carcolors , color , dupont , popular color , popular colors , popularcolor , popularcolors , white , white cars , whitecars

Each year, DuPont does a study on color trends in the automotive industry. As the leader in supplying finishes for both the new and aftermarket auto realms, this is the kind of information that the company needs to know. Thankfully, DuPont's researchers always share their findings with the rest of us, and last year it was reported that white had taken over from silver as the color in which to be seen. This year, the pigment company decided to shake things up with a mid-year check on the multi-hued situation around the world, and it seems that blue, which is also the new green, is making a bit of a run at adding some pizazz that's been missing from simple achromatic white. Interestingly, the masses seem to be reacting just a little bit to the economic downturn that this country has been facing, choosing simple solids instead of more flashy hues. Perhaps those downers are just lacking in self-worth.

posted : 6/16/2008 @9:05:56 PM

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