Field notes

Start with the noise you hear.

Short, practical notes on car noise — how to record a Drive Test, what a hum or rattle is telling you, and when a workshop should take over.

All notes · 5 guides

Choose a car-noise app by the job: a quick sound-level check, a repeatable Drive Test, or workshop vibration work.

A safe way to record a highway-speed hum, notice what changes it, and give a workshop a clearer starting point.

Noise, vibration, and harshness describe how a car sounds and feels. Learn what a phone can record and what still needs a workshop.

Build a useful baseline with one phone, one familiar route, and a repeatable Drive Test you can use after the next change.

Use published tests to build a shortlist, then compare the cars on the roads and surfaces you actually drive.

Your turn

Find out how quiet your car really is.

Download NVH Lab, record a route you know, and get your first Noise Score in 10 seconds.

Free for iPhone and Android