Ford has announced details of its “Whisper Strategy” to make cars quieter by making lots of small noise improvements that add up to a big difference.

For the new Kuga SUV, Ford examined noise‑generating elements from the suspension to the door seals to help find ways to optimise interior refinement.

Adding perforations to Kuga Vignale leather seat bolsters reduced the total area of flat surfaces inside the cabin, helping absorb rather than reflect noise.

Glen Goold, Ford Kuga chief programme engineer said: “Our ‘whisper strategy’ is designed to make journeys as quiet as they can possibly be – from absorbing sound through perforated seats to testing that involves listening carefully to the different sound patterns created by dozens of different tyres.”

Aerodynamically-tuned sound shields are added underneath the body of the vehicle that help limit road and wind noise entering from outside.

Ford engineers spent two years testing more than 70 different tyres over surfaces from smooth Tarmac to rough concrete and cobbles, in wet and dry conditions and at a range of speeds to find the exact specification that kept road noise to a minimum while still delivering high levels of comfort and grip.

And channels behind the exterior panels that allow hidden wiring and components to pass from one area to another are smaller and narrower to limit airflow inside the body.

In the Kuga Plug-In Hybrid, when in EV mode, it achieves interior road noise levels of just 52 dB(A) in controlled tests – equivalent to gentle rainfall.

The Kuga Plug-In Hybrid Vignale also features Active Noise Cancellation technology. The system works just like popular noise-cancelling headphones – detecting unwanted low-frequency cabin sounds through strategically-placed microphones and counteracting them with an opposing soundwave from the B&O Sound System.