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Powertrain performance analysis is applied by the automotive industry to verify the dynamic performance of the vehicles, which is an outcome of the combination of the engine, the gear box, the driveline, the carrier ratio and the tire size. On this analysis, the main non powertrain factors are the total combined vehicle weight and the route topography. The total combined vehicle weight is a known factor. It is related to the vehicle application and it is restricted to pre-established limits. In general, the route topography is the unlikely factor, due to the huge coverage of the potential paths. Traditionally, the route topography determination is carry out supported by global positioning system (GPS) devices. Appling this methodology, the full route must be tracked by a vehicle equipped with GPS. Its complexity, time and cost increase in case of multiple routes must be tracked, in places geographically remote each other, as different regions, provinces, states or countries.

The main objective of this paper is to present the different methods of pavement dimensioning, applied on the Brazilian roads, in order to compare the loads used in the calculation with a real application. It has been used a 4×2 vehicle with the maximum load distribution allowed in Brazil (6 tons in the front axle / 10 tons in the rear axle). It has been instrumented the rear axle with strain gauges to simulate it as a load cell. Measurements were done on a real urban application (Curitiba city - Brazil). Results showed significant differences between the load used in the Brazilian pavement dimensioning methodology and the dynamic vertical load, which could have a direct impact on the pavement lifetime. This paper was supported by three different agency / companies: UNICAMP, Volvo do Brasil and Meritor do Brasil Sistemas Automotivos Ltda.