Applying the Mahalanobis-Taguchi System to Vehicle Handling

The Mahalanobis Taguchi System (MTS) is a diagnosis and forecasting method for multivariate data. Mahalanobis Distance (MD) is a measure based on correlations between the variables and different patterns that can be identified and analyzed with respect to a base or reference group. The MTS is of interest because of its reported accuracy in forecasting from small, correlated data sets. This is the type of data that is encountered with consumer vehicle ratings. MTS enables a reduction in dimensionality and the ability to develop a scale based on MD values. MTS identifies a set of useful variables from the complete data set with equivalent correlation and considerably less time and data. This paper presents the application of the MTS, its applicability in identifying a reduced set of useful variables in multidimensional systems.