Systems and methods of characterizing an inter-vehicle wireless (IVW) communication system of a vehicle under test (VUT) that includes a communication device are described. The VUT and an instrumentation antenna are positioned at first and second locations, respectively. An azimuth angle is varied between the communication device and the instrumentation antenna by performing rotation of (a) the VUT at the first location while leaving the instrumentation antenna fixed in the second location or (b) the instrumentation antenna in a circular path about the first location while leaving the VUT fixed in the first location. For each of specified azimuth angles, receive performance of the IVW communication system is tested by transmitting packets through the instrumentation antenna to the IVW communication system, receiving packets at the IVW communication system and estimating and recording an error rate indicating a level of success of packets being received by the IVW communication system.