Daniel, I think that you managed to express this precondition of being half-awake, just thanks to your mental-writing tool, that's the secret of the vivid impression of this condition. I bet, if you were writing it sitting in front of the screen, you wouldn't have come up with all the sharp images such as the pyramide of

radiator clank
above an ocean of automobiles
atop the inner ear's symphony.

The inner ear's symphony is usually buried under all the layers of sources of interference.
I don't like reading notes, it collapses the puzzles, I prefer making them myself piece by peice starting from the edge ones, that are the easiest)

I love your way of using almost an oxymoron (vehicles are silent), to strengthen the subjective perception of the world of dream. I felt it too!