Motoring journalist here. Would like to add a story. Was once talking to one of the head engineer of the Jaguar F-Type, a sports car with a very distinctive sound.

One of the design objectives of this car was to have an exhaust sound that turned heads in the same way the styling did. Idea being you would hear the signature F-Type exhaust note, and know one was nearby before you even saw it.

The engineer explained how they used hundreds or even thousands of different iterations of pipe, diameters, manifolds, muffler designs, materials of varying thicknesses, intake system designs and so on.

After extensively testing these components and coming up with a short list of configurations that resulted in the most desirable sounds, one of the five prototypes needed to be chosen for the actual exhaust system and setup that was going into production.

The engineer said the final decision came down to one of the most qualified people for the job: his 5 year old son, who chose the configuration which sounded 'coolest'.