From DeFacto Sound, you're listening to 20,000 Hertz.

The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.

I'm Dallas Taylor.

This is the story behind why your car sounds the way it does.

Some car sounds are more obvious, like the horn, or the engine.

But what about the not obvious until you point them out sounds, like the sound of the blinker?

The satisfying sound of opening the trunk?

Or the click of locking the door.

Every sound a car makes is important to the experience of driving.

And automakers know this.

Every sound in a car has been carefully engineered.

That becomes more and more of the case as you go up in price.

My name is David Zenley. I'm a features editor at Road and Track. The door sound, for instance,

there's gaskets on either side of your door and the thicker a gasket a car has that

insulates a car from outside noises, but it also will affect the way the door sounds when it closes.

The gasket is that black rubber strip on the inside of your door frame.

Here's what an older car sounds like without much thought given to the gasket.

And here's what a newer car sounds like with the sound of the gasket in mind.

Auto makers know that consumers are sensitive to noises like that,

and they are very careful about

making sure that it meets consumer expectations. Keep in mind, this is the first sound you

encounter when you test drive a car. It's a subliminal selling point. If the car door sounded

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