I found this little bit of chicanery interesting:
Engine sound will be one of the things engineers will be sure to consider as
they ready the new three-cylinder engines for the U.S. market, said Sullivan of
AutoPacific. Small engines can sound tiny and cheap to some American
consumers. BMW and Ford's Lincoln division are both using the internal audio
systems of vehicles to enhance engine sound in larger vehicles. 
"This could be used on a three-cylinder engine to make it sound like an inline
four-cylinder engine or a V-6 via the speakers in the car," Sullivan said. "If
you could offer a 175 HP inline three that sounds like a V-6, would you buy it?"
Automakers see three-cylinder engines as the next big thing - latimes.com