This is the kind of wild true story I couldn’t make up if I tried. People have been hoping cool cars will make them more attractive since…well, as long as there have been cars. It’s a pretty stereotypical way for men, especially, to try and impress women. The idea is central to the advertising of many vehicles. Well, one research group set out to see if there’s any evidence for a supercar’s aphrodisiac attributes.

In 2008, a luxury car insurance company based in England decided to get to the bottom of this age-old debate. The company was named…hiscox (no, I’m still not making this up). It funded a scientific study with 40 test subjects.

I guess you can test for anything these days. A preferred way to find out if a test subject is aroused is to measure their saliva for an increase in testosterone. In both men and women, this usually signals getting turned on.

Psychologist David Moxon simply took a baseline measurement, played a recording of a car’s engine sound, and then measured the subject’s saliva again. The study chose to test four cars: A Lamborghini, a Maserati Quattroporte, a V8 Ferrari, and a Volkswagen Polo. I’m shocked the British researchers didn’t insist on including an Aston Martin or Jaguar.

The study isn’t especially specific about which models. In 2008, the Lamborghini could have been the new V10 Gallardo, but it was likely a V12 model. The Quattroporte and Ferrari pairing is especially interesting because the four-door Maserati’s engine began its life as the same Ferrari block before being tuned by Maserati and receiving its own exhaust. Finally, the VW Polo is a European budget subcompact with available engines as small as an I3. So 1/4 of a Lamborghini…

Moxon managed to find many test subjects who reported they weren’t car people at all. Yet the roar of the exotics absolutely increased testosterone for all participants. But preferences differed.

“We saw significant peaks in the amount of testosterone in the body, particularly in women…Testosterone is indicative of positive arousal in the human body so we can confidently conclude from the results out today that the roar of a luxury car engine actually does cause a primeval physiological response.”

David Moxon, Psychologist

Half of the male participants showed a testosterone increase after listening to the sultry sounds of the Maserati Quattroporte. The Lamborghini was even more popular with the chaps, inspiring a testosterone increase in 60% of participants.

With the women? The Maserati was far and away the winner. Its exhaust notes inspired a large testosterone increase 100% of the women tested.

The Ferrari, with its similar V8, didn’t elicit nearly the same responses. The difference goes to show how much exhaust tuners affect the final sound of any car. A word on the Quattroporte: it is the fastest depreciating Maserati by far. Its average 5-year depreciation leads the segment at 65%. So today, 15 years after the Hiscox study, the generation that was tested has become a bit of a cliche. Many drivers who can’t afford any other exotic proudly drive around four-door Maseratis. Well, it looks like they have another reason to love their car.

So what about the Volkswagen Polo? Moxon reports that its sound actually decreased testosterone in some of the participants.

I’d love to read a more extensive study. Comparing flat-plane and cross-plane crankshaft V8s would be intriguing. I’m also curious how V12s from Ferrari and Aston Martin would stack up to the Lambo. What about diesels? But the real question is whether this reaction is cultural. So would American participants love different sounds? And would a person from some place in the world with no exotic cars would still care about their sound?