[dangrossman]

I've certainly heard modern ICE cars where the engine noise was minimal. At the same time, I can scarcely recall sitting in a drive-through fast food line with my window open to order and NOT being annoyed at the level of engine noise from other cars making it harder to hear and be heard at the speaker. It's definitely not tire or wind noise when we're all just idling in line.

[amalgamated_inc]

Yea, that's true. But I can walk around plenty of cities with cars driving within feet of me and not hear much noise besides the road noise at all. I suppose the design of the city makes a difference, e.g. are there sound-reflecting bare concrete walls everywhere (like many drive throughs).