A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism.

Background: Although people are familiar with loud automobiles, equipped with modified mufflers to increase the volume, it is unclear who is most attracted to these vehicles.

Participants and procedure: A sample of 529 (52% men) undergraduate business students were surveyed and were asked if they viewed their car as an extension of themselves, how much they thought loud cars were "cool", and if they would make their car louder with muffler modifications. Cronbach's α of the three car items was .76; therefore an aggregate was generated. Also a self-report measure of the dark tetrad was completed.

Results: Using linear regression, the car aggregate was predicted by being a man and having higher scores on psychopathy and sadism, with the model accounting for approximately 29% of the variance.

Conclusions: As car modifications are illegal in some countries, these findings may be of interest to those heading campaigns to halt these activities.