In addition to that, the exhaust note of an auto-equipped engine makes the car sound like it is being driven by somebody who just started to learn how to drive, especially if driven at regular speeds. (This is not the case when the throttle is floored all the way, whereupon the A/T will "flick-off" cool upshifts that make the car sound like it's equipped with a sequential trans.)

If the exhaust is kept quiet, then the "newbie" engine note doesn't become too obvious.

Unless the engine in question is a V8, because it will always sound cool whether mated to a manual or an automatic. ('Don't know how it will sound with a CVT, though. Parang baduy siguro pakinggan kung naka more or less constant rpm lang.)