As Ford Motor Co. prepares to roll out its next-generation Mustangs, a couple of questions, please: First, when girls realize that fearsome growl is coming from the 2015 EcoBoost stereo system, will they turn their heads? Then, even if they turn their heads, will they be oooing and aahing or snickering and mocking?

Yes, indeed, it's been widely reported -- with a good deal of auto market media pity -- that the once greatest of American muscle cars, the Ford Mustang, the long-beloved pony car, has been broken in spirit, really, and now designed, says a story by Beta Wired, so that the 2015 EcoBoost Mustang pipes engine sounds through the car's speakers.

Of course, the Mustang, the aforementioned leader of the herd against its primary competitors, the Chevrolet Camaro and Firebird (which, at least for the moment, is extinct), created its own genuine, heart-stopping growls from under the hood for generations.

Times being as they were, Ford had the regulatory latitude to build motors that were formidable.

But, the auto industry's current age of strict emissions fuel economy standards has all but taken the muscle out of muscle cars.

Yesterday's loud V8s have been replaced by the purring of turbocharged four-cylinder rides.

True, the actual on-road performance of contemporary designs may be comparable to the large engine blocks, what, with the smaller motors fitted into vehicles molded with lightweight carbon fiber, but the sound - the sound, no matter how much the you tweak a V4 - will never be the same.

That, says the Beta Wired story, was why Ford, wanting to recapture a little if not all of the lost vibrational aesthetic, opted to install some of its 2015 rides with the so-called Active Noise Control, a system crafted to not only cancel out some less desirable noise for the driver but also provide a more "authentic" experience behind the wheel of a Mustang.

Dave Perciak, Ford Mustang chief engineer, told Beta Wired the ANC system in fact doesn't produced any artificial sounds -- although, before playback, it does indeed process and enhance sounds recorded from the car's motor.

The Mustang EcoBoost is so far the only model equipped with the Active Noise Control system, little solace for muscle car enthusiasts who grimace at the mere mention of augmented engine noise.

But, it would make total sense to think Ford and other car manufacturers would slate the sound enhancement feature for other models if the Mustang option ends up being well received by consumers.

Muscle-building isn't what it used to be.