Do you think Consumer Reports (sedan, tires, exhaust, engine)

[rlrl]

took noise levels too seriously or did customers actually care about how quiet/noisy the cars were?

One of the noisiest cars they tested was the 1970 Plymouth Satellite station wagon along with the Chevy Chevelle, Ford Torino and AMC Rebel. The Torino and Chevelle wagons also had noise issues(Rebel was worse), but they had to do with the road noise amplified by the cargo floor inherent to all wagons, making them noisier than their sedan counterparts

Here's what they said:
"...but it was noise more than motion, that got to most front seat occupants. there at any speed higher than about 25 mph we could hear and feel a grinding, low frequency drumming. CU's testers instinctively yawned or swallowed to equalize the pressure on their eardrums, but that didn't work for long. After discussing the problem with Chrysler Corp engineers, CU's testers concluded that the noise problem results from a combination of today's rougher tires and the Satellite's already noise-prone structure. It's especially important that you test drive a Satellite wagon to see how serious a fault the noise would be for you"

i find this interesting because one would expect a wagon to ride quieter than say a sporty car like a Road Runner which is based on the Satellite

[Drover]

I've had a handful of wagons and hatchbacks. They are prone to being noisier just because all that space back there can act as a reverberation chamber. This is especially true of wagons as they typically don't have the solid hatch covering like most hatchbacks do; if they have any covering over the cargo area at all, it's a vinyl roll-out sheet. Anyway, the unique acoustical properties of a hatch/wagon is something that engineers are usually mindful of when they design a hatch or wagon these days.

When I had a WRX wagon, I gave some thought to getting an aftermarket exhaust. I'd been in a couple WRX sedans with an aftermarket exhaust and thought little of it. When I rode in a friend's wagon with an aftermarket exhaust, I concluded after about 45 seconds that I'd stick with the factory exhaust.