Some burble, others crackle and pop. These are the most glorious noisemakers that came with four cylinders.

Everyone loves the low rumble of an American V8, the high-pitched song of a naturally-aspirated V12 or V10 engine, or perhaps the six-cylinder symphony of something built in Germany, but one engine layout many tend to overlook is those with four cylinders. Rightfully so, most of us are used to only finding four-cylinder engines in so-called "normal" cars, and while that is somewhat true, there are many four-pots with a sweet shout too. And we thought we should just mention that if you want to maximize the amount of sound hitting your eardrums, always, and we mean, always, try to find a convertible musician.

For this list, we'll be looking into the wondrous world of exuberant four-bangers, whether they be found in sports cars, hot hatches, or even miniature supercars, these are the best sounding quad-cylindric cars the world has ever seen.

Since we can remember, we have wondered what black magic the engineers at Abarth are dabbling in to allow their cars to sound as good - and loud - as they do. Well, the answer is much simpler than you might think. From the factory, these hot Fiat 500 Abarth's turbocharged engines had no mufflers attached to them. How is this possible you might ask - well, we're not sure either.

Somehow, Abarth managed to find a loophole when building the 500 and convinced everyone that its turbocharger was more than sufficient in deadening its noise - and it worked. So, when the Abarth 500 made its appearance in the late 2000s, none of them were equipped with a muffler, and that meant they sounded a little like a crazy cat on steroids from the factory.

Related: Fiat 500 Abarth: Costs, Facts, And Figures

It's not too often that you see new cars that make a sweet-sounding exhaust note, and it's all thanks to those pesky soft-limiters and popless exhaust notes, but some manufacturers really believe that if there's a will, there's a way. Hyundai has seriously been killing it the last few years, especially with their hot hatches, but one newly added weapon to their performance arsenal is a compact sedan called the Elantra N.

It's powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-banger than puts out up to 286 hp, but best of all, it has a valved exhaust that allows you to switch from comfortable quiet cruising to aggressive burbles when letting off the throttle by the push of a button.

Related: Why We Love The 2022 Hyundai Elantra N

They just don't make 'em like they used to, and this is especially true when we look back at one of Ford's best cars ever built, the last-generation Focus RS.

Underneath the hood of this hot economy car is a 2.3-liter turbo-four EcoBoost engine that delivers 350 hp to all four of its wheels, but arguably more important than its engine and sound was the fact that it was only offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox, and that it had a nifty drift button that wasn't just there for show. But don't think we forgot, the Focus RS has one of the most obnoxious yet beautiful exhaust melodies ever, have a listen.

It's rare to see a performance car from Alfa Romeo not come equipped with a V6, or in rare instances, a V8, but their last driver-focused lightweight sports car, the 4C, came with a teensy 1.75-liter turbocharged inline-four mounted in the middle of its chassis.

This little engine only produced 235 hp, but because this topless Alfa only weighed 2,487 lbs it was more than adequate to jolt you back in your seat when pressing the pedal to the floor with a 0-60 time of just 4.2 seconds. What's equally bewildering is the sound that this 1.75-liter engine is capable of producing, and it's even more enjoyable with the top off.

You knew it would be on here, c'mon. As many of you know, the Honda S2000 is seen as one of the greatest affordable modern sports cars to ever grace our roads, but it wasn't just a joy to drive. The S2K was powered by a straight-four engine called the F20C, and there were quite a few things that made it unique.

Foremost, it had Honda's legendary VTEC technology, secondly, it spat out almost 250 hp, but most important of all, it had a redline equivalent to that of a Ferrari 458... 9,000 RPM. You can go out today and buy yourself a nice Honda S2000 for around $25,000 and enjoy its high-revving engine with the top down and the wind slapping you silly.

Just like we said with the Focus RS, they just don't make 'em like they used to. The newest JCW hatches that Mini manufacture might be better performing cars than those from 10 years ago, but there is one aspect in which the previous-generation JCW will forever reign supreme, and that's when it comes to sound.

The 2012 JCW (R56) hatch was powered by a 208 hp four-cylinder engine - which is already a respectable amount - and it made noises you can't believe were legal back then. When shifting through gears, revving the engine at a standstill, or even just letting go of the right pedal, these small hatchbacks sound like machine guns high on cocaine.

There's a lot of envy surrounding the Ford RS200; it was built by an American car company, but just when America thought they'd be receiving this monstrous road-legal rally racing icon, Ford decided it would be better off blossoming in the UK, therefore only 200 models were made, and most resided in the UK.

And when we say this was a road-legal rally racing icon, we mean it. It was powered by a Cosworth-built 1.8-liter four-pot that developed 250 hp in the road-legal variants while producing up to 450 hp in its racing counterpart. The RS200 might not have claimed many victories in its racing days, but it was involved in one of the most tragic accidents the WRC had ever seen.

Related: Rally Icons: Ford RS200 Vs Audi Sport Quattro

The BMW E30 is considered by many to be the greatest 3-Series the Bavarians had ever created, and its M-version wasn't even powered by a straight-six like most of its successors are.

The E30 M3 made use of a high-revving double-overhead-camshaft 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine, and it generated between 192 hp and 197 hp in its baseline variants while the M3 Evo and Evo II sported up to 235 hp. So, what made it sound so enticing you might ask. The sensation this E30 gives you when listening to it warble is truly inexplicable, just have a listen for yourself.

Related: 10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Buying A BMW M3

It still breaks our hearts to see Subaru kill off the STI name badge as a whole, we've still not fully processed it, to be honest... but what's the use of crying over spilled milk. Out of all the various generations of the STI, there's not a huge difference between the sounds they give off, after all, they all use the same type of boxer engines, but one that stands above the rest of the pack is the 22B.

Its 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbocharged boxer engine pumped out 300 hp, but what made its noise even more intoxicating than the boxer burble was its turbo blow-off sounds...

There's an expression that Jeremy Clarkson used to say that in order to be a true petrolhead, you need to own at least one Alfa Romeo in your life. There have been countless magnificent-sounding Alfas across the years, but the best-sounding ones usually have an Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine, and that's exactly what the 1750 GT Veloce came attached with.

Its naturally-aspirated 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine only produced 132 hp, but once again, it's a car's weight that's the magic ingredient. If you've ever wondered what a true cinematic masterpiece looks and sounds like, take some time to watch Robbert Albas' video driving his yellow GTV.

Marnus Moolman is a young aspiring automotive writer from South Africa who is making a name for himself, despite his young age. Currently, he is studying to obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting to pursue his lifetime dream of running his own automotive detailing establishment.