Just saw this posted by shawnq in the SRT section and I think it sums ups the underhood paint finish perfectly.

Thanks ShawnQ

"IMHO, That's because it is just base-coat. If you've ever laid base/clear, you'll see that some base coats can look 'rough' if they are sprayed with too much air. The clearcoat fills this minor texture, and adds gloss. Obviously, the smoother you lay your basecoat, the better it looks without clear. I would hope that Karman (or whoever built our cars) has their machines dialed in to lay that base coat down nice)."