I have an 03 wrx completely stock. We got some snow here in jersey today and the roads by me got covered and i was eager to see what the rex could do. So I took it for a spin in some parking lots, did some slides, donuts, etc. Everything with the car was fine. I parked it when i was finished, came back out an hour or so later to drive. I noticed whenever I go pass 2500rpm in any gear,(especially 1st) this wierd scratchy exhaust sound comes from the center of the engine bay behind the engine. Im wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem and what i could do address it. Thank you for any help or suggestions.

 

You'd prolly get better response in the transmission forum.

jason

 

Do you know if the previous owner had done any exhaust upgrades? Namely an uppipe?

 

Why?

 

Just crawl under the car and check if there's snowpack or debris or anything stuck around where you think the noise is coming from. check all of your exhaust hangers to see if they look normal, which will tell you if the exhaust is bent or anything. If you have no mods at all, I would be inclined to think you loosened a heat shield, which is rattling when the car comes on boost (extra power = more NVH).

 

You probably got some pebbles caught in the heat shields. If you rev up the car when parked (do it slowly to simulate driving), do you still hear it?

 

I appreciate all of the feedback guys, the previous owner did not perform any upgrades. Im pretty sure it was snow getting packed up underneath there causing the trouble. I started the car up the yesterday and it drove as well as it always has with no noise so hopefully thats the end of that. I just wanted to make sure I didnt mess anything up real bad. Thanks again for the help.