I have a 2001 audi a4 quattro 5 spd, the car is moderately lowered on a cup kit and lowering springs. a few weeks ago i was leaving a gas station on a very steep decline and scraped pretty bad. ever since ive had a load drone like noise inside the car its loudest being between 45- 70 mph. it seems like in the last few days it has gotten increasingly louder. Im 17 and know a little but im certainly no master mechanic. Has anyone had a similar issue/ know whats going on and how i can fix it?

 

Sounds like you ripped off part of your exhaust dude. What motor? Any idea what part of the exhaust scraped? Or maybe where on the car (front, middle, back) hit the ground?

 

i wish it was that simple. the exhaust is all there though. my best guess is something to do with a bearing or the driveshaft. i can only hear the sound above 20, and it seems to go away or really quite down when the road curves left. its a wierd sound to describe its almost like theres an old school steam engine train in my car. and based on my led screen its affecting my gass milage. its a 2.8 30v. also was the middle of the car not so much the front or rear.

 

Well it might have tore a hole in the exhaust. I have massive leak right before the cat and the car is LOUD AS HELL. The worst part is that it's only on one side so the car sounds like a pissed off 3 cylinder when I romp on it.

 

If the noise changes when the load of your car changes- like on a turn or curve, then that suggests a wheel bearing. If it was a bent axle you'd feel it in the car or steering rather than just hear it. B5 wheel bearings are good for around 100k miles. Not much more. You could have also torn your flex pipe when you scraped. It's the mesh-like pipe(s) that flex near the trans. Start the engine after it's cool and get under there and feel/listen around for a leak. Obviously don't touch the pipes. You can wave your hand around where the pipes connect, etc. to feel for escaping air. It'll get hot real quick so don't hurt yourself. Or a shop may be nice enough to lift the car up and check it out for no cost.

 

yeah its most likely a wheel bearing if it gets worse as you turn to the left. jeck up the left side of the car and grab the front and rear wheels at 10 and 2 and give them a nice little push and pull if you've got some play its probably the bearing. unless in the front you have bad control arms too. haha everything of mine went bad within a month.