I've noticed since the day I got my car that the gearchange is very loud from outside the car. It's to the point that when I'm cruising through traffic bystanders must hear "buurrrrrrr *CHANK* burrrrrrrr." I can actually hear it from inside the car if I have my windows open at low speeds. It just seems unusual and I've always wondered what the reason for it is. My Forester actually did the same thing. I've never noticed any other particular brands of car that are particularly loud like that. Just curious
Most 5speeds are fairly loud IMO and thats with helical cut gears. Straight cut or dog gears will be much louder.