[NeilBlanchard]

I had the "doughnut" gasket between the down pipe and the catalytic convertor replace a few months ago, and very soon thereafter the car developed a similar sounding exhaust leak. Turns out it is the manifold.

That would explain the slight "ticking" sound that it makes, and the brief whiffs of exhaust I catch when I restart the engine.

Could the cracked manifold affect the fuel economy?

I am going to have it fixed - ~$400 in parts and ~2.5 hours of labor if no studs break, etc. This doesn't rise to the level of the cost of new clutch, so I figure it is worth fixing on my ~167,000 mile xA. The clutch and the starter are original and have held up fine.