well im closer to 4 quarts in about 2500 to 3k miles.

talked to a mechanic who thinks the car is running too rich and causing this to happen somehow. i dunno so ill have it checked this afternoon.

the noise is gone after i changed the oil but now i have to see if any major damage occurred.

 

Find a new mechanic... I can't think of any way that the fuel mixture could affect oil usage.

 

I have the exact same problem (oil light @ low rpm, loud noise from the engine). A leak down test revealed 100% leak in cylinder 3, I'm taking the head off the week to see what's going on with the valves. This was after I replaced the ignition coil in #3... it was full of some awful metal/gravel looking stuff: I totally melted it. I got pictures of it too! This is a MY00 with 68K+ on it. I'll keep you posted on what I find.

 

Did you ever get the spark plug recall done when it came out?

 

After a looooong while, yes. Several months later.