I removed my snow guard a few weeks back and like the slight change in intake noise so thought I would keep it off at least until the fall. Yesterday I had to drive home a few miles in a torrential downpour. This morning when I drove my car to work the engine sounded a bit off...sort had a very faint rattle under acceleration. After it sat outside all day on the drive home it seemed back to normal. This is the first time I've driven in heavy rain since removing the snow guard. Is it possible some amount of water entered the intake that normally would have been "blocked" by the snow guard? This is probably a silly question but I watched a video about the snow guard removal a while back and the guy was talking about perhaps it being there to keep moisture out (year round) but most people seem to think the main purpose is to spread air flow over the filter evenly.