1996 Other Mitsubishi Models Accelerating

I've noticed that the last few days when I go to accelerate it takes a few seconds fir it to kick in. The car will make a noise that its struggling. three to four seconds later the Revs kick in. It only happens when accelerating from a standstill position or a slow speed(like 20 km hour). Any ideas? It's a triptonic gearbox. It's a mitsubish FTO. Also something I noticed is that there is something tapping directly below or behind the drivers foot rest. Nothing raelly noticeable but i suppose it could be related