Burning clutch smell on high speed runs

I was running rabbit for a friend of mine for some high speed runs last weekend then afterwards we stopped for a bite and he commented on the burning clutch smell that was coming from my car.

I figured that was normal if your run a vehicle at top speed. He said, he doesn't think it is normal and suggested I ask about it. He's running an ATM equipped SRT8 and I've got a 6MT GT.

Didn't seem like the kind of question I should ask the dealer.

what are mileage and mods? sure it was clutch smell? if you dont stretch the car out regularly it can have odd smells when you do. or could be clutch wearing out and not able to hold peak power

Angry50 said:

what are mileage and mods? sure it was clutch smell? if you dont stretch the car out regularly it can have odd smells when you do. or could be clutch wearing out and not able to hold peak power

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Yeah, it's definitely a clutch smell. Snoop called it a burning smell, but to me it just smelled like a normal smell when you stress the clutch. The car is bone stock with 16k miles. I've got the performance pack with the Torsen rear diff so she hits a wall at 151. I was wondering if maybe that had something to do with it.

We made six passes 70 to 150. NOTE: I don't have any clutch chatter, or shudder in regular driving. Still feels solid, another reason why I didn't think it was a problem.

Interesting. I have a winding road I get my runs in on, but the speed limit is low (15-25) so I rarely get over 80.

The last time I did, I noticed a burning smell but I actually thought it was from the tires. Looking forward to hearing a more educated opinion.

smell of the rear end?

Brake pads smell similar to clutches when hot.

airfuel said:

Brake pads smell similar to clutches when hot.

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That makes sense in my case, I get on the brakes when I'm going through it.

i couldnt be sure but it sounds like a result of just running it hard if everything seems fine under normal conditions i wouldnt worry about it

Sounds to me like the clutch is just getting hot at full throttle to top speed runs. It is an organic compound everyday driver clutch, after all. Go ceramic or hybrid next time, or twin plate.

airfuel said:

Brake pads smell similar to clutches when hot.

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I get the same hot or burning smell in my 15GT/PP and in my "looking for it" I've touched the wheel and the rotors and they're not hot to the touch and Ive histroically been very easy on brakes on all my cars. Was just something I covered in the way of the brakes possibly dragging or another reason for this smell. Like others I've got no problem with the car to speak of. I do a lot of hard downshifts and engine braking, that's all I can assume to account for it.

At times, when I've been accelerating hard or driving at high speeds I smell the exhaust.

Mine has a clutch smell after a few good sprints in it. I'm relatively new to manual but I don't grind/burn the clutch and the car has not even 3500km on it yet so those could play a factor. I've read on here that it's kind of normal. It's either the clutch or the cats.

The clutch probably slips a little on high/top speed runs due to the loss of mechanical advantage of the lower gears helping it out. Are you in 5th, or 6th at top speed?

Jay-rod427 said:

The clutch probably slips a little on high/top speed runs due to the loss of mechanical advantage of the lower gears helping it out. Are you in 5th, or 6th at top speed?

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5th, it's my understanding 6th is an overdrive gear. At least that's how it was on the C6.

FranzVonHoffer said:

5th, it's my understanding 6th is an overdrive gear. At least that's how it was on the C6.

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Correct 6th is overdrive, but even 1:1 of 5th causes a bit of strain on the clutch trying to hold back 435+hp. Same reason top end runs yield blown 4th & 5th gears often. The mechanical advantage of lower gears protects them somewhat from the strain.