What is the max RPM you've reached?

I only smell it if I "give it the beans", i.e. giving it a decent amount of throttle input and hitting over 6k RPM.

To be honest, it doesn't smell like plastic burning to me. That may seem contradictory to what I posted above, but I am familiar with the smell of a plastic bag burning (hookah smoking incident, lol).

 

I probably get close to redline if not redline every time I drive it.

 

OK. Maybe you burnt off those chemicals long ago then. I don't drive it like that every single time I drive - i.e., manual, S+, etc., but I do on a sorta regular basis. And I've got only a little over 1k miles, like I said.

Also, the smell does go away if you drive the car around a little before you park it. I only notice it if I have the windows open while I am driving.

 

I'm at like 13,000 km so it should all be gone on mine.

 

I am under the impression that the Aisin 8AT unit generates more heat than other ATs due to their design scheme leads to more # of opened clutches at each gear. So it could be the smell of burned ATF which is vented out from the breather hole.

As a test, buy a bottle of Toyota ATF and heat it using a camping lighter to see whether it is the similar smell.

 

Do you really think it is burning ATF on every short acceleration burst? I find that hard to imagine.

 

@arentz07 if you want when I see you in 3 weeks I’ll gladly toot in your car and you won’t have to worry about engine, exhaust, trans, etc smells for a whileeeeee. It lingers for a while in my car…

 

Different kind of exhaust 😉 Still the Bazooka though 🤣

 

Well there's your answer. Beans will do that to anyone

Maybe the next time you notice the smell, pull over and maybe smell around to see where it's coming from (i.e. brake area, front vent, etc). I plan to buy this car in a month or two so I'm kind of curious how common this is.

 

I did notice it once when I pulled into the garage, but it was pretty weak at that point. It almost smelled like it was coming from the brakes or wheels, but it just sort of smelled like everywhere around the car. Maybe it was underneath the car? Either way, at this point I'll only be concerned if it keeps on occurring long term.

 

I think its just the exhaust getting hot. The cats can stink when they get hot. It definitely isn't a hot engine smell and definitely isn't hot brake smell.

I always thought it was catalytic converter odors from heat. The car runs fantastic so I lose 0 sleep over it. That's what warranties are for 😁

 

My car still does this, even about 6600 miles in- if I drive it hard. Just smells like normal settling to me since the poor thing can't breathe too often with our crappy traffic and unrealistic speed limits of 55mph on a freeway and people driving under that at most times....

 

I gunned it a little this morning not far from home, and I did not notice any smell when I got to the garage. This might be because it is a little chilly here today (mid-30s), but also, maybe I burned it all off.

 

Then it must be the smell of either engine oil or ATF is burning.

 

I can promise you the smell I'm smelling is not reminding me of engine oil burning at all. I highly doubt a new car, let alone a Lexus IS 500, is going to burn either kind of oil unless it has been outright abused.