I know all those smells from my old Firebird... its not oil or trans fluid.

 

So, time to revive this thread, because a friend of mine had a theory of what's causing the smell - the rear brakes. Why? Because if I give it the beans, the ESC has to kick in and engage the rear brakes as needed to keep the vehicle from sliding.

I don't think this is due to simply braking hard after accelerating, since it happens regardless of how hard I brake. I did a little test today, and the rear brakes definitely were hotter and seemed to be the source of the smell, even though I did not brake that hard. I had the car in Sport S+ with all the TC and ESC on.

Now the only thing to try is some spirited driving with the systems fully-off...

 

I actually noticed this as well lol. Whenever I park the car especially driving spiritedly, the rear wheels tend to be excreting heat more than the fronts. I did drive without the T/C and Pre-Collision system on and it didnt feel as hot but I was a bit reserved in my driving cause I was a bit afraid of possibly doing too much lol.

 

Maybe the rears feel hotter because they get less airflow cooling vs the front brakes. With other cars I’ve had the smell will go away with time because it was manufacturing materials (oils, greases, coatings, etc) burning off when the exhaust system heats up. Considering most of you drove your cars like they’re made out of glass for a few hundred miles and are now starting to treat them like durable machines, you’re noticing it more.

 

In my defense, I don’t baby this car lol. Literally on the way home I was making a u turn and the diff locked up causing me to slide lol. The smell usually only happens for me when I’m flooring it in a straight line. Even after putting 8k miles on my 350, it never went away. As for the rear being hotter, that does make sense tho.

 

My "spirited" runs are typically short-duration and easy on the brakes. I've definitely noticed the smell after getting home, and it's always from the front of the car.

Yesterday I gave it the beans for a much longer back-road jaunt. At one point the smell became pretty strong inside the car, so I backed off to let her cool down. Oil temps were only slightly above normal. Coolant temp was normal. Given the reputation this car has for transmission cooling issues, I have to assume that's the source of the smell, at least in my case.

 

So, after trying some ESC off fun, I am pretty sure I still smell something even with ESC off. Doesn't take much, either, just a quick acceleration. It needs to be full-throttle or nearly full-throttle, at least going through a couple of gears.