Hi
I just was test driving a new GSR and with just moderate acceleration from the line (not launching by any means) there was significant clutch burning smell noticable. is that normal for these cars? if so, will it continue or does it go away once it is broken in?
thanks
Ian

 

same thing happened to me on a test drive. it was within the first 10 miles for the car, and i was just driving it normally to work to show everybody. when i parked it, smoke was coming out under the car. bad burn clutch smell, and i didn't even get on it at all yet. i probably would have bought it that day if it weren't for that, but i'm looking back into now with the 0% for 60mo.

 

It's normal..

 

uhh, no thats NOT normal. it may happen a lot with X's, but smoking clutch is never a good sign.

 

not a good sign, but normal on evo's

 

i smelled clutch for two days after getting a safety inspection at the dealership. the service manager told me my clutch was going out when i picked it up. most likely a tech went for a joy ride during the inspection. i suspect in your case, it was abused by a salesperson as well.

 

Smelled it on both my '08 Lancers, my friend's Kia, and my own Evo. And there was a slight smell from my '09 GTI.

Spoke to 6+ Mitsubishi dealers...all said it's normal.

Oh and, I test drove about 3 different X's from different dealers before getting the one I have, same thing with all of them.

..Yeah I suppose it's not normal...but it goes away after so many miles and never comes back. I consider it as something like 'breaking in the clutch.'

 

thanks for the replies.
I guess the key point is whether or not it goes away after break in. Sounds like it does, at least for some owners.
thanks
Ian

 

If you have the smell later on it means you're not doin' it right!

 

I had it for the first hundred or so miles, no smell since then.

 

I test drove one in the spring and got some gas in the tank for the sales manager, one of the sales girls went along for the ride and asked what that burning smell was. Sure enough just regular driving was burning the clutch so I decided to break it in a little more and got on some boost at low to mid revs to feel out the car more. After parking it at the dealership it was a real stinker, but looking back I think that's normal for the initial break in of the stocker clutches on these cars.

The same thing happened to the car I bought, was babying it initially and it still smelled. Sadly anytime I would leave the line hard the clutch would smell regardless of different methods of accelerating. The nail on the stock clutches coffin was the inability to take a 2 step launch at the drag strip which is why I went with an ACT and haven't looked back.