Stinky Clutch.

[guitar69]

I am, of course, a mature, careful and responsible driver.

On the rare occasions that I take my MPS6 onto my private racetrack, I may launch at 4,800rpm, and occasionally I'll turn off the traction control and let the rear end get a little loose.
I've done this (only) 3 or 4 times in the 12 months I've owned the car, which now has 80,000 clicks.

Whenever I do this, the car stinks for a week or two afterwards.
The clutch feels great- smooth, progressive, no shudder or slip. Jeez it stinks, though.

Does that sound normal?

Thanks,

Pete.

[High on PSI]

I could be so immature right now...
Anyway, after some hard driving with no launching, I get a tad bit of stink from the clutch.
This is from 1 night of hard driving only. Smell goes away after a day.

[Chuckie Cheese]

Hey Pete,

I'm pretty much the same with regards to the careful responsible driver. Though on occasion when the mood strikes me I like to let loose on the 5km strip I have next to my house . I usually have an extremely foul burning smell right after which can be attributed to my poor launching skills. That being said, whilst it stinks for a bit, it goes away after a few hours.

Few hours or a day, I'd say normal, but when you say a week or two? Warning bells? I honestly don't know...

[rogwick]

I smell my brakes and on occasion get them smoking. Only smelt the clutch once or twice since owning the car due to bad launches

[kmh001]

If you remember the last time we were lined up, I also used 4800rpm on that occasion and got all four wheels spinning off the line with no burning clutch. It was one of the rare occasions I've got it right and for me the difference between a good launch or not, is how quickly I let the clutch out. I don't mean slipping my foot sideways off the pedal because that would introduce too much of a shock, but letting it out very quickly.

4800rpm is right in the sweet spot for a launch and should result in (almost) no clutch slipping and no smell. From your description Pete I'm inclined to suggest you may be letting the clutch out just a little too slowly. It's easy to do when your trying not to be abusive to the drive train. But I know from experience if you give the clutch an inch it will take a mile and it wont hook-up, resulting in the clutch slipping the entire way. When this occurs, by the time you get to second gear the friction material in the clutch will be hot enough to be experiencing the same phenomena as brake fade and even after you change gears it will continue slipping until it's had an opportunity to cool down.

BTW the latest addition to my private race track is a rally cross circuit. I've been using the dirt buggy on it because it's rear wheel drive and I like taking the corners speedway style (and because it's very muddy). But you're welcome to give the MPS a blast on it if you promise not to damage any of my fences.