Burning Smell....
 

Maybe you guys can help out a bit. Today I was just getting on the expressway and took it up to about 8k rpms in third gear. For like the next five minutes I could smell a strong burning scent almost like melting plastic, but no smoke or anything. It went away after about 5 minutes.

Just wondering if anyone else has exprerienced this. I rarely ever bring it past 7k rpms so I thought maybe it was just some gas or oil burning off, but like I said it smelt a little more like plastic.

My car sort of emits a very faint burning smell that gets stronger after stomping on it for a bit. You can also smell it after you turn it off on occasion, but like I said, it's very faint. If it's potent and lasting several minutes, I doubt this is the same smell. You sure there wasn't a beater in front of you or something? Those things have quite the knack for smelling up the cockpit. I'd say wait and see if it happens again (maybe test it out tomorrow) and if it comes back go ahead and get it checked out.

That's pretty normal for a new motor during break-in. Mine smelled the same on occasion but has since gone away. Is yours new?

Yep - happened to me today as a matter of fact. It's not clutch smell, but the smell of melted wiring insulation or plastic.

Mine definitely has this faint burning smell when driven hard - I just love it. Must admit I assumed it was normal but I don't know what causes it - anyone?????

Any improper shifting? Rubbing gears maybe? When I was getting used to the car I did that a couple times....stinks it up for a few minutes:-)

EDIT: khoney...oops! you must've posted as I was typing:-)

I have about 5k miles on it and its about 5 months old. The shifting seemed very smooth no rubbing gears or anything and noone was in front of me at the time. I'll probably test it out again tomorrow.

khoney, you described the smell perfectly. Any idea what it's from?

There was probably a car in front of you burning oil or something. Also, don't be afraid to redline it every once and a while...rotaries apparently love it.

Mine definitely smells when I drive it hard, nothing to do with anyone in front - there isn't anyone!!
Could it be the cat? Does the smell dissapear when the car gets more mileage - I have 3000 miles on mine.

I was getting a strong plastic smell a few weeks ago. Then I remembered a plastic bag blowing around the road that I ran over. I checked under the car and there it was, stuck and melted to the muffler. I was able to pull of some large pieces after it cooled off and my hubby scraped the rest off when it was hot the next day.
I was just glad it was only a plastic bag...

The old plastic bag on the exhaust trick....gets 'em every time :) .

If you have an oil smell from your brand new RX-8 while idling at the lights, it's most likely the Cosmolene corrosion inhibitor burning off your exhaust. It's applied at the factory to prevent rust during shipping. The smell only lasts a week or two.....maybe this is one of the things they should have put on the DVD.

Gomez.

What DVD? I did not get any DVD with my car :(.

Not a clue... it does get me worried when I smell it, though.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/rx8-product-update-dvd-54051/

Thanks - I'll look for mine in the mail.