CRAMAZING

hi all, just a random question.
my 12 A6 3.0 has about 13000 miles on and i have pretty much babied this car for the 1st 10k miles, recently i have been driving my car hard.... very hard actually... the tiptronic is amazing in the first 4 gears, absolutely love the power.

what i notice lately is that after i drive it "hard" i notice a burning smell coming from the car, even from the inside of the car with all the windows up.

is this coming from the brakes or the engine?
Im due for 15000k audi care, should i have them take a look at this or is this normal stuff?

tenspeed

It's normal stuff. Driving hard will produces smells from the transmission, brake rotors and the engine headers. The catalytic converter might be a little toasty too.

The harder you drive, the more it costs.

YHan01

I've noticed a burning smell from time to time. I think it's the brakes. After parking and letting the car stand for about 15 minutes, the smell goes away. But it might be worth mentioning to the service folks. I'm sure they won't find anything wrong though.

snagitseven

Funny you should mention this as I was noticing the slight burning smell today (I'm at 4K miles).

I'm not sure it's the brakes, though - I wasn't tromping down on them hard but more apparent right after or during full throttle. I suspect it's some of the other causes mentioned, i.e. engine or transmission related. As I've never had a smell like this before in my Audis, I'm going to keep an eye on it (or my nose in this case).

coachsnacs

Cramazing how much oil do you have in your engine at this time? Have you added any since the 5000 mile service? I am currently below half in my A6. I do drive it hard and have been for awhile I am Germany but US Spec. However I have never smelled anything...

antispam

I am breaking in my A6 (currently at 350 miles)... Noticing the burning smell briefly after parking in my garage.

This is after driving to somewhere near in 35-40 mph roads and not driving hard at all.

Initially I thought it must be coming from solvents that are vaporizing in the new engine.. but looks like you guys are getting it even after 5K miles

CRAMAZING

I did AUdi care at 5000 miles

i then went in and did another change at 10k and this was maybe a month ago.

I had a few weekend road trips lately so my mileage is currently 13k

i believe my oil is full to the top

Rush2112

I just went over my 1000 miles the other day and naturally I wanted to floor the car and really drive it. I noticed a smell within a few minutes after hitting the accelerator hard. It went away after about 10 min but mine was not the brakes as I let the car naturally break down to the speed limit.

Anybody talk to there service managers about this good/bad ??

snagitseven

As I wrote earlier, I'm getting this smell as well right after hard acceleration. It's on my list for Monday when I bring it in for the 5K service. I have this premonition I'm going to get the "operates normally to manf. specification". If so I'm going to ask why - never had it on my other three Audis.

irenesbob

My 2010 with the 3.0 does not make any such smell. However, my 2006 and 2008 A4's (both with 2.0T engines) did, especially when pulling into a closed place like the garage after some spirited driving. As I mentioned in an earlier post the brake dust on my 2010 A6 is way less than it was with the ‘06 & ‘08 A4's - they seemed to generate the stuff like it was a commodity to get rich on. Could the brake pad compound be the culprit, especially since 2012 & 2013 owners here have been reporting much worse A6 brake dust than 2010/2011 owners? With the wheels and rotors heating up from driving, maybe once the vehicle slows/stops and the wind of a moving vehicle isn’t blowing the dust away the amount built up on the rotor and perhaps inside of the wheels starts burning a bit?

FWIW - The worst I have ever had was my 1998 Isuzu Trooper that neighbors said they could still smell a half hour after I parked (apartment building garage).