---
title: "What’s the Worst Car Smell?"
description: "Burnt clutch, anyone?"
date: "2022-01-17"
modified: "2022-01-17"
authors:
  - name: "Chris Tsui"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/chris-tsui"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/43858/whats-the-worst-car-smell"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "QOTD"
---

# What’s the Worst Car Smell?

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2022/01/GettyImages-1072587214.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

Cars consist of an extremely complex mix of materials. The plastic that adorns interiors, the compounds that make up brake pads, the weirdly-colored chemicals and fluids that keep it all running smoothly, etc. They all have a distinct smell, and as [Jeep continues to investigate where in its Detroit assembly plant that "objectionable" odor](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/43829/jeep-still-trying-to-fix-objectionable-smell-coming-from-detroit-plant>) is coming from, we started wondering: What's the worst car-related smell?

As anybody who's driven on track will attest, brake dust doesn't exactly smell like flowers and honey. Neither does burning clutch, a particularly recognizable and foul odor that's perhaps compounded by the shame of somebody who *thought* they had the whole stick shift thing figured out.

![message-editor%2F1642087562538-gettyimages-538000036.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1642087562538-gettyimages-538000036.jpg>)
*If you know, you know., *Getty Images**

For those who like to wrench, I've heard that differential fluid is absolutely nasty to be around, although I personally have never had the displeasure. Or maybe you're one of those outliers who absolutely cannot stand the new car smell that emanates from a particular manufacturer's plastics. [Audi, in fact, has an entire "Nose Team"](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/33439/audi-has-an-entire-team-of-people-who-just-smell-things>) dedicated to keeping its vehicles smelling nice and luxurious, something [Hyundai definitely could've used when building the Palisade](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/37601/hyundais-official-fix-for-the-smelly-palisade-seats-is-to-spray-them-with-febreze>).

As for the distinctive smell of tires, I'm mixed. I don't think the rubber tire aroma is, objectively speaking, overtly good or bad. On the one hand, *burnt* tires remind me of the good times I've had at the track while the smell of static, greasy, new tires reminds me of being inside of a tire shop, a situation that usually involves the expenditure of a not-insignificant sum of money. Not that happy of a memory.

One thing I think we can all agree on though is that gasoline smells *great*.

*Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com*

## Author
Chris Tsui is *The Drive*'s former Reviews Editor and current freelance automotive journalist. He's based in Toronto.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/cltsuii/>)