That's a nice, subtle way to acknowledge a wide-spread problem without admitting liability for it...

 

Simple fact is, boutique manufacturers cannot afford recalls, so they do things like this.

 

Very true, and perfectly understandable. But they also can't afford to shut themselves off from their community of owners, especially those of us trying to proactively help the marque. Unfortunately, they squander that resource and it only makes their situation all the more precarious.

 

Need to quote myself here..
Does anyone has the phenomena as well, smell while idling in neutral or parking backwards?

 

If you ride with your foot on the clutch pedal, you can partially engage the clutch get a burning smell and a lot of other ways to get a burned smell, does the car rev and then start moving when you let off the clutch?

If it went away, I would identify what was going on when the smell occurred and correct, i.e. what you did to make it happen. If for any reason you were not causing this, then I would take it to a dealership for a look see. Clutch could have hung up for some reason or something even worse.

But most times it is the drivers fault, missed shift, foot on pedal, slow to let off pedal when revving the engine and a lot more ways besides what I mentioned.

 

You are sooo right!!
That is why I was wary to buy my Lotus and AM, as I was not sure they would stand behind their product,

 

Hi Randy, thanks for the reply.

I was not in the car.
She was running in the driveway, shifter in neutral as I walked in the house to grab something.
It smelled like burned clutch somehow.

Maybe it is related to the new clutch?!

 

If most the time it's the drivers fault we must be lousy lot at driving!

 

Bought a 2010 V8V Roadster with only 4.7k miles last December from a PA dealer as our Christmas present. It has the Sportshift and I was aware of the usual short life of the clutches. Washed it a few weeks ago and but then it wouldn't go into gear. Had it hauled to the AM dealer in Phoenix (covered by insurance) They said the clutch was trashed and replaced it for $6k. They had never replaced a clutch with such low mileage. No warranty. The PO apparently lived outside of NYC and drove it exclusively as an automatic in the stop-n-go traffic. Disappointing and has taken the edge off AM ownership.


Why do they have a "D" button and why that silly "COMFORT" button. The owners manual says nothing about overuse in a full automatic mode or encourage paddleshifting exclusively to get the most out of your clutch. I did lots of research on the AM cars before buying. Very little is written about how to best use the Sportshift

 

One of three things my guess:

Someone who previously owned the car that would have somehow a used the clutch with bad driving,

Someone who started the engine and did not wait for the clutch kiss procedure - ever,

A defective clutch.

Possibly a fourth option, some internal software glitch, a reason I insist on the latest updates annually.

 

The reality is that the clutch in these cars suck!
There is really no other way to say it. If this was a Ford or Chevy the government would have forced a recall in the first year.
I understand that AM is a small brand with limited R&D, having said that, you cannot convince me that some tester at the factory did not say to the suits, guys the clutch is garbage.
It would have cost too much to install the v12 clutch? The average AM owner would have gladly paid another $5K for a decent clutch. I have become so paranoid about the clutch I shift the car into neutral when approaching a slow speed corner, then engage 2 gear in the middle of the corner. That's after I tried downshifting before the corner and was rewarded with a smell form the overexcited clutch!
Rant over. Love the car. AM should have done better.

 

I agree with above. It's really almost never the drivers fault, it's a crap clutch. I haven't ever replaced a clutch before, but I've smelled this clutch half a dozen times in the year I've owned it. I respectfully decline to accept fault. I don't know how long mine will last. I've never smelled a burning clutch before this car, but that can't be good.

 

My 6spd managed 37k miles before it started it looking like this.

 

2008 clutch was last replaced at 39k miles. currently at 62k miles and I'm expecting 20k more miles!

 

2009 sportshift UK 36,191 miles still on original clutch.