How much of a burnt smell is normal during hard driving?

Smells like?

Exhausts that haven’t seen really high temps from extended hard runs can smell once they are heated beyond their normal level seen, and for some amount of heat cycles after. Is it a low mile vehicle not driven much or very hard prior to you owning it? The first time I wound out my Abarth for a mile at full speed at around four thousand miles I could still smell the aluminized costing used on the exhaust welds. And the deer carcass I had passed over a week prior. Perhaps you had something hit the exhaust like a plastic bag. Oil leaks? Coolant leaks? What was the odor representative of? Just metallic?

 

What smell are you referring to, is it oily or metallic? Try to home in on where the smell is coming from. When my car was brand new there was a bit of the smell you get from shipping wax they apply in the engine compartment that may have been left over from the dealer prep but only when I popped the hood and it was slight and went away quickly.

Never smelled anything unusual from my Cali30, even after tracking. Definitely should not smell funny inside the car. You should only smell the leather.

 

You’re welcome, I hope I was helpful.

There are coconut charcoal sachets that will work real well at removing the odors from the car. One is the California (appropriately enough) Home Goods Air Purifying Bag.
Sounds like you may be right. The loose cap would allow some crankcase vapors out, smelling like heated oil with maybe a tinge of fuel to it.

Good Luck.
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You haven't confirmed what you mean by "unique Ferrari smell" but I assume you meant oil. No, Ferraris tend to smell like leather unless you put yourself close to the working parts of the car. My engine bay looks brand new, after 6 years of use so it hasn't experienced leakage of anything. I credit that to the excellent annual dealer service.

The manual says to check the oil as per service intervals or before you take a long trip. Annual service should only be through dealers or by a factory-trained mechanic using all of the normal parts and consumables. However, I do check my oil levels regularly but that only involves the dipstick and not the oil refill cap. I should probably also check the other fluids but I don't do that much mileage and I'm a bit lazy.

It's good to pay attention to how your car behaves during your initial ownership experience. If you go on long trips it's advisable to have handy, a quart of the exact same oil your car is using. I believe it's Shell HELIX Ultra SAE 5W-40. This is if for some strange reason you notice low oil levels and can't get that oil where you find yourself at that moment. Saves a lot of hassles when in unfamiliar locales.

Hope you have sorted the smell issue.

 

Good catch! Thank you for correcting my oversight there. To be fair though, I suspect the manual assumes the owner is checking the engine oil level soon after having driven the car. I normally check it before I take my car out (just in case). So that's after it has sat for at least a couple of days so the oil has drained for a good while. Yes, I only drove my Cali30 during the driving season, at most, every 2-3 days. It's now even less often as I bought another fun car to take out for a spin last year. A person only has so many hours to spend on cars.

 

I too get this smell.. it was a low mileage car and looked like little use. I however use it as was intended and first few hundred miles it smelt bad, like over heating metal. So I continue to give it the beams everywhere, and have to say, the burning smell is getting less and less.. only when I drive the car, REALLY hard for a long distance, does the smell reappear...but I am confident after a few more hundred miles of hard use, it will disappear completely....