Hello, wanted to ask the experts on a peculiar problem I am facing now. I own the 2016 model of the Superb. 

Recently I observed a strange smell inside the cabin which felt like the smell of a burnt wire or burnt rubber. It increased with the AC on. The service center folks tell me this is a very common issue and it happens all the time when the car is driven in a bumper to bumper traffic for a long time. I am told this is due to overheating of the gearbox and clutch. They even shared an image of another car of the warning message getting flashed. Though I never saw this warning message in my car. 

Please let me know if indeed this is a common problem. The place where I stay does not have extreme temperatures, these days the high just about touched 30℃. 

Thanks

I’ve never heard of it being mentioned before but the temperatures in your country far outweigh those in the UK!

I had a similar problem - rear brakes were one cause, but also an air-lock in the cooling system was another.  Also, if the DPF is carrying out a regen, that can cause a burning smell, but is perfectly normal as it's the car heating things up to burn off soot (if you have a diesel that is!).

 

Hope you get an answer soon!  

14 hours ago, adamjackdrew said:

I had a similar problem - rear brakes were one cause, but also an air-lock in the cooling system was another.  Also, if the DPF is carrying out a regen, that can cause a burning smell, but is perfectly normal as it's the car heating things up to burn off soot (if you have a diesel that is!).

 

Hope you get an answer soon!  

Thanks. Mine is petrol and prior to this car I had the Superb Mk II which I had driven for 5 years. Never experienced this problem. 

The car came back from the service center yesterday and nothing is smelling inside as of now. Hopefully it will not come again. 

Some worrying similar feedback on the Karoq too, complaints of burning smells eminating from the gearbox in stop start traffic.