Burning smell coming from the outside of a 206CC 1.6

[girl_interrupted]

Hey there the last couple of days i noticed a strange burning smell coming from under the front of my car - i only notice it when i or a passenger gets out and the smell comes in (its not from the inside). Anyways i can only describe it as like a polystyrene / plasticy foam burning smell. Initially i thought it was coming from my headlights but it happens even when my lights are off so its not that. I took a peekand sniff around under the bonnet but everything just smells like a normal warm engine smell as u would expect. Its not coming from the exhaust and i even sniffed around the front brakes but it doesnt seem to be from there either. Seems to come out from the wheel arches and around the headlight area does anyone have any ideas what it could be?
The one thing that I am pondering is to wether it is my clutch as it is very high and quite sluggish pulling away have to rev harder than usual particularly when on a hill. Ive had the car for 9 months, it is a 54 plate with 58000 miles on the clock. Im sure i have smelt a burning clutch before and it doesnt smell like that. (I must sound a right weirdo going round sniffing my car!) but yeah any suggestions or advice would be great thankyou

[gazza82]

When you pull away on a hill do the revs seem to climb faster than the speed? Do you have to back off a bit to get the clutch to bite better and pull? If so, then yes, the clutch is slipping.

[Capncol]

If you open the throttle and the revs go up without the speed increasing, then it will be the clutch.
Also check for sticky brake pads (the centre of the affected wheel will be hotter than the others after a drive)
Lastly check if you have a plastic bag stuck to the exhaust system

[Capncol]

Must type faster

[girl_interrupted]

I do seem to have to rev high to move off a hill which only makes me pull off slowly still. I am meaning to do the carrier bag check (lol) tomorrow! when checking the wheels for sticking brakes shall i just touch them all in the centre and see if any are hotter than the other? thankyou for your advice

[Capncol]

Just be careful. They can get very hot!!

My money is on the clutch.

[GrandadMonkey]

If your car has spent most of its time in an urban environment such as Birmingham then I'd agree that it needs a complete new clutch assembly. You see many drivers holding the car on the clutch instead of putting it into neutral and using the handbrake at junctions and traffic lights, and in heavy traffic. That causes premature wear. At 58,000 miles with the symptoms you have described I'd agree with Capncol.

[girl_interrupted]

Thanks for all your advice... i took the car to the garage and turned out the burning smell was infact a plastic carrier bag stuck to the exhaust BUT also after a test drive he confirmed my clutch was about 90% gone and wouldnt last for much longer so that clears that one up! Thankyou for all your comments

[Capncol]

See my first answer to you

[GrandadMonkey]

Well done Col - spot on as usual!

Thank you for feeding back the outcome.

[tenpole]

How much was the clutch replacement. My clutch has started slipping and I am not going to have time and all the grief to change it myself.

[girl_interrupted]

Heya i still havent had it done yet... been quoted around £400 but have a friend in a garage who said £180.

[tenpole]

£400 is far too much. I would expect the price to be between 250-300. The clutch costs 70-90 quid.