I live in Southern California, and recently the rain has been dumping down on us. I swapped cars with my friend for a day because I needed his truck, so I wasn't there when he drove my car and wasn't able to observe how great/terrible he was at driving manual. It was very rainy when i got my car back and it smelled like burnt clutch, but maybe more of a burnt smell like if you were to pour water on a scalding hot frying pan. I assumed it was the clutch and it went away after a few days.

Recently I was driving it this time, and again, the common denominator was the heavy rain. I smelled the same burnt smell again. I like to think i'm pretty good at driving manual but lets say i'm not, it has never happened to me before in the 2 months that i've owned the car, and only happened during heavy heavy rain.

Has anyone else had anything like this happen during the rain?

 

If you say it smells like water on a hot frying pan maybe water is getting up onto your headers. That would fit the criteria, although i would expect to see steam if that was happening.

 

I've been smelling something just like that and it seems to only happen when it is cold out. Next time try popping the hood and whiff right above the tranny. That is where the odor comes from on my 08 Clubman. At first I thought my cold weather package was trying to heat something. Now I am convinced it is the clutch.

What year is your car?

 

Sorry missed that you say it's only 2 months old. I have only 5,000 miles. I had a groaning sound when downshifting into first gear that I reported to the dealer. Not surprised they said everything was fine.