New Car Smell

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction) 09/12/2018 at 17:34 • Filed to: None

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The best-smelling car I ever sat in was a RS7 at an auto show... Chemistry educator Andy Brunning breaks modern new car smell down to sweet-smelling aromatic compounds like styrene, toluene, and ethylbenzene—which scientists are known to enjoy a whiff of in the lab—and alkanes, which can smell like ink, gas, and money. Cars aren’t the only things that off-gas: New buildings have plenty of similar materials that do the same, so there’s overlap between new-car smell and new-stuff smell more generally. But cars are especially fragrant. One 2001 study found VOC levels as high as 64 milligrams per square meter in new cars, compared to 20–40 in new buildings.

This aspect of the scent is incidental, but some companies control smells more deliberately. “When Rolls Royce became more technologically advanced, they started using plastic instead of wood for some parts of the car—and for some reason, sales started going down. They asked people what was wrong, and they said it was because the car didn’t smell the same,” scent expert Olivia Jezler told Quartz. “It repelled people from the brand. So then they had to design that smell back into the car.” In 2000, the company started applying a chemical solution based on the aroma of a 1965 model specifically tailored to evoke a mixture of wood and leather.

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CRider > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/12/2018 at 17:44

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But this is Oppo , where ‘new’ car smell consists of mold, rodent droppings and cigarette smoke.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/12/2018 at 17:48

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best smelling car i ever sat in was a mates pug 106 that he and 2 others hotboxed and then we got pizzas...... that was a good night.... none of us got home tho

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/12/2018 at 18:43

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My car smells like little pizza. It’s amazing how long pizza smell stays in a car.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 09/12/2018 at 18:53

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Do little pizzas smell different from big pizzas? Now there’s a serious chemistry question. 

Aremmes > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/12/2018 at 18:54

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I once got some bulgogi and kimchi takeout home, and the smell stayed in the car for weeks. I could smell it even with the top down. It was good bulgogi, mind you.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/12/2018 at 19:00

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Can I buy this off the shelf somewhere?

Future next gen S2000 owner > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/12/2018 at 19:02

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I couldn’t stand the new car smell of the Taco when I bought it. It gave me a headache. So much plastic/glue stench. It was awful. Now it smells a bit like wet dog, baby formula, and something unidentified.

I’m not sure which is better.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 09/12/2018 at 19:22

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I would rather big pizza smell but I didn’t want to spend $26 on second street for one pizza vs $10 on two little Cesar’s pizzas.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Future next gen S2000 owner 09/13/2018 at 09:23

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Yeah, it was pretty rough. I’m in that happy “in-between” time now...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 09/13/2018 at 09:23

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No joke!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Aremmes 09/13/2018 at 09:23

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Wow. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 09/13/2018 at 09:26

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Haha!