[A8EJX]

Hi guys, this is my first post on the forum and I am not hugely familiar with the technicalities of my Boxster - so excuse my if any dodgy-sounding language.

I purchased a 2002, 66k in April this year and it was probably one of the best available in terms of servicing, maintenance. The car had been serviced year on year by an official Porsche dealer by one previous owner. The last MOT (yearly UK road servicing check), the car came out on top.

So yesterday, I'm driving back from work and there is some up-hill driving for about a mile. After coming off the hill, I noticed a lot of steam coming from the side air vent and noted that the temp gauge was unusually over the halfway mark. So I assumed the engine was about to overheat. So I turned up the fan, kept the car in high gears and drove down an open road for a while. There was plenty of water in the tank. Soon the temp slowly returned to the halfway mark, then reduced further.

Anyway, the main reason I created this thread is due to a burnt rubber smell which seems to be coming from the rear of the car - under the rear wheels. I can even smell it the next day. Initially, I thought it may be coming from the air vents at the side, but the smell is stronger if I go to the rear wheels. Thinking about it now, it could be the smell of tire wear.

I have the car booked in for a quick check on Saturday so I wanted to check whether any of you guys have noticed the same issue after driving up-hill for long periods.

Another thing I noticed, after I returned to a level ground is how the car became slightly unresponsive to gear shifts for around 15 minutes. I had to keep the car in low gears as the car seemed to shudder in higher gears. For example, even driving at 50mph, I had to select 4th as the car sounded like it was struggling to find 5th gear.

I am new to the Boxster so I have no idea what is "normal" and what is likely to result in a large repair invoice! Any help or previous experiences would be much appreciated.