The New Car Scent Sniffer

Did you know that people with sensitive noses are likely to be the ones to guess whether or not your car is brand new? Also, there are people in this world that works as a new car scent sniffer, which means that these are the people who judge the odours of new car components and are called The Smell Jury. They consist of 5 engineers at Ford’s central laboratory’s polymers, coatings and corrosion sections. However, it’s not just Ford that has this kind of team. Apparently, most car companies have its own special teams of people who sniff their cars and the group assesses the odour of interior materials while rating them on a standardized scale that determines whether the components give off an odour.

Image courtesy of http://www.cartest.ca

Their main goal is to eliminate any and all unpleasant odours in the cars. These people think that it all come back to the ownership experience. The car sniffers would like the masses to enjoy being in their own cars without having to notice or worry about unusual and annoying smells. Most parts that need a sniff test will be placed in three-litre jars which contain specialized foam seals. Components will then be tested in three conditions: elevated dry heat, humid moderate heat, and humid room temperatures.

Image courtesy of fordtransitsonline.co.uk

The odour will be sniffed, evaluated, and eventually rated on a scale of one to six. One rating indicates that the odour is not perceptible while six ratings mean that the odour is extremely unpleasant to the nose (any normal nose). It usually takes about one to two hours to test a single component. The time for a verdict will come once the juries have all rated the specimens at each condition. The jurors are non-smokers and they can’t have allergies or colds.