There's a cat on it. I know that smell and this isn't it at all. This is like opening a can of wood alcohol and taking a wiff.
I'm thinking it's a problem in the evap system.

I also noticed today that there might be a correlation between idle dipping to almost stalling while I have the AC on, weak takeoff and an odd drop in RPM during 1 - 2 shifts. I can't remember if I've always experienced those when I get this smell. I recently cleaned the TB and IACV trying to fix those issues. Apparently without success.

 

Clogged charcoal evap canister?

 

Would that cause it to somehow vent to atmo?

 

I know that AEM ECU users have a problem where the AEM doesn't have a way to control the evap solenoid and therefore the evap canister fills with gas and users report a strong gas smell frequently. You can read about that issue by searching the site for that problem.

One of my customers ran over a trash bag on the highway that got stuck and wrapped around his mufflers and exhaust pipe. Smelled of burning plastic something fierce. We tried to scrape it off but it was impossible to get it all. Still smells like plastic to this day. Could something like that have happened to yours?

 

Nah I've been under there before and there's nothing like that. It's an intermittent thing too. It has to be gas. It couldn't really be anything else. It just smells.. different.
I'll get under it this weekend and run through all the evap system tests in the manual. Not really sure how to check if the canister is getting filled with liquid gas tho.

 

Maybe check for kinks and cracks in the evaporation lines.

Good luck!

 

I got under there tonight and can't find any signs of a leak.
Drove it around for a while and couldn't get it to smell. I'm thinking it takes a few days of commuting with it to get it to start.

Probably time to just take it to the dealership.

 

Earlier ap1 had problem with fuel filler pipe. There is a service bulliten for it.