This has happened twice now. I'm driving down the freeway and for whatever reason i need to downshift from 6th but when i do the it refuses to let me shift into 5th and just makes an awful grinding noise. so i let my foot off the clutch and try again, same deal, it wont go in and grinds again. I try putting it back into 6th but i get the same result. So i try back and forth trying to get my car in some sort of gear, 4th, 5th, 6th, whatever and nothing works. At this point i start to get worried since i'm basically a sitting duck on 5 lanes of highway. I eventually slow down significantly and i can pop it into 4th gear and everything is fine.

Has anyone had this issue? I'm thinking i should get it checked out by Mazda but i just want to know what this could possibly be and if this is a frequent problem with RX8's.

Thanks, your input is appreciated.

P.S. - i've searched a bit but i'm not really sure what to search for to get info on the same issue. Any threads you know of would be a help.

Simliar issue to me, but not exactly. This is what the dealer is doing to my car today.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/pdf/rx8/bulletin/05-004-06-1641a.pdf

That sounds like it may do the trick. Thanks for the quick response. Hopefully it's nothing more serious than that (well my car is still under warranty so i guess it doesn't matter how serious it is). But possible solutions are better than no solutions.
-Thanks

Clutch pedal feel mushy and vague or softer than it used to when you first bought it?

Nope, the clutch is still pretty firm. I bought my car w/ 20k miles on it(33k now) and it feels the same as when i bought it. however, i test drove an '07 the same day i bought mine and the clutch pedal was significantly stiffer.

Mine had the issue described in the TSB. Yours might be the same, but it only happened to me when it was 95+ degrees out, usually in stop and go traffic. Also I could still disengage the clutch, but it took only a very slight release of pressure on the pedal to fully reengage.

i assume you do, but im going to throw this out there anyway. do you know what rev matching is?

i know what rev matching is ,mine clutch pedel feels soft in my car and im running a stage 3 cluth and al flywheel.

So how did your pedal feel compared to the '07? Mushy and vague?

OK fine, I guess yes it does. What are you getting at?

Clutch pedal welds that pull apart. It's a long documented phenomenon and even the factory clutch will cause damage at/around 50K miles. First the pedal feels "soft", then it starts to squeak, then it clicks, then it goes "POP", and it's all over. While all this is going on, your clutch gradually fails to fully release and THAT issue gets worse and worse. As it does you start to wonder why you grind gears while shifting. You may even wonder if your hand/foot coordination is off or if you are crazy. Then, everybody thinks their tranny is wasted, which it is, and heads to the dealer for a new one. By the time you point out to the dealer that the pedal is the problem, they blow you off and you get no new pedal.

Does this story sound familiar to anybody?

Mine had the issue described in the TSB. Yours might be the same, but it only happened to me when it was 95+ degrees out, usually in stop and go traffic. Also I could still disengage the clutch, but it took only a very slight release of pressure on the pedal to fully reengage.

i just had that happen to me. first time ever. lived in tx as long as i've had my 8 (since '04), so it's been in hot weather before, but last week austin had a random 95 degree day, first of the season, and i was driving it a lot, then got stuck in stop-and-go traffic and my clutch pedal felt like mush!! and the catch point was way down by the floor board. i freaked out, on my way to dallas, thought my clutch was a goner, really didn't want to pay for a tow truck! later that night is was fine though, all back to normal....

Clutch pedal welds that pull apart. It's a long documented phenomenon and even the factory clutch will cause damage at/around 50K miles. First the pedal feels "soft", then it starts to squeak, then it clicks, then it goes "POP", and it's all over. While all this is going on, your clutch gradually fails to fully release and THAT issue gets worse and worse. As it does you start to wonder why you grind gears while shifting. You may even wonder if your hand/foot coordination is off or if you are crazy. Then, everybody thinks their tranny is wasted, which it is, and heads to the dealer for a new one. By the time you point out to the dealer that the pedal is the problem, they blow you off and you get no new pedal.

Does this story sound familiar to anybody?

no, never heard of it. for real? read my post above -- i'm approaching 49k ... what should i be on the lookout for? just the things you mentioned ... grinding, clicking ...?

Clutch pedal welds that pull apart. It's a long documented phenomenon and even the factory clutch will cause damage at/around 50K miles. First the pedal feels "soft", then it starts to squeak, then it clicks, then it goes "POP", and it's all over. While all this is going on, your clutch gradually fails to fully release and THAT issue gets worse and worse. As it does you start to wonder why you grind gears while shifting. You may even wonder if your hand/foot coordination is off or if you are crazy. Then, everybody thinks their tranny is wasted, which it is, and heads to the dealer for a new one. By the time you point out to the dealer that the pedal is the problem, they blow you off and you get no new pedal.

Does this story sound familiar to anybody?

Boy, now that you spell it out like that, it does. However, I have no clicking/squeaking or anything like that. All of the other symptoms fit. I gather this is what you're doing with your clutch pedal reinforcement? I'm interested.

Not to try and take single-handed credit for discovering the issue but.........

I had an ACT "Xtreme Duty" clutch system on my car and my clutch pedal broke after 12K miles. In the middle of traffic. I managed to drive home, even while stopping the car, with no ability to release the clutch. When I got under the dash I saw the broken welds and the story began for all of us shortly afterward. That's why I decided to try and solve the problem for all of us. I would much prefer that Mazda had built a pedal assembly that could, at the very least, last forever with the factory clutch assembly. No such luck. I will have something to present as a solution real soon.

Good to hear, I remember peaking at some of those threads when this issue first arose for me. Since my car is still at the dealership, I called them back to let them know, and apparently they didn't find any issues with it. I'll take a look for myself when I get the car home.

I felt the pop 2 days ago... any updates on this issue??