Almost wrecked today. Check your driver's side floormat
 

Hey everybody -

Close call today. I turned right out of a gas station, shifted to second, stepped on the gas (full throttle) to get up to speed...

...and got the gas pedal caught under the floormat. So now traffic ahead of me is stopping, and I'm at WOT nearing the top of second.

I clutched and stabbed the gas pedal to pop it loose, pulled over where it was safe, hopped out and took a look. Turns out that the mounting pin for my mat is loose, and the mat had worked its way over to the right, to the point where the corner of the mat was directly under the bottom of the gas pedal.

So, if your mat tends to move around on you a bit, double-check where it's sitting before your next ride, and make sure that mounting pin is screwed down tight.

By the way, anyone who says that RX-8's are "slow" should have been in the car with me this morning at 5K WOT heading toward stopped cars.

I was _this_ close to needing a new front clip, a new airbag, and a new pair of shorts.

whoa! Close call Rev, glad you were able to avoid the accident.

Note to self: Make sure that pin is screwed in properly.

I actually have taken my driver side floor mat out because it always slips out of place. I'm thinking about getting the all weather mats, which I hope won't slide as much.

You can be honest w/us Rev - we know you needed new shorts!

My floor mat doesnt even have a pin to keep it in place, I have to wedge it underneath that foot rest thing so it doesn't slide around.

Good, I am not the only person this happens to.

glad you and your car is ok. good advice

get it installed at the dealer, im not sure if its part of the pre-sale inspection, mine was NOT in the car when I test drove it (there were also no floor mats in the car, just the plastic on the carpet)

when I finished paying for the car I got in it and the mats were set in the trunk (i requested that they not remove all the pastic from the car, as I have seen dealers scratch stuff up taking it off....and with the excitment of getting the new car a lot of people dont notice and once you do notice it later....the dealer has an easy out......anyway

I was putting the drivers side mat in, and making sure I got everything I needed before i left the dealer, and I saw the hole in it, but no pin on the floor, when I asked them, they showed me it was in the glove box, I just screwed it in when I got home.

Well, that was a bit more interesting than we like! Glad you're OK.

I hate it when I take it to a "full service" carwash (where they vac the interior too) and they remove the mat and never reinstall it correctly. First thing I do when I get back to the car is check that.

My driver's side mat tends to move around a lot too, it has made its way over the gas pedal several times.

Glad you're ok.

My pin is securely fastened but my mat rotates clockwise OVER the pedal, so I have to adjust it every time I get in to drive.

Never had this problem. I've got the all-weather RX8 floor mats. Their heavy enough they don't move around much even when their attached to the pin..

This is a little bugbear of mine too.

In the RHD model the pin is either too close to the driver's seat mount or the mat is cut wrong. When you position it so the pin goes through the hole, there's a bit of the corner of the mat that fouls the mount, causing it to stick up. As a result it is easier for the mat to come off the pin.

It's never got to the point of going over the pedals or being a safety issue but it's annoying to have to re-position it every second time you get in the car.

Surely it can't be this hard to get floor mats right.

Maybe they should update the manual... "Every second fill-up, check your oil. Every second trip, check your floormat."

So, I just got back in from my attempt to tighten up the mount pin. Turns out that the piece is kinda like a drywall anchor, so there's really no way to tighten it enough to avoid the pin being able to sway back and forth.

However, the pin floating around isn't really the issue - from what I could tell, even if I were able to tighten it all the way, the pin is simply mounted too far forward. The mat is able to work itself forward and towards the center of the car, with the right edge sliding under the deadpedal, even with the pin in the center and the mat securely on the pin.

Next I'm gonna try to shove something under the deadpedal to keep the mat from tucking under it. If that works, I think the problem's solved.

I had to custom my own floormat, get a big piece and trim it exactly with no free play.

my dad stuck fuzzy hemp welcome mats in his car, it's the crappiest thing I've ever seen... it never looks dirty though and they never move around.

Can't see it going well with the piano black. :mdrmed:

The carbon addicted would have a fit! :eek: :rollingla

This has happened before......I recall another report of WOT two years ago.

ARGH, My car moves 'em around too. My wrangler use to do that very often. It got so bad that one of them was almost permanantely warped into a little curl that managed to stick under the accelerator so I couldn't push down on it.

It seems that those little plastic spikes on the other side don't grip worth (@*$.

I wonder if double sided tape would work.

That's wild man. I might just say the hell w/ the floor mat and get rid of it.

The interesting thing about floormats, is that they are made to keep the car floor from getting crap on it, yet, because of the floormats you never see the car floor.

But I suppose it is easier to take 'em out and beat 'em on the side of your house or hose 'em down than reupolstering your car. (anyone done that?)

It's like underwear for your car. It's much easier to replace a cheap floor mat because of "skid marks" than the upholstery of your car.

The thing I don't understand is car bras (not the clear ones). Why bother having a well-preserved front end if no one ever sees it? Do people take them off for cars shows? Do they think they'll get higher resale values? Talk about pug fugly.

I like beatin' mine against trees, and then hosing off.

obviously you take the car bra off when the car is exited. That way you get the full stimulation.

Many a car has to guard against the dirty teenagers that go strait for its protective covering.