the Rx8's engine didn't screw up. what Mazda failed was the ECU programming.

if u really want to go in depth. Mazda actually did screw up in the FB/FC's engine and its powertrain. for example : S4 Wastegate issue remember? it caused some owners their turbo AND engine. What did Mazda do? Sorry you broke it.

At least now Mazda is willing to cover their engine up to 100K cuz they know their programming screwed up.

my visor is fine, 5 yrs.

Water in tail light, last replacement was 2 yrs ago and so far no issue.

Engine mount (WHAT MOTOR! ITS aN ENGINE DAMN IT!) again, newest mount is doing well.

Clutch pedal -- read zoom's previous post. our car is NOT alone.

not trying to defend this car, but its obvious that all car has their own problems.

Your 7 has no problem? do u own it from day one? I doubt that. the previous owner(s) might have had a lot of work, u just don't know it. new parts in, car sold to you. no issue.

If ANY driver of an RX-8 with "their family" on board and their clutch pedal breaks...WHAT is the DANGER??...if they cant bring ANY car to a stop with this condition they should NOT be Driving...FULLSTOP.

"Why is it "something" Mazda should take care of??...

I can't believe what I hear from you guys in US, You get one of the Best New Car warranties in the world and the Cheapest new cars in the world and you still whine and sue.

Do you want EVERYTHING for free??

Geez....things Wear out..it happens..

Actually the RX-7 had MORE "issues" than the RX-8...."officially".

Again what do you want for the money you pay...

Go buy a Korean Car with the 100 (10) year warranty, and see what happens when things go wrong at year 6.

READ MY SIG...;)

You're reaching behind you to deal with something with your kid, and suddenly you find yourself needing high torque fast, but the clutch pedal breaks, and that split second where you ... WTF is going on...well you're all dead.

But that wouldn't really happen to you. You've always got both hands on the wheel, and you're mind never wanders...it is 100% always on your driving. All accident situations in your world are straightforward and easy to deal with because you know how to drive. Unfortunately most people have lives that causes them to loose driving focus occasionally. And they live in the real world where reacting to a situation they hardly ever come across can easily lead to errors, and they don't need a mechanical malfunction to help them along.

So if you took all those people off the road, then yes you could easily stop the car because you would be the only person on the road.

And we all want everything for free. Granted Americans pay much less for most merchandise, but they can pay more for less tangible things.

And Oh yeah.........FULLSTOP

Come on..you can apply your 'scenario' in many incidents or accidents if and when something may break on any car, that is in the hands of the motoring gods, with or without any other passengers...how many can we list??

Peace ;)

That was quick. It's early morning here and still dark and I thought I was the only person up on this side of the world, but then you're on the other side.

Yeah no problem, peace. And I do agree with your primary sentiment concerning this clutch bracket. I have examined this bracket, and to me the design is just fine. I cannot for the life of me understand how people break it, other than if it is not properly tightened. But the evidence is irrefutable. It breaks sometime, and it probably is not always due to tightening.

Your suggestion that stiff aftermarket clutch springs can cause failure due to added stress is probably the only other reasonable explanation presented, but I am under the impression the brackets break with stock clutches too. I'm not a racer but these guys seem to break the brackets as well....but why?....you can push the pedal down with your thumb. And, because of the pedal spring, a significant fraction of this force is going to put the bracket in compression.

But what really irritates me is people who sense something, who know about the problem, but don't get under there to see what is going on to get a handle on how this problem develops. It's just like, Oh it squeaks, or its wobbly, and can't shit properly, and then ..... snap.

I agree...in most cases it appears that "some warning" is given..

Yes, but if, I say If the stock clutch is badly worn (too much dropping of the clutch or wheel spinning, burnouts , etc), the Clutch Dust and worn PP ,CP and other parts can create a stiffer acting (feeling) or action clutch, another 'sign' or 'warning' that something is wrong, therefore more physical force is needed which will work-back to the bracket, and or weakest link.

As I have said before this is only happening for Left Hand Drive or N American markets.(apart from Brettus..he is a New Zealander...they like Sheep...;) )

Right Hand Drive 8's, use exact same Gearbox, Clutch, Slave Cylinder, the Clutch Master Cylinder is slightly different because hydraulic hose line connection is on other side of CMC body.

Right Hand Drive bracket is also different because of location and position, BUT the metal and construction is identical.

Please do not get me wrong..I am NOT defending Mazda...BUT.

RX-8's do not have a "Clutch Cable", they are hydraulically operated..No Cable.

But, yes, a new Clutch, different to OEM could be an issue.

Without sounding smart, the OEM Clutch Bracket is designed for use with OEM Clutch Assembly.....In my time I have seen some shockingly poorly made and manufactured Clutch kits, like many parts there are good and bad, just because it has a "fancy name' means nothing...

Most Mazda's that use Non Genuine to Standard OEM clutches have a different feeling clutch under foot, I remember early Rotaries RX-2, 3, 4 with different clutches, most had a heavy feel under foot.

I remember I put a 1600 4 cyl Mazda Capella Clutch Plate and Pressure plate in my 10A RX-3 Coupe after we did an engine rebuild, it worked fine, BUT, it was so much lighter in feel...don't know how long it lasted because I sold it a few months later.
(the reason I used a Capella clutch was because I could not get the OEM one).

"oh shit, my POS 458 italia just caught on fire..."
This debate is so funny!

lol !!!!

haha, I saw some video of it, the owner literally ran from the Italia. then he kept cursing like I paid couple million (its in China) for this shit and it's on fire for no reason !

I guess our 200 bux clutch bracket is not that bad ... at least it won't catch a fire ! :)

Travel may change but does the actuating force change significantly with clutch wear?

Yeah, people get annoyed too easily. I broke a transmission because of the pedal but in the end who cares. Shit happens. I welded it back, reinforced it and now i'm doing fine. Mind you i don't baby my car, i mostly drive it on the track.
How about the early e92 diesel bmws? they kept breaking turbo actuators and turbos here... now that's something serious if you have that part replaced every few thousands kms!

Die you friggin horse.....die!
Oh wait, it's already dead.

Sports cars in the traditional sense require more owner involvement. And the dealer techs aren't what they use to be.
Clutch pedal - reinforce it.
Auto dim mirror - the rear wing blocks the sensor. Turn the mirror over and it works better.
Bad idle - motor mounts, Access Port, good maintenance
Sunroof - new version of side rails
Tail lights - new gaskets
Engine - warm it carefully, drive it hard.

This isn't an RX-7.
If it was it would have cost another $15K.
It would have required a turbo to make 230+ HP

You can bitch about it or you can involve yourself with the car, spend a small amount of money and enjoy the experience.

What a concept! FWIW, I have not had any of the problems pianoman says happen to all RX-8s.

I remember the days when new cars came with a one year warranty. That warranty entitled you to an unlimited number of sessions talking/arguing with a service writer, who would explain that there was nothing wrong.

I always enjoyed the day after the year was up, when I could just go ahead and fix the stuff myself and never have to see that service writer again.

Ken

After reading ya'lls post back and forth with various issues I guess I must have gotten the 8 with no problems, or mabe I just maintain my car extremly well. I have a 04, no tail light issues, no sun roof issues, no dim mirror issues, clutch pedal no issues and I've checked the welds and are holding just fine and I know what to look for incase it does start to fail, red line almost every day driving to work and back and have no pressure issues, apex seals are holding out great.

Then again, I clean my car all the time, maintain all the weather stripping and rubber components, change my oil every 2k to 2.5k miles with royal purple synthetic 5-30 but soon will be switching to 10-40. I use full lubrication with every fill up and when I don't have it I run and grap a small bottle of some 2 stroke for premix until I can restock with a big bottle of lucas fuil lubricant, will be trying out Pettits Protekt this week when I'm in West Palm to pick some up, I've replaced my diff and trans fluid to royal purple gear oil. I've got 40k and my car has never been in the shop for any problem and runs great with only one exception.

The ignition coils that we all know fail, already addressed the issue before it became a problem with BHRs ignition set.

Lets face it, you might end up with a car with nothing but problems, it is built and designed by people. My father used to work for GM on assembly lines and let me tell you, people work when they are tired, sick, and sometimes when their head is way off in space, you might be the unlucky one who gets that car they wheren't paying attention to detail. I work in the health field and you have no idea the things that get missed when people are overworked or tired. My wife had a KIA and from day one it had problems, the dealer couldn't even figure out what was wronge and eventually just bought the car back and refunded her money. But not everyone has problems with their KIA even though I'm not a fan.

Same principle applies to any car, make, or model. The 8 is no exception. I've had so many people ask me, "do you have these problems with your rx8?" because they heard from someone that rotaries are unreliable pieces of junk that only run good for 20k miles before the apex seals fail. If you don't know how to maintain your vehicle, or know how to be proactive with issues then your gonna have problems. Things fail and wear, sometimes more quickly then they are supposed to but you can't account for every type of situation a machine is going to be used and abused.

It will be great if Mazda gets the extended warrenty out there, they will probably be the only car company that admits to messing up that badly with some of the known issues.

Gotta rap this up, have blood I have to run some test on, car problems are frustrating, but don't assume that particular car is a piece of junk, I constantly supprise people how well my car has been trouble free and runs great.

great post.

I mean Im pissed about my clutch bracket breaking, im pissed about Mazda "pretend" nothing has happen, and im pissed that even they promised NHTSA something and its been like a month something 2 still no official word/mail from Mazda corporate. but I am dare to say all other manufactures are doing the exact same shit if not worst.

At least Mazda actually willing to admit something before something bad happen.

Anybody remember the Ford/Explorer/Firestone ? At first Ford/Firestone said nothing is wrong UNTIL someone is hurt. Toyota? someone has to "die" before they actually admit something (its actually not as bad as the media/government wants you to believe, but still)

the bracket sucks I know, 100K miles warranty seems reasonable. Just wait till the warranty comes out.

10W40 will not improve reliability. Just the opposite.

Read this http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/cms/

then you need to know more about this engine.

bitog site is loaded with piston people.


Why ARE WE TALKING ABOUT OIL HERE ? WTH ?

@darkbrew^^^ You just stay on topic
And get your ass over to my place and help me install my reinforced clutch bracket

I was waiting for you Jackson man...lol..I knew you would do my job.

BLOODY OIL!...again!!

I would not put any 5W20 or 30 muck IN ANY Rotary...if it was the last oil in the world.

you're wrong. Cuz BITOG ppl said so.

See? Its opposite. it doesn't matter if our engine is different. it doesn't matter most of our parts are the same as 25 something yrs ago except that the power output is significantly higher than 25 yrs ago. it doesn't matter if the older rotary engine use xxw40/50 oil and it works perfectly fine. it doesn't matter if people like Paul @ Mazmart who probably see Rotary Engine apart than 90% of us combine in our life time its better to use 10w40 or more. nothing matters. you get more damage for using xxw40/50 oil now. You just do. cuz BITOG :)

ok, Im done, go back to clutch pedal.

I guess the guys at Pettit racing are dumb asses then and haven't been building rotaries for the past 20 years, what do the experts rotary racing know right?

Anyways....back to the topic at hand, I'm not getting into the oil argument, I know what I'm doing, enough said, this was posted on RacingBeats site. Someone else might have posted this I don't know but here is a PDF for the new Mazda warrenty.

http://www.racingbeat.com/pdf/rx8warranty.pdf

There is not a comparison with what 'Racing Rotaries do' and a Rotary Engine used for Domestic Use...Racing rotaries are used at peak RPM 95% of the time, the reverse is the same for most 'home 8' owners.

Racing engines are overhauled regularly. They don't get the Stop Start use a normal RX-8 gets.

Etc, etc, etc..

Yeah back on topic.

Wasn't refering to racing rotaries, they build street rotaries as well.

Hopefully we will all get a letter from mazda for those who had to front money on the clutch.