The clutch pedal (already a known problem by Mazda, but no recall has yet been announced) cracked while I was driving last year. I was on hwy 13 in Minnesota and barely got control of my speed (was barely able to maintain use of the clutch) it sat until I could get it repaired, the same pedal is now craking in another spot, working on getting it repaired before it breaks again, this time will reinforce it.

- West Saint Paul, MN, USA

Was driving normal conditions down a 35 mph road when I went to upshift gears and depressed the clutch pedal, I heard a loud pop and the pedal went to the floor. The clutch pedal bracket cracked and popped off due to poor quality and bad engineering, in my opinion. This could have caused the transmission to lock up and cause an accident through loss of control. I was not abusing the vehicle/ have not abused the vehicle.. this item should not break in the manner it did.

- Manahawkin, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Mazda RX8. The contact was driving approximately 10 mph and smelled gasoline fuel coming from the vehicle. The contact also stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician advised the contact that the oil pan, throttle body assembly, fuel pump assembly, catalytic converter and spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on several occasions for the same failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 145,000 and the current mileage was 146,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Campbell, CA, USA

Failure of the clutch petal as it attaches to the firewall under emergency deceleration. The metal attaching the petal to the fire wall sheared on the vertical attachments. Caused a near accident, dangerous conditions of a vehicle stranded in a travel lane, and subsequent towing on the vehicle.

- Vilas, NC, USA

As my wife and I were driving home my clutch pedal stuck to the floor. I couldn't shift gears so I had to coast to the emergency lane.

- Louisville, KY, USA

1. clutch pedal assembly would make pop noise when being depressed and released. 2. clutch pedal bracket to firewall snapped causing clutch pedal to not return. Could not change gears or stop with car on. 3.had to replace with factory pedal (the same pedal that caused the problem).

- Clovis, CA, USA

Everything started fine. While driving my clutch pedal failed on me and I was unable to properly maneuver the vehicle. Clutch pedal sticks to the ground and the gears get stuck and I have to rip them out. It happened once, because now the car is inoperable. To correct the failure I'm going to replace clutch pedal bracket assembly and possibly an new clutch altogether.

- Culpeper, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Mazda RX8. The contact stated whenever it would rain, water would leak into the passengers side tail light. The dealer advised there were no recalls for the failure and repairs would be at the owners expense. In addition, the contact stated when accelerating from a complete stop the accelerator pedal would become extremely resistant to applied pressure or would sporadically lunge forward without warning. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure and could not offer a remedy. The manufacturer would not provide any assistance. The failure mileage was 34,500 the consumer believed the vehicle also had transmission problems, due to it not shifting properly in 1st and gear. Updated 07/06/10. Updated 07/08/10 updated 07/09/10.

- Glendale, CA, USA

1. clutch pedal felt about a 1/2" low (as if hydraulic fluid had an air pocket and needed bleeding) about two blocks before failure. 2. I was stopped at a light behind 3 cars in the right hand lane, shifted into first when the light turned green; accelerated very slowly and tried shifting to second gear but the pedal made a snapping sound and went to the floor, the engine stalled and the transmission was stuck in first until I let the car roll back a little and got it in neutral. I was stuck in a major intersection and there was gridlock, lots of honking and yelling and a few cars came very close to having accidents. I pushed my car to the edge of the intersection and waited for the tow truck. The tow truck had to have smaller pickup brought in to winch my car out of the intersection because he said it was unsafe to set up the tow right in the middle of the intersection. 3. my car was towed to my mechanic and after inspection he said it would happen again to a new pedal from Mazda. He was surprised it lasted for 60K miles. After some research I ordered a reinforced clutch pedal bracket assembly from here: www.fluidmotorsports.com/P-188-transmission-and-accessories.aspx turns out here are three aftermarket companies manufacturing reinforcements, mazsport, bhr and race roots; each has their own design and they are selling hundreds of them because all the pedals fail in 40 - 80K miles.

- Glendale, CA, USA