Rx8 clutch death 8000 miles

[madder]

Hi all, as some of you will be aware i managed to break the Pz today at Silverstone. Full dsc was off.

Was driving round the double cone (donut) rings drifting quite nicely when a puff of white smoke came from front of car. Car stalled, restarted but would refuse to engage 1st gear. eventually did after 4-5 minutes of trying.
parked up to let cool down and then it wouldn\'t engage reverse. gear selection felt very heavy and clutch shudder was evident  at low speeds.
 I decided not to continue driving , had one of the mazda on track guys drive it and drift it quite successfully but he also thought the clutch wasn\'t releasing properly.
Well 80 miles to get home, drove quite slowly (85) on way back, however every-time i hit a hill car really started to struggle. Increasing throttle to compensate and provide more power resulted in heavy clutch shuddering.
Then i hit stop start traffic on m25, car will hardly pull away having to hit 5-6k in 1st before she moves, people around me wondering what the hell im doing. i decide i have to get of the m25 and cut in past Heathrow terminal 4 and go through Staines. By this point the car is really struggling clutch in slipping in all gears and the car seems to have a mind of its own. I managed to catch some footage of the final minutes.My throttle was constant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_RxZeXZOaM


Well i get within 2 miles of my house , hit a small incline, clutch goes completely massive plumes of smoke and total losss of drive. (

Im not complaining if we push things to the limit they will break and i guess its an excuse to fit a stage 1 clutch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO18TwXxmFA

[madder]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23dlEI1lZLo

[clive]

Didn\'t realise you was actualy drifting when you had problems Ben :Giggle:Giggle

Sorry to see it came home on a rope but hope you enjoyed that day while the car was behaving, see you at Cadwell :Thumbsup!


Here\'s what looks like a clip that Ben took of Crissys car with somebody else playing,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6bwpPNz5p4&feature=related

[madder]

main dealer want £296 labour only to fit the clutch

[clive]

Normal garage should be £200 or under IMO

[madder]

http://s784.photobucket.com/albums/yy122/madderose_photos/clutch/

pictures of the clutch

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy122/madderose_photos/clutch/01072009501.jpg