Perhaps this is normal engine/tranny vibrations and/or I'm being paranoid, but with my clutch pedal completely depressed, I can feel a fast tapping or pulsing in my foot.

This of course only seems to happen at a stand still, whether or not the car is in gear. I can make the frequency increase to the point of "disappearance" by throttling up the RPM's, and often after the R's drop back down, it goes away for a second.

What could this be other than "normal" drivetrain vibration? Am I being a paranoid less-than-one-week owner?

 

If you're talking about the throw out bearing that makes that scraping (Goes away when clutch pedal is pressed) sound then it's normal.

 

Nope. Not the throwout bearing sound. I've had that on several other manuals as well.

This is a physically felt, albeit subtle, tapping or pulsing--With the clutch pedal pushed in.

 

Do you get a squeak when you depress the clutch pedal? There have been problems with failed spot welds in the clutch pedal support bracket. Perhaps you should look into that as a possible cause of your problem. Do a search of the forum and read some of the posts.

Here's a link to the main thread:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...clutch+bracket

 

Yea, my pedal squeaks and I have printed the TSB for it. Don't know if that is related to the "pulsing" or not--I doubt it b/c it's unquestionably dependent on engine rpm. Again, when I rev the car, the frequency increases to the point that the pulse becomes linear and "solid".

About the squeaky clutch pedal though, I has my car refalshed on MOnday and mentioned the squeak to the service advisor. He just said "Meh, spray some silicone lube up there." PITIFUL.

 

Get under the dash with a flashlight and closely check out all the spot welds around the clutch bracket.