Can someone help me figure out what the problem is with my car?

2004 Rx-8 has about 56,000 miles on it. When i am in the higer gears i.e. 4-6th gear. If i am sitting at 2-4k RPM's and give the car some gas to speed up quickly, the RPM's will rev way up to around 7k then slowly drop back down to where they should be. Meanwhile the car's power does not match the rev's jumping up. There are no wierd noises coming from the car or feelings. What it seems like is when i go hard on the gas the car moves no faster just the RPM's jump up then slowly go back down and catch up with the car.

I am sorry it is very hard for me to explain, This is my first stick shift. Is my clutch going out? I have done several tests on the clutch for example i will be in 5th gear at 4k RPM's and drop it to 3rd gear and immediatly the RPM's jump way up.. No delay. Please help if you have any suggestions, I do not want to replace the clutch if that is not the problem.

 

Yes your CLUTCH is Fubarred. Time for a new one.
The only way to get high revs immediately after stepping on gas in same gear is slippage from the clutch. This is more noticeable in higher gears due to the load on the clutch.
Shifting down to 3rd from 4th, your revs should normally be higher. The lower the gear with the same speed means higher revs.

 

It does sound like the clutch, you can "test" it by putting the parking brake on fully and put the car in 4th or 5th gear and let the clutch out like your leaving in 1st, if it stalls right away then your clutch is working ok, if it doesnt stall like you would expect or it keeps running your clutch is toasted. 56k on a clutch is not alot, did/do you ride the clutch at all?

 

Not that i am aware of. I did buy the car used with about 43k miles on it. So the previous owner may have. How much does it normally run to have a new clutch installed?

 

The previous owner probably drove it hard like a sports car. After all, it is an RX-8!
Clutch change about 4 hours from Mazda rx8: what would a ball park figure be to install a new - JustAnswer

Clutch Parts Prices: Mazda RX8 ACT Clutch and Aluminum Flywheel Page. Mazda RX-8 Performance Parts.
Mazda RX-8 Clutch Kit - Free Shipping - Valeo, Centerforce, Exedy
Mazda Performance Parts: RX8: Clutch-Flywheel-Drivetrain

 

I find that to be a slight problem with the RX-8, parts like the clutch are quite high maintenance and is vulnerable is excessively used