A guy at work has owned one for the last couple of years and has had no problems with it. Victor's son has one, so he might chime in later with his experience with it.
Me have has several Mazdas in our family over the years and they have been very reliable DD's.
The Mazdaspeed cars have about twice the HP of a regular Mazda 3, so that might have to do with the clutch life issue.
_________________
HarryPR
BMWCCA #19290