[BigJay_GT]

Today was a big day. It was the my first day off since i got my car. I woke up early to wash my car. I've only had it for a week but i wasn't gonna go into a speed shop with a dusty car! It HAD to look perfectly clean and new!

I then installed my Thule roof rack complete with two bike racks and one deflector. The whole thing is looking pretty sexy right now... Plus, i'm going biking in not too long so the bike on top is gonna make it even better! The fit kit for the 4dr is the same as the 5dr and Mazda6. I don't know why Thule isn't coming out with one yet but this one fits perfectly. I even went to the dealer to take some measurements to try and see the difference between the 3 and the 3 sport and i couldn't tell.

Then, i went to get my sub and amp installed (MTX amp and MTX 12in Road thunder 6000). I got to say it's a much cleaner install then when i done it in my protege. All the wires are hidden. The amp is installed on the top of the trunk (not the lid) compare to most standard install that are done on the back of the seats. The sub sits perfectly behind the rear seat. It looks small and doesn't take up too much space. The amp and sub were in my previous car and sound really good even though they're not powered by the same head unit, a pionneer DEP-7200 but the standard stock system. The only pain now is that i can't adjust the volume of the sub without getting out of the car! Is there any way to change that?

And after, i dropped by the dealer to install the 2.3 stickers that weren't on my car on delivery and it's looking even better than this morning!

And now, i'm going mountain biking on this perfect afternoon in the sun!

I'll post pictures soon...

 

[BigJay_GT]

OK, here's the follow up to my install:

This is my car with the Thule rack installation

And then the really clean and subtle amp and sub install. All the wires are hidden and the amp sits cleanly on the roof of the trunk. I really like the fact that i can take out the sub if i want to use the space for skis and snowboards in the winter.

So, how does it look?

 

[syncmaster07]

tight! what are the feet that you used on the rack?

 

[aeitingon]

you may run into cooling problems with the amp like that - heat rises and it is supposed to rise up and off of the heat sinks - just a consideration.

 

[BigJay_GT]

There is a gap between the amp and the metal sheet cause i've installed some wood pieces there. The amps sits above 1/2 an inch so air can circulate all around it.

The thule has the following setup:

Lb50 bars
400 aero foot pack
2135 fit kit
fairing (don't know the number)

599xt - big mouth rack
589 - velo vise

+6 locks

 

[dannyboy]

nice rack! (immature giggling) i noticed you have the clips thoguh that go above the door. I'm probably going to wait until I can get it mounted right into the roof.

 

[BigJay_GT]

I've seen it on some european car... When you check out the european thule website there is a picture of a rack directly into the roof... I have never seen those but they look interesting. I wonder if they're expensive? I've been selling thule racks but never had any of those!

Thanks for the comments!