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Mazda5 Owners Accessories & Modifications

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  • vicenacvicenac Member Posts: 229
    I just finished testing the car with the new cargo box. We opted for a Thule Ascent 1700.
    The guy at the REI store (20% off sale) said he liked the Yakima boxes because of their lock design. The online reviewers were complaining mostly about the locks getting broken. So much for that.
    So we went to look at an Ascent 1100, which is a smaller box. Smaller in height and width, but pretty long (86" I think). Upon seeing it, we wondered what's the point... There is not much space inside to store anything. We want to put camping gear in it, even a stroller. I guess it's good for skis and snowboards.
    So it's the 1700, which is 92" long and taller, 16" and a little wider.
    As advised by Thule, I positioned the box as far as possible, which is all the way. There is no wind noise to mention, even at 80 MPH. Warning: the maximum speed allowed by Thule is 80 Km/H. Anyway, the down side is that the car has significant weaker acceleration. I guess it's going to do wonders for our MPG.
    I have to say that I used to carry two full size bikes on top of our CX-7 (turbo) and I never felt any adverse effect, but the noise.
    One more thing: I had to order the box. When it showed up, upon opening it I got knocked down by the horrid smell of an outhouse. I guess the thing is brand new out of the oven. This is how this resin smells like… but MAN...!
  • daharondaharon Member Posts: 24
    Ah, ok vicenac I see what you mean. It never occurred to me that the feet should fit in a more precise way, nestled over the roof strip: I've never seen one of the 3069-kit vehicles that have a channel rather than a hill, so I wasn't bothered by the fact that the rubber feet don't make a smooth seal to the car. I've been carrying the rack for 3 years or so with it resting on the roof on its corrugations. I'm sure it's structurally stable, but I'll bet Thule received many complaints that the rack appeared to be imperfectly mounted, and I'll bet the 3080 kit addresses that issue. It's good you kept the Thule posts: there was actually a recall of many '05-'08 3069 fit kits due to too-brittle steel, so apparently it's nontrivial that they meet a spec.
    I'm grateful for the pics of the Ascent box, as I've been considering which box would be best suited for car camping. I usually carry two bikes on top, and I've been hoping to find a box narrow enough so I can fit all three items on the roof, The 1700 looks like it might be too wide to allow that. I think I may need to go with a cloth bag, which would really hit the MPG. :(
  • vicenacvicenac Member Posts: 229
    Well actually...
    image
    image

    There is enough room for two bike carriers. I will actually install mine (Yakima) and post again. I wish I had two Thule Criterion. Yum

    As far as chopping goes, I like the rack closer to the car, also. But for the rest of the world, the kit as is is perfectly fine.
  • marilyn24marilyn24 Member Posts: 6
    HI.......I am very excited to get this little mini van .
    I am getting a black one with black leather seats and white stitching so I am having them put a white pinstripe on the body of the car!! Should be very sharp!
    I want a roof rack and the American version is awful. Has anyone ordered the European version and does it fit on the US Mazda? I do have a moon-roof but am not concerned with the cross bars. i just want to install the side rails for "the look". Does anyone know if they line up with the US? I am waiting to hear from a Mazda parts dealer in the UK as I have friends in England that could ship it out if available.
    Anyone here on this forum can help with this??????????????
  • vicenacvicenac Member Posts: 229
    Congrats!
    a previous answer to the same question said that you also need the black inserts replaced with the mounting attachement.
    But, if you just want them for the looks, you can just glue them on.
  • marilyn24marilyn24 Member Posts: 6
    Hi.......... . I also want those very cool roof racks they sell in Europe. Did you ever have any luck finding them? I just posted a question about those roof racks and hope I get some info on them. Any help you can give me will be appreciated!
    Thanks!
  • marilyn24marilyn24 Member Posts: 6
    The big question is.....................can I get them!?!!!
    I'll figure out how to install them later!
    I'm thinking of going to a custom trim shop and see what they can up with.
    My husband thinks I'm nuts but I come from "the automobile capital of the world" and we don't just drive our cars here......we show them off!!
  • andyl5andyl5 Member Posts: 2
    Hey, folks. I finally ordered a roof rack, installed it, and am happy. I thought I would return to this post and concisely state what I did for anyone else who might be looking. I think that the discussion between daharon and vicenac is great and the pictures are very helpful. Still, when I first read through them, I felta bit overwhelmed. They make perfect sense, now that I’ve installed one myself, but for anybody who wants the simple scoop, here is what I did.

    I have a 2008 Mazda 5.
    I called Rackattack at 1.888.399.RACK (7225) (thanks for the recommendation, vicenac!). The person I spoke with recommended going with Thule and I did not question him. He said I needed the following:

    Fixpoint Kit 3069
    460 Podium Fixpoint Footpack
    LB50 load bars
    (I also ordered the optional locks.)

    I ordered everything over the phone and received them in about 4 days.
    The instructions were a bit confusing, at first, because there are not many words and some of the pictures do not actually apply to my car (apparently these kits are also used for one of Ford’s models). But, once I confirmed that I had all the parts and identified which pictures actually applied to my car, I just went through it step by step. There were no hiccups or points of confusion. It took me about an hour and a half (maybe two), but I really took my time doing it. I made no modifications. Everything is stable. Not as flush as if I had trimmed things like vicenac, but perfectly stable, nonetheless. My sunroof works fine with the roof rack installed, as long as I do not have my cargo carrier mounted. With the carrier intact, I can open the sunroof, but cannot slide it. That’s okay; I’ll just do without the sunroof what the carrier is onboard.

    Call Rackattack and follow the instructions. It was satisfying to install. I am done and quite happy.

    Regards,
    Andy
  • vicenacvicenac Member Posts: 229
    edited July 2010
    Thank you for your kind words, Sir!
    Here is the roof rack with the box and two bike carriers:
    image
    The carriers are Yakima Raptor (for sale). I had them from my previous Yakima rack. I had to use Universal Mighty Mounts from Yakima, which are going back to the store. They are horible from the looks stand point of view. I'm sorry I did not take a picture with the bikes up. The bikes have to have the inner pedal up to go over the cargo box. The cargo box can only be opened if one of the bikes is taken down.

    Now, here is a short account of my first long trip with the box on top:
    I changed the oil at 4k and overinflated the tires a bit (36 PSI, instead of 34). It felt like the car has a much stronger engine. I no longer felt the cargo box was slowing the car down. It actually felt very zippy loaded with cargo and passengers. We expected to drive slow, with the trucks, but instead we were the fastest nuts on the road with large grins, looking dumb, I'm sure.
    Driving on 1 North of San Francisco was a pain because the quick up and downs of the road made us all sick. The left and right were OK.
    Other than that, we became a lot more impressed with this car and its willingness to sprint and with its capacity (with cargo box) to carry stuff.
    Here is a link with nature and road pictures we took Album
  • cooppoopcooppoop Member Posts: 26
    I had my 2007 5 detailed and although they did a great job they must have been a but overzealous and accidentally popped the inlay of my shift knob out. I am talking about just the numbers, not the actual knob. I tried to re-glue it but the adhesive I used seeped into the inlay and ruined it. Can anybody tell me how and where I can get either a new inlay or shift knob? I would rather go oem and NOT the dealer. How can I look up the part number online?

    Thanks,

    Beckman
  • cooppoopcooppoop Member Posts: 26
    How much did it cost you to buy the rack, bars and carrier? Are there more posts on this?

    Thanks,

    Beckman
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 32,934
    I found a good bit of info and several links to several options here.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • gambit293gambit293 Member Posts: 406
    For anyone with the Mazda cargo cover, can it also function as a shelf for light objects?

    My wife complains that the's 5 trunk is too small, even with the third row down most of the time. I think that's rubbish as the car is hardly ever "full." But thinking about this, the problem is mainly one of space utilization. We make very poor use of the extra vertical space in the trunk, on a day to day basis. Typically the umbrella stroller gets tossed in horizontally and seem to consume most of the trunk space.

    I'm wondering if others have bought or fashioned something to partition the trunk area vertically, so that, for example, I might put the stroller on an upper level and grocery bags on the lower level.

    Thoughts?
  • zoombuszoombus Member Posts: 3
    I have the Factory (US) roof rack for sale if anybody is interested. Only used it a couple of times. located in central VA
  • ldislerldisler Member Posts: 83
    Zoombus,
    I'd be interested. Please send price
    and pictures to ldisler@hotmail.com.
  • tonied2001tonied2001 Member Posts: 1
    Hello Zoombus:

    By any chance do you still have the roof rack system for sale?
  • larry8061larry8061 Member Posts: 37
    Finally got around to installing the AEM cold air induction package on my 2008. There were a couple of surprising things. First the amount of plastic Mazda uses to get air from the outside to the inside of the engine! It is incredible the amount of plastic they use to minimize the noise - incredible.

    Secondly how easy this turned out to be. We weren't hurrying, there were two of us and it took 2-2.5 hours and was frankly fairly easy. I think the van does have a bit better throttle response and a bit more power as advertised above 3600 RPM. It is a bit more noisey but, not verging on loud by any means. Glad I finally did it!

    Larry
  • jonat1xjonat1x Member Posts: 34
    Why did you choose the AEM kit? What effect do you expect it to have on gas mileage?
  • larry8061larry8061 Member Posts: 37
    It seemed to have the best engineering behind it, I felt it had the best shot of fitting and, there was a You tube video of someone who had installed one.

    On this tank -4 MPG! :-) Later I am hoping for 1-2MPG hopefully. I'll post it when I get a sense of what it is.

    Larry
  • benjaminhbenjaminh Member Posts: 6,311
    I can now hold 4 full size bikes on my 2010 Mazda5--2 on the roof with the Yakima roof racks, and two on the back with a rear hitch. So we can carry 4 passengers, our dog, some luggage, and 4 bikes all at once. I'm stoked!
    2018 Acura TLX 2.4 Tech 4WS (mine), 2018 Honda CR-V EX AWD (wife's)
  • vicenacvicenac Member Posts: 229
    2010 GT
    We went in a vacation with the car fully loaded. Climbing a long hill the engine temp started climbing up. So we pulled over. Temp went down right away. The manual shift was not available anymore. Turning the engine off and on restored it. The second time, the power steering was MIA for a while.

    I am thinking of adding an transmission oil cooler, since our family grew and these trips with lots of stuff are going to keep on happening.

    Has anyone done this?
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