sunroof on MS3...what do you think ?

[parkerfe]

http://www.webastoshowroom.com/08Mazda3Wagon_TVS930.html ... or ... http://www.webastoshowroom.com/08Mazda3_4300.html ...

 

[Sport6]

there was a member who had one put one in... not sure if it was this forum or the 3 forums.

edit:

found his youtube clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNoxjHlx4z4

edit 2 his name is mellman on the other forum. He did it a while ago, but if you are really interested you can contact him. Says he paid 1050.95 for the sunroof (which included the new headliner)

 

[mesarec]

Personally i dont agree with a sunroof in a MS3. first off it didnt come as an option from the dealer for a reason. If u go cutting a hole in the roof your compromising the rigidity of the car. (yes thats a word look it up) Mazda put stabalizing rods thru the roof for a reason, to lock in the rear and dront of the car to help make up for fwd. you go hacking a hole in the roof and u just f'ed up their engineering. Now yes im sure if u just are a daily driver and dont go to crazy it will be fine. but if u plan on havin fun with your car..id highly vote against the sunroof

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

That's a pretty nice, clean install!! I like it!

 

[GoFast]

Personally i dont agree with a sunroof in a MS3. first off it didnt come as an option from the dealer for a reason. If u go cutting a hole in the roof your compromising the rigidityof the car. (yes thats a word look it up) Mazda put stabalizing rods thru the roof for a reason, to lock in the rear and dront of the car to help make up for fwd. you go hacking a hole in the roof and u just f'ed up their engineering. Now yes im sure if u just are a daily driver and dont go to crazy it will be fine. but if u plan on havin fun with your car..id highly vote against the sunroof

rigidity may be a word but dront isn't (breakn)

sorry couldn't resist!!

 

[mesarec]

hey dront is sweet. dront is the word of the day muth

 

[GoFast]

hey dront is sweet. dront is the word of the day muth

(thumb)

 

[jazzman]

What is with the grammar police? Dront ftw

 

[jred321]

i like option 1 better. as far as whether to do a sunroof at all just keep in mind that it is a fwd station wagon. you won't notice any performance difference and by the time you get to the point that it would be noticable you'll have a roll cage in it anyways so it won't matter. get a sunroof and enjoy it.

also out of curiosity can you just steal all of the hardware from a totalled normal 3? headliner included?

 

[Super Unique]

Let's not forget that adding a sunroof cuts down on headroom. For those of us who are taller, the headroom you give up probably isn't worth it. My head barely clears the roof as it is.

 

[mesarec]

i understand to notice the differance in performance if u get a sunroof its going to need a lot of mods. however u MAY notice a differance in the longrun with a sun roof even in the slightest of cornering situations. i have talked to many dealers and performance garages all say the same thing..they dont suggest it. but hey. if sunroof is a big deal and u dont do much else with it wut the hell

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

If the roof is reinforced to help the chassis handle the stress of a high power front wheel drive layout and you weaken the roof to put in a sunroof, what happens to the sunroof and its seals if you go blasting around creating those stresses the roof was originally reinforced for?

 

[Sport6]

i think the indy car drivers in here will be okay if they put one in if they want it.

 

[08_MS3_GT]

keep the roof and associated structural rigidity if you chose the mazdaspeed3 for its qualities as a performance car.

i've driven a number of cars, and the handling characteristics of the ms3 are fantastic. off-throttle oversteer has proven to be both scary and fun. i do like moonroofs, but i have NO interest in ruining the way a great car drives.

 

[jred321]

If the roof is reinforced to help the chassis handle the stress of a high power front wheel drive layout and you weaken the roof to put in a sunroof, what happens to the sunroof and its seals if you go blasting around creating those stresses the roof was originally reinforced for?

can you point me in the direction of a thread or anything where there is official information saying that the roof was actually enforced over a normal 3? i did a little searching and couldn't find anything. i found a lot of anecdotal evidence but nothing more than a mention here or there which could easily be a misinterpretation of someone who noted how a sunroof is less rigid therefore it wasn't included in the performance version of the car.

a sunroof is certainly less rigid than a closed roof and also it puts a decent amount of weight in the worst possible place in a car which will further negatively effect performance. both of these could show up in magazine performance testing which would justify not having them as options and citing reduced performance as the reason. then there was one mention of improper flow of air over the rear spoiler at 100+ mph causing the tail to be light which i guess is a possibility though i question that the rear spoiler actually does much. then there is also the extra price point to add it on and since they went with cheap for the MS3 they may have elected to not include it. there are plenty of reasons why one was not included as a factory option but i wasn't able to find anything mentioning additional roof reinforcement. i'm sure any of the race teams who run the MS3 would have encountered this while stripping their cars so it should be out there

also fwiw i used to own an evo with a sunroof. the car could outdrive me which i imagine is also true for most MS3 owners so while a hole in the roof will ultimately lower the max performance of the car 90+% of the drivers out there won't be able to drive their cars near that max performance point anyways.

the thought of putting an aftermarket sunroof on a car though is not something i would personally consider. too much of a chance for mistakes and odds are at some point it will leak

 

[Kain]

I achieved the same effect by strapping two car batteries to the roof instead. Much cheaper.

 

[NCZ13]

I achieved the same effect by strapping two car batteries to the roof instead. Much cheaper.

win(lol2)

 

[GoFast]

i think that any structural stability or stiffness that would be lost by this could easily be overcome by adding aftermarket braces to the car.

 

[my3needsaname]

That first option is the shiznit!!! I wish Mazad did a full roof solution like Pontiac's where each individual piece tilts and slides back but that first one is defiitely the way to go. Just make sure it's done right or else it will leak.

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

"The car gets reinforced in a number of places, including a beefier front cowl joined directly to the top section of the front damper mount, which in effect reinforces the strut towers. Underneath, a large brace reinforces the floor tunnel to improve the body's torsional rigidity. Rear suspension towers are strengthened, too. All this, combined with a larger stabilizer bar, increases roll stiffness by 60 percent while adding only 15 additional pounds."

Quote from an article on the MS3. Note that it does not mention the roof, although I am fairly sure that I saw that somewhere.