Best bike rack for 3
 

I just purchased my Mazda 3 5-door (touring, true red). Love it!

I am looking for a bike rack that M3 owners think works the best. The 3 kinds of racks are (1) roof, (2) hitch, and (3) rear. I have use all 3 kinds, but for the M3, I am wondering which brand/model people have used and which one you like best.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have a Yakima roof rack with 3 bike mounts and it works great. I prefer bike mounts which are fork mount as they are very sturdy. I've had no problems with with wind noise or reduced mileage which may be related to the wind deflector I got.

Thanks for the info. :blue:

Another vote for the Yak, a good piece of engineering. The ease of installation and design efficiency are impressive. I have two Raptor bike mounts that perform flawlessly.

There's a bit of wind noise only when the sunroof shade is open. My mileage isn't as good as some other Proteges (Yeah, not a MZ3 but whatever) and I attribute that to the rack.

It also lends a purposeful look to the car.

i have a 13 year old yakima roof rack on my 3. wonderfully engineered. i just get new Q-clips and pads for each new car i get and transfer the rack from car to car. i've never once had any damage or scratching from the rack. i even drove 3000 miles across country with the rack loaded with a bike and a bunch of gear. honestly, i think the thule systems are just as good (even though i never owned one) but with all else being the same, i give the edge to the yak since it's home-grown in the US, and customer support rocks.

EDIT: true what the previous poster said, having a roof rack may cut your fuel efficiency by a couple of MPGs... i keep mine on in the summer months when i use my bike. i don't usually ride the rest of the year so i take the rack down and store it 2/3 of the year.

Hitch of course!
 

I have had both types of racks - roof and hitch. By far the hitch is the way to go!

Can install or remove the hitch rack within one minute - roof rack can take 15-30 minutes because you have to measure where the crossbars go - secure them. then put the faring on, secure it, then put the bike racks on each side, secure them. then you have to lift your bike onto the rack - secure it. oh and make sure you don't drop anything or you could smash your roof / sunroof. Plus the roof rack is noisy with or without bikes, make sure you don't drive into a covered parking garage with your bikes on - end of bikes and racks :(

After a long hard ride - you don't want to lift the bike up on to the roof. Also, you have to be very careful that the tire does not hit the spoiler if you open the rear hatch.

Not to be negative about roof racks for bikes but I've had them - they suck compared to a nice hitch mount. The Thule t2 works great, takes all of a minute to install then another 15 seconds to put the bike on or off.

www.agees.com/thule/Thule2.htm

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Option 4: Inside

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Thanks pmeilakjr. Excellent info!

The rack went on before the dealer plate came off! :D

I considered the hitch mount but it doesn't allow hatch access with the bike on. My spoiler is 2" away from the tires when my hatch is open. Don't know if it's closer on the 3.

That's what is nice about the Thule t2 - you can lower the rack away from the car and then open the hatch with the bikes still attached. It is a little heavy at that point but I try do everything before I put the bike up on the rack.

Cheers!

Peter

Ah, that's a nice feature.

nice turner :bigthumb:

Damn, your last post was 5 years ago. Lurk much? :)

yea i do, i have automotive A.D.D. and i always seem to come back to these cars especially now that they have a mazdaspeed version...i need the versatility and the umph to go along w/ that hatch