Installing aftermarket Stereo
 

Ive been takinga look at the new Mazda3, and well, quite honestly i have to wipe my chin every time i think of it. looks to be an absolutly amazing car, and im seriously considering trading in my MP5 maybe sometime in the spring for the Mazda3. even tho ive only had my car for a year and a half :S lol my only thing is, the stock stereo.. the way its set up, it doenst look like it would be an easy task to install an aftermarket HU. Have any of u current owners tried tackling that task yet??? if so what was ur results??

Jasper

I am in the process of picking up a Mazda 3 Sport S (GT). I also work for Pioneer Electronics and will use this as a demo vehicle. I am waiting for some of our new 2004 products and should start on it in about 3 weeks. (AVIC-N1 - new screen with navigation built right into deck, it also has on screen gauges that measure mph, acceleration g-force, cornering g's etc... Pioneer is showing it at CES today so I can talk about it now.)
I'll post pictures as I go. I don't think it will be an easy job to put an aftermarket head unit in dash. I plan to take apart the panel housing the deck, fill in the switches, paint it and turn it into a custom mount kit with the deck recessed slightly. My main goal is to keep the integrity of the dash in place. I can't stand it when a bad install on a deck ruins the look of the entire dash. Look for pictures by end of February.

So,
I went out the very next day after getting my gf's Matrix and had a good friend of mine put in an entirely new system in at cartoys. I went to him already and asked how much of a problem it would be to put one in my M3, and he said it should be simple, with the right tech, and the right color HU.

On a side note, please tell me how good Pioneer is on a scale of 1-10.......one being horrible. I have had JVC in our GTI, Matrix, and I am looking at one for the M3.

If you want to know in comparison to JVC, I would say (IMO) Pioneer, would be rated the same if not higher than JVC.

That surprises me, I have gone to so many places, and asked so many people what they thought of pioneer and they laughed and said that pioneer just isn't in the performance catagory. Although niether is JVC, but that for having performance grade speakers, subs, and components, JVC was my best bet for the money.

There are two series of Pioneer products. One is the Pioneer that you can buy at best buy :(, and then there is the "Pioneer Premiere series" - this equipment is purchased through specialty retailers. This line of products is of much better quality than JVC, I would consider it in the same ballpark as some Bose, Kenwood, and Alpine equipment.

Maybe it is just that I have had really great luck with the JVC, I have never had a kenwood HU that actually stayed in good working condition, nor Sony, Pioneer (that I got at a decibel competition, not Best Buy) or Fosgate.........I think I will go for Eclipse. Nothing here is competition.

I would also like to install an after market stereo system (HU) but I would like to retain the functionality of the buttons of the on the steering wheel.

Given a choice of JVC or Pioneer...I would select Pioneer. But to purhcase what I want. Eclipse can't be beat.