I didn't want to keep thread crapping the Corksport thread so I'm creating a totally different one in order to inform everyone of some things I found out over the last few days (and months really).

First a little background on replacing your factory radio, some of us know all this all too well, but some folks might not so here goes:

So currently, if you are wanting an aftermarket radio in your car you are faced with 2 main options, neither of which is very cost effective. Those options are buying the corksport kit (which works well for the most part, even though it's pricey and a bit quirky as well) or doing a radio bypass with a custom made dash kit. The custom method is the way to go if you want to keep everythign intact (ambient temp reading,clock, etc.) but very time consuming, and also hideously expensive since it involves stretching wires, taking apart and relocatiing your factory radio, fabbing a custom dash piece and having it painted to match etc etc etc. A third option I have seen is some people mount a single din unit using a piece you can get off ebay that fits on top of the dash where the nav usually is etc. , I have to say I think it looks fugly, plus you're sill stuck with your factory radio just sitting there doing nothing using that method. One more method involves mounting the radio somewhere else in the car (center console perhaps?) but again, stock radio lies dormant, and the ergonomics (even though most units have remotes nowadays) is pretty nasty on that one.

Well I'm happy to say there is a another option coming out in the coming months, possibly weeks (dont' know the exact date yet, as soon as I do I'll be posting it) from Metra. I hinted at this a while back and I've been mentioning it from time to time in an effort to let everyone know there is another alternative coming and today I received a lot of information regarding the final product. As you may or may not know (probably not, I've kept it quiet for the most part) my car is currently co-sponsored by Soundstream (I still pay for everything, just at a discount), earlier this year we debuted my partially completed car at their booth at a car show held over spring break and during that show I was approached by Metra reps and they told me they'd been working on a kit for the Rx-8. My car got their attention as we had fabbed our own dash piece and bypassed the factory radio etc. and since they were working on a kit for our cars they solicited my feedback on some things. Since that show I've been in contact with them and working with them indirectly on helping them produce this kit and giving opinions and whatever and today I got some awesome news regarding it.

So here's what I know so far -

- This is definitely coming out, this is not a rumor or some empty promise thread, these guys have been working pretty diligently on this for a few months now. Now that the car has been out a while and can be picked up cheap, they're seeing a big enough demand to justify putting it in production, which hasn't been the case in the past.

- There might be 2 color choices available, piano/gloss or a color similar to the non-piano stock dash pieces. This is still up in the air, I told them to release it in both, but we'll see.

- single and double din options, the single one will have a traditional "pocket" to fill up the extra space, double din one looks amazing as I saw a pic today of the prototype piece and the fitment I noticed was dead on, no more gaps on the left or right aka corksport/kanatech. I received part numbers for both kits today, can't wait to see the final product released!

- Cheaper in price than anyhting else out there, with this being a Metra product, you'll be able to buy this from any authorized Metra dealer, Circuit City, Best Buy, your favorite local shop, heck, maybe even Wal-Mart so availability and price won't factor in anymore, no more having to go to a single point of purchase or having to wait for something to come from Japan only to have it not work etc.

- They had mentioned you may be able to customize the display (like their Mazda 6 kit), but that might get axed before it goes into final production.

- No clock or ambient temp either, yes, this will go away with this kit, reasons I was told were that most aftermarket units have a clock, and it wasn't cost effective or worth the extra time/tooling to keep the temp reading.

So there you go, as I mentioned, as soon as the release date pops out, I'll throw it up here, if you've been pondering a dash kit, it might be worth it to wait for this one as it will save you some $$$ and the fitment is going to be a bit better than what's out right now. The picture I saw was of a double din unit in a brand new car.

I hope it's okay to post about it, admins please let me know asap if not.

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UPDATE - 6-30-08 Kit will be available end of July and retail for about the same as the Metra G35 kit (99-7604), ad/details in pic below, or you can peruse the thread and laugh at all the haters that ended up being WRONG.

 

not to jack your Metra thread but the corksport keeps the amb temp display.

 

well cool, if it's worth the extra couple of hundred bucks and the poor fitment to keep that, more power to you!

 

You said you were able to see pics, are they available anywhere yet?

Also, will this kit have any of the problems of the corksport like needing a bose adapter or "fussy" climate controls? And with a lower price, (hopefully by a lot)
Will the quality still be there?
Sorry, when you mention something that is going to be sold in Wal-Mart, normally I have a hard time picturing it being installed in my car.

I am excited to have a choice though... ahh, capitalism works.

 

I only mentioned Wal Mart as Metra is HUGE and sold frickin' everywhere, as opposed to being forced to buy the kanatech kit form one source currently.

The actual kits aren't out yet, but they do have parts numbers which indicates to me they're very very close to releasing the final deal. The pics I saw were confidential, or I'd post them in a heartbeat.

As far as quality and other issues, part of the reason they are taking a while to get this out is to make sure it gets done properly (or as close as possible) the first time out, I've always had good luck with Metra products, never had any major problems with their products, I have some installer buddies that run across an issue here and there (as with any manu) and I never hear any complaints as far as having to return stuff or get a replacement etc. That's what has me so stoked about this whole deal, the quality will be there, the availability will be there, and the price will be better, plus if for some reason I have a problem, the support will be there too. When this drops it will no longer cost a fortune to put a better radio in your car, plus you will no longer be restricted to double din models to boot. I've seen decent single din's for as little as 200 bucks so this is going to open up a lot of possibilities for people.

 

subscribed. I'm glad you've been crapping on the corksport threads or else I wouldn't have known to hold off. I can't wait to put my avicd3 in the 8

 

This is great news. Thanks for sharing.
I've had a radio in my glove box for several years because I didn't want the hassle and price of a custom job.
When the corksport option came out, I was tempted, but it was still more than I wanted to spend.
The Metra kit will be awesome. I'll be switching to double-din, possibly a car pc.

I don't really care about the ambient temp missing.
If it's hot, it's hot, if it's cold, it's cold. I don't really care what the actual # is.
Besides, it's not like it would change anything if I knew the actual degree's.
That, and my phone has all the updated weather if I'm really concerned.

 

heh, awesome lol

Just so you know I get nothing out of this, I'm only putting this out there because I'm a car audio nut (have been for almost 20 years now) and one of the things that has bothered me about this car is the lack of a reasonable way to ditch the oem radio. Metra's not cutting me a check or sending me a free kit or any of that, nor have I asked for anything from them, if something like that happens or if I get some sort of discount etc., it won't be because I mentioned them on a forum on the interweb so I just wanted to clarify that. If anything, I rescued their "Elic-trick" Honda show car 3 years ago (you've probably seen it, it's driven by a PSP etc.) when it had a computer problem, even then I just happen to be at the same show they were at and my buddies were over there talking business when it happened so if they do decide to hook me up with anything it's more because of that than anything

 

I'm pretty sure this was their thinking behind not pursuing it too much, if it's hot it's hot, if it's cold it's cold...good enough for me

 

Comprehensively endorsed, even if you were getting something out of it ... wouldn't matter to me. Knowledge is power, and competition is great -- It's the reason I bought the audiolink and fabbed my own way to mount it in the car because I really would never in hell spend corksport money...

For the money the kit costs someone would have had to be shipped with the darn kit to install it

Anyways, keep up the good work & keep us informed.

 

If they DO end up only releasing one color, PLEEEEEASE tell them to make it the piano gloss black.

 

this looks like great news!
+1 for Piano gloss black

 

No worries, the Piano/gloss is the primary choice right now and is already a go, they were asking if they should consider a non-painted or different color kit in addition to it and I said yes as a non-painted one would more than liklely cost a bit less than the piano (or not, I'm only speculating here) which could open the door a little more for people and also some people might want it custom painted etc. and a raw one would be easier to have that done with. Still hanging on a date, even though we did a bypass on mine to put the radio in I'll probably be getting this kit as well since it will free up some space and clean things up a bit behind my radio.

edit: for those who are unfamiliar with Metra and their offerings, here's a generic link to a place selling their Mazda 6 kit, the 6 has a lot of the same issues we have as far as replacing the factory radio, it's a pretty safe bet our kit will follow these lines and maybe even sell for pretty close to that price. http://www.therpmstore.com/product_i...roducts_id=416

 

canary u state that the corksport fits like crap? i dont know if u have one or not but i have one and it fits perfect,, itll only fit like crap if the installer is a hack or has no clue how to do it and makes a mess of all the wires behind the radio, ive used metra kits on other cars and i think the quality is crap nothing was ever sturdy enough and always looked wicked cheap

 

ALL the pics I've seen of the corksport have HUGE gaps on the left and right, unless you modded yours or your Kenwood is a hair wider than the D3 and JVC pics I've seen, I've no doubt you have the same issue. Even if they fixed the fitment issues on the Kanatech, it's still too expensive for what it is and there's no way you can ever convince me that ANYONE should have to pay over 500 bucks just for a dash kit. How much did you pay for those other kits and what cars did you use them on? My best friends own a stereo shop, I myself have been installing for close to 17 years now, never had any of the problems you're describing, and never had one person tell their kit/install/etc. looked "wicked cheap" using Metra products. That's not to say that it is an impossibility, but so far everything I've seen from them looks and more importantly, works great.

 

Sorry I can't post what they sent me, even the dash kit business has low-lifes in it, but here's a pic of the 6 kit installed, does this look "wicked cheap" to anyone?




edit: this pic shows the gaps I'm talking about:




The Metra pic I saw did not have these, it was flawless as far as fitment goes, as good if not better than my custom made piece we built around my new radio.

 

Canary isnt talking about gaps do to poor fitment. The corksport kit fits very nicely. he's refering to the design corksport uses for the HU hole that leaves gaps on the side of the HU.



FYI.. that's a sexy looking dash kit.. oh wait.. that's mine

 

that's what I was trying to say, just not doing very well with it, your's was the best pic I could find to explain what I'm trying to explain too, thanks for not getting pissed about me posting it, i'm not out to rag on all the Corksport owners, that was the only game in town for quite some time and given the choice and not having good friends in the install industry, that would have been my option as well. All I'm trying to do is let people know it's not the only game in town anymore, we have another option coming that is easier to get, fits a bit better, is cheaper, and gives the people the choice of single or double din. Sorry if any Corksport owners get pissed, not my intention, and it's not like anyone knew a year or even 6 months ago that this was actually a reality so now that it is people know they can wait a while longer, or just get the corksport. No harm no foul, it's all about options and info., that's my only intention.

 

To be honest canary...

people getting pissed is a given, hell if i went ahead and paid > 500 bucks for something that doesnt play by itself but merely facilitates the playing of a HU id be pissed as hell to see newer and better come out.

but then again, i'm not sure i'd have done something that silly......

I however care not who gets upset, that's just ridiculous..... as i said before, they'd have had to ship me my own personal installer :D

For the few of us who 500 bucks is not considered money.. then please disregard my comments

 

I don't think I'd consider myself silly, seeing as how I had no other option. I got in on a group buy and paid ~$415. Sucks for me that Metra is now making them soon. (hopefully) But I have the money. Yeah it was pricey. But I ate it and paid it. No other options at that time. So for you to call me silly....

I do/have been using Metra products every single day for years now. A majority of the dash kits fit great. The textured finish sometimes do not match the factory dash paneling, but still looks ok. And what can you expect for under $20?!!?

I do have gripes about a couple kits they have released. (Probably 4 or 5) And I have also found important misprints in their included "instructions." But if you can't work around small things like that, then you dont belong near a car.

 

well said, couldn't agree more.

 

canary,

I do see now what ur talking about the 2 small non piano black pieces that go left and right of the screen, imo yes they could have done a little better of a job with that i thought u meant the actual piano black piece fit like **** the thing actually fits perfect, i painted thoose other pieces piano black so it looks fine to me ill deal with thoose if im able to keep the temperature on the lcd screen which i am with the corksport.. but i havent seen the metra kit for the rx8 and u stated u wont keep the temperature with that kit and how much cheaper will it be will def be a deciding factor on this imo as i feel that most places wont have in stock a metra kit for the rx8 and it would have to be ordered atleast in my area

 

Actually, if we take a look at the photo of the Metra kit for the Mazda 6, for some reason they did retain both the clock and the ambient temp display. Wonder why was it necessary to not do the same for the RX-8, seeing that the head units must be pretty similar.
It even seems like there is some possibility there to customize the display (LEFTY's 6). Hm...

 

is this kit going to be compatible with the climate control versions or just the normal a/c equiped 8's?

 

^same questions?