Ok, I work for a car audio specialty retailer, and took a moment to call metra to ask about a dash kit for the rx-8, specifically, if they were working on one. The response i got was no, not at this time, though we did buy an rx-8 dash so we could look at it. What i got out of the conversation though, is that if enough people call, and request a kit for the rx-8, they will make one. Their decisions on what kits to make is based on dificulty, availability of the car, and consumer demand. We all know it will be dificult, and we know there arent millions of 8's on the road like the civic. So we have to make them aware that there is a great demand on this.

So call this number, 1-800-221-0932, and ask for a kit for the 8. Hopefully we can get enough people to call to get them off their butts and make it.

 

About how much are their kits?

 

no clue, as they havent made one for the 8 yet. thats the whole point of this excercise, is to get metra to realize that there is a market for this kit, and to manufacture it. for comparison, the kit for the 6 goes for around 200 bucks, which even if the one for the 8 is 400, that is still cheaper than getting one custom made

 

the mazda6 dash kit looks pretty good IMO, so if you want an aftermarket DIN1 dash kit, call!

now the next step is for someone to come up with harness kits to connect to the stock connectors so no splicing is needed :D

 

well, if they do the kit, they will also do the wiring. the mazda 6 kit comes with the wiring already

 

ok then it'll be a good deal then

actually should be really easy for metra, since mazda6 uses the same modularized HU as the 8, which are also used through the whole Mazda line of cars :D

 

the mechanism for radio/cd unit might be the same, but there are some differences on the electronics behind the face are different, but lets all call, and see what we can do

 

Can we start a list here and have someone call them to have a look at the list?

 

^that sounds like a more efficient way to do it to me, there are lots of people who would put their name on the list in a heartbeat, but wouldnt want to call for some reason or another...

 

I think the stock dash kit is very nice, like the finish and the function. But i do want to add a aftermarket navigation into the car. Went and look for any conversion kits but there are none. So i decided to use the original dash "board" as my mold ,where the stock Navigation will be, because the backing is all empty, and use fiber glass to make a exact same size, but have a slot in it to put my aftermarket (Thinking about the Pioneer navi and dvd fyi) in this slot. I will also paint it the same color as the stock dash face. I think it will look really good, and still keep the nice stock dash kit. So my suggestion is make some conversion "dash board kit" instead of the dash kit on the original stereo.

Any suggestion on my idea??? I haven't started it yet, only concept at this time.

 

1DIN "dash kits" have been talked about, but the only available is from RMagic in Japan. Theirs is so so... doesn't come with mounting equipment and costs some serious money. Otherwise it's all custom.

I personally prefer a factory nav-like screen mount. Even with aftermarket nav kits (as opposed to car pc which I'd want) you can get a monitor instead of a motorized 1DIN monitor to mount in it. It'll look more OEM stock than what you are proposing. Alpine (I think) recently released a dash mounting kit for the Legacy to mount their screen where the JDm factory nav unit would go.

 

That is exactly what I would want. I don't have the stock nav, so I would definitely prefer to have the 2DIN size for the screen. Major "cool!" factor too.

 

I'd really hate to see the LCD screen at the top become entirely useless. I love not having to look down at a HU to see the LCD.

I think what'd be really cool is if some HU company made a "face plate" adapter that would allow our factory controls to talk to their head and then an LCD replacement.

However, since so far the MP3 head seems to be doing pretty well I'm keeping it. It does distort around 20-23 depending on the music, but once I get more gear installed and properlly adjust my gains it should no longer be an issue.

 

I just sent Metra an email to see whether there had been any changes to their plans for a dash kit for the RX-8 and had a response back that "It could be mid-year 2006 before it's available. I suggest to continue checking our website periodically.".

Hopefully this is good news that it's in the works or plans to be in the works soon.

 

The Metra dash kit list
1.Me

 

too late for me...........

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/flip-out-tv-ver-1-0-a-77884/

 

it will probaly be about 140-170. i wait 2 years for the mazda6 dash to come out and when i got it it had plenty of flaws. Plus metra gets real pissed off when they get too many calls. you can search over at www.mazda6club.com about the metra kits. A metra rep went as far as to sign up on the boards and yell at us and tell us to stop calling. So dont hold your breath on the kit forr the rx8

 

Then we shd call metra often til someone from metra joins this forum & tells us to stop calling cos they are coming up with a kit for the 8...

 

bump