Roof Rack options for 2014 Mazda3?

Damn, this has to be the deadest forum on the interwebs! What the heck?!

Anyway, Debbadoo, I looked into the Thule. I called rackattack.com and they said it definitely fits the '14. It does look like the towers come off (they are 'control towers' with 'landing pad 11'). The only thing is it's freaking $$$!!! By the time you buy the landing pads, towers, bars and bike rack/kayak rack/cargo box or whatever you're looking at a grand. I do like the fact that they come off though...
 
Damn, this has to be the deadest forum on the interwebs! What the heck?!

Anyway, Debbadoo, I looked into the Thule. I called rackattack.com and they said it definitely fits the '14. It does look like the towers come off (they are 'control towers' with 'landing pad 11'). The only thing is it's freaking $$$!!! By the time you buy the landing pads, towers, bars and bike rack/kayak rack/cargo box or whatever you're looking at a grand. I do like the fact that they come off though...

Thank you for the update!
 
I'm repeating some info. here, but in summary:

Looks like ferris is using the Thule AeroBlade Edge setup. This requires a fit kit that has not yet been announced for the 2014 3. Perhaps the 2013 fit kit works on a 2014?
MSRP for this setup (which would not be as easy to remove) is just over $500:

Thule 7602 AeroBlade Edge Flush Mount 2 - $179.95
Thule Podium Fit Kit 3069 - $89.95
Thule 7602 AeroBlade Edge Flush Mount 2 - $179.95
Thule 544 4-pack Lock Cores - $59.95

The removable setup with "landing pads" that gibo mentioned refers to the Yakima option (with round bars). This setup runs about $410:

Yakima Control Tower - $189.00
Yakima Landing Pad 11 - $39.00
Yakima Landing Pad 11 - $39.00
Yakima 48 Inch Cross Bars - $89.00
Yakima 4 Pack SKS Cores - $55.00

I'm leaning toward the Thule setup (with the aero bars -quieter without a fairing), but they still haven't officially announced the fit kit for the 2014. Ferris, any chance you could share which fit kit you used?
 
Yes Frank, I stand corrected. When I called Rackattack and told them the car model/yr, they told me to use the Yakima solution. I mistakenly wrote Thule. Thanks for listing that!

So it looks like so far there are 2 unofficial solutions: the Yakima at $410 and the CX7 bars for $221-$260 and one 'official' solution: the Thule at $500.

I'd love to hear how MicaBlue's CX7 bars and bike rack combo worked out as that's what I'm inclined to do if it was a good solution.
 
I'd love to hear how MicaBlue's CX7 bars and bike rack combo worked out as that's what I'm inclined to do if it was a good solution.
Agree. Still on the fence re: Yakima vs. CX7 bars. Will use for skis with Yakima Big Powderhound Rack. Like the Yakima landing pads since it's easy to take off and maybe less noise and better MPG in the off season than CX7 bars.

@MicaBlue: can you post a review?
 
Just tried the CX7 bars, they do NOT work. Rear CX7 bar is way too wide and front bar doesn't line up.

I'm using Yakima landing pads instead from RackAttack and they're working great.

Will post some pics later.
 
Go with the Yakima kit. CX7 bars do not work.

The Yakima kit (landing pad 11, control tower, ...) works great, which is what I'm using now.


The Genuine Mazda Accessories 0000-8L-M01B Roof Rack for CX7 does NOT work. See pics of my failed attempt below.



Here's what I did:
First pry the trim back and mark the mount spot to drill the holes. You don't have to remove the whole thing just look for the black mount points and pry it back.

The trim is black plastic backed by aluminum so I got a new Milwaukee Thunderbolt Black Oxide Drill Bit - a bit oversized (7/16) - to drill through the plastic/aluminum trim and give me some room for measuring error.

A thin strip of plastic plexiglass (from Home Depot) was used as backing behind the trim so the drill didn't punch through and mess up the mount points.






First I tried the CX7 bars "Genuine Mazda Accessories 0000-8L-M01B Roof Rack", which did NOT work out:





As you can see the 0000-8L-M01B Roof Rack rear bar is way too wide:




After I gave up on the CX7 bars, I used the RackAttack Yakima kit with landing pad 11, control tower, fairing, and powder hound ski mounts, etc.

Here's 2 of the landing pad 11 mounts installed:


And the full Yakima setup:



What really nice about the Yakima landing pads is you can remove your rack in 60 seconds and store it away in the off season or between trips:



Definitely recommend the Yakima rack system from RackAttack for Mazda 3 2014.
 
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Did the CX-7 rack fit on the front? If you cut the rear bar would it have fit then? Just curious, not really contemplating all that extra work.
 
The Yakima kit (landing pad 11, control tower, ...) works great, which is what I'm using now.


What really nice about the Yakima landing pads is you can remove your rack in 60 seconds and store it away in the off season or between trips:



Definitely recommend the Yakima rack system from RackAttack for Mazda 3 2014.

So, when you remove the rack, you just have the landing pads that remain in place, correct?
 
That's what I was afraid with those CX7 bars. Not sure what happened to MicaBlue. Curious as well if he had to cut.

Thanks for posting that bTwix!
 
Just wanted to chime in to guarantee that the CX-7 rails with the part number referenced earlier DO NOT FIT without a bit of modification! (so, if you're cool with dremeling...)

Although this is terribly overkill, I made a quick diagram to explain how I modified the towers to fit my girlfriend's 2014 hatchback:

fdu9m8.png


By doing that, I was able to position the rails at proper lengths for fitting. I'll also add, that if you push back any of the rails ALL the way to the rail groove's wall/toward the outside of the car, the plastic cover that goes on will not fit, so, keep that in mind if you do this mod. That pertains to the rear rail especially.

Granted, there are the usual warnings when you mod stuff like this, and you're actually taking away 4 bolts in total, but it feels pretty secure in the end, and I still ended up a couple hundred cheaper than the Yakima or Thule options..

I'll post the pictures of her car with hopefully a new kayak on top once the weather clears up. :)
 
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You have to cut the trim on the CX-5 as well.

To me, this is just mind blowing. How could they possibly think having the consumer cut a piece off their brand new vehicle would somehow be better than the easy access, flip up type. I'm waiting for an alternative before I get a rack. Thanks to everyone in this thread for being the guinea pigs!
 
To me, this is just mind blowing. How could they possibly think having the consumer cut a piece off their brand new vehicle would somehow be better than the easy access, flip up type. I'm waiting for an alternative before I get a rack. Thanks to everyone in this thread for being the guinea pigs!

Honda requires you to cut the trim on the Odyssey to install the roof rack. Just keep in mind that most people won't be installing a roof rack and it's more cost effective and looks better to have a single unbroken trim strip then one with cutouts.
 
I use a kayak stacker to carry two kayaks on their sides. I fear the width of the roof might not be wide enough and I would need cross bars that extend beyond the roof line. I've seen ones like that. Input on this would be appreciated.
 
I use a kayak stacker to carry two kayaks on their sides. I fear the width of the roof might not be wide enough and I would need cross bars that extend beyond the roof line. I've seen ones like that. Input on this would be appreciated.

Both Thule and Yakima make towers that can accommodate bars that extend wider than the towers (and width of the roof). You can buy longer bars with Yakima's official setup for the 2014 3 (with landing pads and control towers) to get the function you're looking for.
 
Both Thule and Yakima make towers that can accommodate bars that extend wider than the towers (and width of the roof). You can buy longer bars with Yakima's official setup for the 2014 3 (with landing pads and control towers) to get the function you're looking for.

Thank you frankwi!
 
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