Integrated head units

Intensity109 · TweakNOOB Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 32

Hi Everyone,

just after your oppinions, over here in Australia, the new Fords model BA, and the new Mazda 3's released 2004 all have climate control integrated into the head unit, which from what ive seen basically flounders any chance of being able to swap this head unit with a customised one (and we all know a head unit in the glove box is tacky) so im wondering if anyone has had any experiences or even seen this and how they got around it? since most factory head units DONT have a sub channel

and of course we all need that fuzzy feeling we all receive from the deepest bass dont we? :)

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JayDubya · Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 11:08 pm Post subject:

Is there anywhere to mount the cd player under the dashboard or into the center console between the front seats? It is not extremely difficult but you will need alot of but connectors to extend your wiring capabilities.
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Intensity109 · TweakNOOB Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 32

You could mount it like i said inside the glovebox or underneath the dash, it just doesnt look "neat" and then you have another head unit in the dash that doesnt get used (could be a good thing for would be thieves i guess)

i guess if you get a car with integrated climate control with the head unit, your stuck with using that unit, unless you mount the head unit somewhere else. which could be done JayDubya!

on the bright side we could all mod the Air Con to blow out cold air to the bass of the music!?

Yoshida · UberTweaker Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 1219

just get a seperate cd changer in the trunk maybe? integrated headunits is a very bad idea, i cannot stand stock cd players and i wouldnt buy a car that wouldnt let me install an aftermarket one, they dont have like an option where you can just get the climate control?

Intensity109 · TweakNOOB Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 32

thats right, you cant change their factory head unit at all, i called mazda direct and they told me that they cant change the head unit at all and you will need to mount another head unit within the vehicle somewhere else!

im telling you it has put me right off of this car!

great i can have a factory headunit that i cant change! why spend all this money on a car and your stuck with a factory head unit? its as bad as Microsoft giving you Internet Explorer :)

Yoshida · UberTweaker Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 1219

that was a horrible marketing decision on their part, may their business crash and burn

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

I wouldn't buy the car.

Stuff like that is annoying and is just a cost saving measure for the manufacturer.
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[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 10:51 am Post subject:

I know on our Chevy Impalas we had a similar problem, the head units controlled the tire and maintenance monitors. Well you can get a supplemental box to go with your new head unit to be able to take care of these other functions. But it is not cheap to be able to do this.

I think in some cases the head unit also controls the air bags. Great idea huh?
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Zero_Fresh · Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 11:28 am Post subject:

Well how large is the whole setup? Maybe you can have seperate climate controls and head unit installed in place of what is there already. After all it is just wires going to the right places that allow the units to do their jobs. And I am sure there is a shop out there somewhere that has run into this dilema and came up with a solution. Try checking out a Mazda 3 forum and see if anyone has done anything ot get around this.
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[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 1:21 pm Post subject:

Intensity109 · TweakNOOB Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 32

i would hate to think how much it would cost to replace the stereo if it ever died

since it controls a bunch of other stuff. and you would also think that in the sports edition they could at least put a subout channel on the head unit, i mean if you cant change it at least provide the facilities to use the damn thing

Mazda Australia was very helpful and they offered for me to go down to the Mazda dealer and talk with one of their techs who would show me the specs and a dismantled head unit for my information. i still have to take them up on this offer, but why should you be spending all this effort and time and extra money for that matter on fixing a problem that they did? when your already spending $30K on a car you dont wanna be spending more to fix up the stereo!

quite frankly i can just think of a bunch of other cars that have the same/better performance and style and dont have the integrated Head Unit.

apparently, there are some customised dash kits availiable and can be imported from the USA. yet again, why should the consumer have to spend extra money on fixing up this problem?