Sirius ready head unit on 2005 rx-8s
 

I talked to a Mazda dealer and he said the 2005 RX-8s with Sirius are ready to run Sirius with only monthly fees having to be paid to Sirius to use it. However, I now seem to read online that if you have a 2005 RX-8 head unit that's Sirius ready you have to pay $300-400 to Mazda to make the Sirius work? Which is correct? Thanks

300to400 is correct.

The install kit from Mazda is $399 I think..

From Rosenthal Mazda it is $330.
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...&preadd=action

The size of the antenna looks massive as does the cable. I don't want that on my car. (personally)
I saw 2 Shinkas the other weekend that had SAT radio installed. The antenna was very small and the wire was.. well.. a wire.. not a ribbon cable like in the Mazda picture. Clearly NOT the same.

I asked Rosenthal about this and they said the picture is correct. euuuuu

So you will need the Mazda/Sirius kit and a subscription.
I think it's $149 for a year with a free month included. (cheaper than monthly)

OO.. and you need a radio with a SAT button.

-B

i ordered my sirius unit it should be in today, as for the antenna hopefully i can use my old one, even tho it was an xm antenna (it worked on my kenwood unit) and its about the size of a quarter roughly (the pics dont do it justice), its mounted in the top right of my driver side winshield and the wire runs under the windshield down by the driver floor panel and into the back of the hu, ill take a pic if you're interested, i wish they sold them in white tho, it looks decent.


the one i got was the american international sir1saf

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-u1tHFdb...antenna+sirius

also... grab the warranty on the antenna they take quite a beating and like to stop working for no reason.

You don't necessarily have to mount the antenna on the outside of car. In my previous car I had it mounted in the center of the front dash up against the windshield and I never had problems with my xm. When I go with a SAT option for my 8, I'll probably mount the antenna on the rear deck somewhere.