Hey guys I've been thinking of putting a shark fin antenna on my white lancer gts for some time now, and I've read on this forum about some people replacing their own antennas but not with shark fins...

I live in Toronto, Ontario and I found this site on google selling them with OEM-match paint for a price of $69. Is this a good deal because it's the only one I've found in Canada that specializes in selling these.

http://www.visualgarage.com/home.html

$69 seems a bit expensive for a piece of plastic, and if it's not plastic then please correct me because the site doesn't say what kinda material they use.

There is also a gallery but most of it are mazda 3s, so I'm not sure how the lancer will look with it. Anyways any opinion on the price/looks will be great, thanks!

 

I picked one up. I know the price may be steep but hey it beats the cheapo Ebay ones that are just a cover. This is up to par with the ones that BMW makes, so its not just some rip off its an actual antenna using fractal technology. Whenever I get it at my door I'll install with Pics and post. But for now its a waiting game for me.. wiki Fractal Antenna and see how it works.

 

If you have the stock Sat Radio in your car, those VG Shark fins won't fit over your antenna base without modifications to the antenna base. It was stated some time ago on these forums that the VG Shark fins won't fit on the cars equipped with Sat Radio...

 

not to push one product over another one but you might want to make sure that it doesnt compromise your signal strength, other then that you can stick anything you like on your car.

There was a website I was looking at for ordering other stuff, and came across a few different designs / looks. might be worth a look. so far I am to lazy to get up there and mess with my antenna http://www.sigmaautomotive.com/FoliaTec/antenna.php

 

I think it would look fine on pretty much any new car, Lancer included. It would look strange if you had an older Lancer like mine, but looking at their gallery, the newer mazda's and Lexus IS look good. I think you could get an idea of the look by looking at the back of the Lexus because the Lancer has a similar look to it. Oh, and in my opinion $69 is cheap for something that is colormatched, plastic or not.

 

Ya thats a good point I forgot about that thead. But no worries no sat radio on a DE.

 

i bought my antenna from visual garage and i have the stock sat radio and it went right over it fine. Also fits really nicely. my only mistake was putting it on by myself and put it on at first alittle to the left. but i went to the store n picked up some double sided adhesive and all is well. its night time right now so i cant put up pics. but the radio strength is the same and it fits right over the stock sat radio.

 

doesn't fit over the base for the canadian cars... I haven't got around to doing any mods to the base yet to fit it on... but it looks really good

 

I live in Canada but I don't have satellite radio, and by satellite you guys mean sirius or something right? I never listen to radio anyways, just my mp3 with aux cables and the cd changer

 

Got my Shark Fin from VG. I think it looks great. no fitment issues on the DE.

Before and After Pics, Enjoy

 

Yes, by referring to Satellite Radio we mean Sirius...

 

08GtsLancer Do you have any pictures yet? I want to see one that have done on sat radio.

 

does the antenna change at all if a car has navi also? or is the gps antenna different? my antenna has a little box toward the front and then the little whip antenna. how do you change it anyway, do you need to remove the headliner? how does the shark fin wire up to the antenna connection? sorry for all the questions i just want to make sure i know how its done and how it works before i drop the 70 bucks.

 

The VG shark fin is essentially just a replacement for the screw-out antenna. Inside the fin is a coiled one that you screw into the hole left by the OEM one, and then the fin just covers up that base. All you have to do is unscrew the "whip antenna" from the base, screw the new one in, and stick the fin to the roof. Think of what you'd do if they asked you to remove your antenna at the car wash. It shouldn't affect GPS or Sirius at all. That part only has to do with AM/FM radio. The website has detailed instructions with pics of the installation process that should help you understand what I mean. http://www.visualgarage.com/Product_Installation.html

 

has your reception been affected at all. is it better or worse or same