My experience in case anyone else was wondering
I read a ton of old posts here on Reddit about this topic when researching whether this was possible or not. Everyone can decide if this works for them but this is my experience with a rooftop tent on my 2011 Mazda 3 6 speed manual.
I purchased a set of Thule Evo Wingbars and the vehicle specific mounting kit that uses that hard mount points as well as a faring. I wouldn’t try this with an Amazon rack or one that clips on the doorframe.
My tent is a hard clamshell model and weights 131 lbs. We drove from Western NC to PA for a weekend camp out on a friends farm. It was an 8 hour trip. We usually have this tent on our F250 but with gas prices the way they are that wasn’t our favorite option. My partner and I are short statured people at 165 and 125 respectively so I’m sure that’s a factor in deciding to do this or not.
All that being said, we loved camping this way and the car is totally fine. Gas mileage didn’t take a hit and the car barely sat down with the tent on top and us inside it. Thule bars didn’t even batt an eye either. Road noise was barely noticeable and even on a windy afternoon on the highway we didn’t get tossed around. So this is possible just do your research and use common sense. Happy Mazda3 camping 😊
Ps- tent is fully extended and clears the carport by an inch- it was raining the day we packed up 🙃