What have you done to your Mazda6 today?

[OJ Bartley]

Yeah, I tried a bunch of different ones from superbright and autolumination. Did some comparisons (Interior) and (Exterior) if you're interested. And this way you can order a few extras for replacement, the license plate ones are a little more high risk since they are more exposed to the elements.

While we're at it, here's a link to the additional trunk lighting I installed too.

 

[Tungsten6]

i have 6 LEDS. just wanted to swap the ones i used most.
Front dome
License plate
Vanity

And my dad has Superbright LEDs on his bike and they are bright as s***!
he has his brake lights and license plate light. i need to take a pic of them, they are really bright

 

[bova80]

Oh yeah, after all was said and done, I noticed this! someone hit the front of my car with a shopping cart or something......

do you have like a home depot fender lip?

 

[Worbit]

Nope, the car came like that when I bought it. As far as I know, its standard......

 

[batou079]

So my poor car FINALLY got an alignment... dont have to hold the wheel to the right to go straight anymore.
slightly toe'd in, back camber at -1.6. front is natural camber of -0.5 from the drop, but i really wanna get the adjustable ball joints so i can run aggressive camber for track!

oh, also rotated tires... passenger side tire tread is CHUNKED TO HELL!! that track day was hot, so hot it looks like when i spun and clipped the curb... that wheel lost chunks of tread. Structurally sound still, but not trackworthy anymore ... time to save for track set of wheel/tires. anyone got REALLY cheap track wheel options? prefferebly wider than stock 7".

Nope, the car came like that when I bought it. As far as I know, its standard......

standard where? i've never seen that before Worbit.
interesting option... can you get semi close pics encompassing the whole car? i wanna see how it looks...

 

[Worbit]

Damn it! i come home after eating lunch with my girl only to find a post office slip on my door. Looks like my RHOplate finally came in after being stuck in customs for the past week (-_-) I wont be able to make it to the post office until friday now since I start work before they open and get off just after they close

 

[dave_PEI]

havent sat in mine for two days since ive been getting the tercel on the road... i've got the day off tomorrow though so i'll rip around in the speed again before i park it for the weekend

 

[Jay Davidson]

Damn it! i come home after eating lunch with my girl only to find a post office slip on my door. Looks like my RHOplate finally came in after being stuck in customs for the past week (-_-) I wont be able to make it to the post office until friday now since I start work before they open and get off just after they close

Ugh... Getting that little brown slip is one of the worst feelings in the world. I have a very good relationship with the folks down at my local USPS, though, so they usually set stuff aside for me as long as I show up before the lobby closes.

I swapped out my 5 SMD parking lights for some 13s from V-LEDs. I am very, very pleased. The 5 SMD models were great, but the 13 SMD versions are awesome. Much brighter, and they fill out the reflector much better.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with these lesser bulbs...

-Jay

 

[tunersteve]

I'm looking at LEDs for the new ride, debating on trying V-LEDs this time around. Also ordered me some Blackfire Wet Diamond paint sealant, since I've heard nothing but good things about its finish and application/removal. I'll keep you guys posted on how it works out.

 

[Jay Davidson]

I'm looking at LEDs for the new ride, debating on trying V-LEDs this time around.

The reason I've gone with V-LEDs for my parking lights is that they let you choose the temperature color of the bulbs. I wanted to make sure that my 6000K fogs and D2S bulbs that I got from DDM matched nicely. I've only purchased twice from V-LEDs, but I can tell you that I'm a happy camper. Their shipping is stupid-fast: I ordered on Friday from California and they were here in Maine on Monday morning.

-Jay

 

[kahmikahze]

V-LEDs you say? hmmmmm...how bright are they?

 

[Worbit]

post pix!

 

[Jay Davidson]

Here are a couple photos that I snapped back in April when I did the initial install:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-replacement&p=5194992&viewfull=1#post5194992

Don't let the exposure fool you; the lights aren't as bright in person as the picture makes them look. They did look awfully good in person, though, and a bazillion times better than stock. Having said that, you should definitely spring for the 13 SMD bulbs. They're quite a bit brighter than the 5 SMD bulbs (2.6 times brighter, if my math is correct...) and make the whole setup look that much better.

I should be able to snap a couple new photos tomorrow to show how the 13s look.

This reminds me that I should probably change my sig to reflect the 6000K awesomeness.

-Jay

 

[batou079]

hyper whites in general match my HID and fogs damn good.

 

[keymaster]

Been doing a few things lately.....

- Just the usual maintenance stuff, though I need to get into the dealership for a few bits before my B2B warranty expires in a couple of weeks.
- Did the LED swap for the dome, plate, door and parking lights.
- Took the dash apart to run cables for my Dashhawk and iPod into the top storage case. I'm going to make a DH mount that sits in front of the case, but for now it's velcroed in place (I pop the case open when I drive). Actually, that works so well I might just leave it there and secure it down a bit better...I really like being able to see the DH while driving.
- Remounted the OBD2 port so it faces upwards and is completely solid...no more kicking cables or having to worry about them floating around.

I work as an astronomer at Caltech, and spent the weekend at Palomar observatory, which means I got to drive the Palomar South Grade road...it's a well known route, bikers regularly pound on it every weekend. I did it on Monday afternoon, with no one around...first time it's been me, the car and a canyon road, and I'm even more impressed by the car now than I was before (and I'm still on all-seasons). Good times.....

 

[OJ Bartley]

Well, bad news for me last night. Went in to have the tires balanced and rotated, hoping that it was just a minor issue giving me vibrations, but it seems that when I slid into a curb last winter it threw the alignment off a lot more than I thought. Which was strange, because the car really didn't pull much more or anything, but I saw the tires, and the insides were worn pretty badly. So it will be a new set of Bridgestone RE760's for me this week, and a new alignment as soon as I can within the week or so. I wasn't expecting it to cost me as much as it did, but what can you do, gotta have safe rubber.

I think I'll be going back to 215/45/18 because the load rating for the 225's with the 760 is only 91. I don't mind though, since the car is 90% highway driven, and I don't autoX or anything, and I'm starting to drive a little more on the mild side anyway, so I won't be pushing the limits of these very often at all. They're supposed to be a good tire, and with a new proper alignment I should be happy. I'm thinking about having it set up a little more suited to highway driving, maybe something like -0.8* camber in the front and rear, and a very small amount of toe in at the rear? (I'll go back and read up in the "Alignment In Spec Not Good Enough thread)

 

[mglavina]

LED swap mmmmmmmm

I did mine a while back with the help from OJ, made a write up and started to do a how to install... Then CS came out with a kit lol.

 

[batou079]

@keymaster, nice to hear after all this time you FINALLY get to experience some spirited twisties in the MS6!!! glad you enjoyed it, so fun eh?

@OJ Bartley, srry to hear about the tire issues. i hear ya, just got alignment too. you cant adjust camber on the fronts, they dont come stock with camber adjustment, only the rears up to like -1.8. Lowering will increase negative camber up front a tad, but to fully adjust fronts you need the adjustable ball joints. Im hoping to get those eventually. Typically i'd end up running -1.4 front and -1.6 rears for daily driving, then -2.0 front, -1.6 to -1.8 rears. slight tow in all around. that thread "Alignment in Spec..." i wish listed what stock camber & toe is at!!

 

[OJ Bartley]

Ah, don't sweat the kit, I'm sure there are people out there who still want a more custom approach to it, and want to take a more detailed approach. Besides, even in mine I didn't really get into how to remove those damn overheads, which I still see gets asked around here from time to time, so that would be useful to have.

batou: I have the SPC's, they were WELL worth the cost and install. When I did get a proper alignment done after I had them put on the car felt great. I'm hoping to take it in to a dealer I've heard great things about (Dave Wood Mazda) for alignments, as they do a lot of prep work for some Mazda racing teams. The few reviews I've seen from local owners have been very good, so I'll put a call in today and see what I can do.

 

[kahmikahze]

I wish mine were that bright...

but then again, they look super bright with a phone camera...maybe the photo's just a little overexposed?