foglight bulbs

Pattinjr2

Member
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2011 Mazda 2 Touring
i was wondering if anyone could recomend a good yellow foglight bulb for the 2 or simply the bulb number so i can search for one. thanks :)
 
They are H11's. I have always had good experiences with Nokya yellow bulbs. The 2 is the 3rd car I own to have them. They are a middle price range bulb too, not as expensive as PIAA, but also not el cheapo $10 brand either.
 
Thanks PGT I found the nokyas on eBay. Are the fogs a pain to change? I read in the manual that u need to turn the wheels for easier access and pull off a plastic piece under the car.. Does this sound right or would you recommend an easier approach?
 
The manual is incorrect as to changing the bulbs. No piece to remove. Just gotta get down and dirty.

You can also put a yellow plastic laminate over the lens. Lamin-X (spell?) that will also protect the lens.

John
 
When I changed the bulbs I had to take out 2 screws on each side and lower a splash shield, but did not have to remove it. A 10-15 min job probably tops.
 
Thanks PGT I found the nokyas on eBay. Are the fogs a pain to change? I read in the manual that u need to turn the wheels for easier access and pull off a plastic piece under the car.. Does this sound right or would you recommend an easier approach?

Changing the bulbs is a piece of cake if you're a slim person :) I managed to get to them by laying on back back with my head under the car, it requires a bit of houdini-work to get to them but it sure is easier than unscrewing half the car! ;)


The manual is incorrect as to changing the bulbs. No piece to remove. Just gotta get down and dirty.

You can also put a yellow plastic laminate over the lens. Lamin-X (spell?) that will also protect the lens.

John

Absolutely correct, getting down and dirty is the way to go!

I'm waiting for my tint-foil to arrive so that i can tint my headlights and foglights yellow :) It's not Lamin-X, but it should be good quality stuff for a very reasonable price :D
 
I'm waiting for my tint-foil to arrive so that i can tint my headlights and foglights yellow :) It's not Lamin-X, but it should be good quality stuff for a very reasonable price :D

isint the yellow (or any color) tint/film over the headlights illegal??
 
isint the yellow (or any color) tint/film over the headlights illegal??

In the Netherlands you are allowed to have white r yellow lights on the front-end of the car, but there is one exception: You may not alter the original state of the headlight itself. So you are completely correct, it's not allowed.

But here comes the 'glitch in the matrix' :D They cannot give you a fine for just having tint/film on your headlights, they'll have to warn you first and give you the chance to remove it. That is if they'll pull you over for it, which i haven't heard or read about before. They are really against blue emitting lights, like fake-Xenon, but yellow emitting lights are not a big deal.

The only problem is the "APK", i don't really know what it's called in the USA (MOT?), but it's an annual control for your car to see if it's roadworthy. They won't give you a pass if the headlights are tinted, but i can always remove it before the APK and re-apply new tint/film after is passes :)

In the Netherlands you have to get a APK if your car is 4 years old, then when it reaches the age of 6, and from that time on it's annual. Our M2 just had it's first APK in februari, so it's in the clear for another two years :)
 
Hi Rijstraket,

In the U.S. we have annual "inspections" for emissions and safety. Each state has its own rules so it can be different in each of the 50 states........

Hence there is a lot of confusion on web sites over here. In New York they plug into the car's computer looking for thrown codes. In some states they stick an emissions tester in the tail pipe. So in NY you can't change the ECU out. In other states you can as long as the emissions are clean. Some states also have a visual check so almost everything aftermarket is an issue.

Sigh.........

John
 
Hi Rijstraket,

In the U.S. we have annual "inspections" for emissions and safety. Each state has its own rules so it can be different in each of the 50 states........

Hence there is a lot of confusion on web sites over here. In New York they plug into the car's computer looking for thrown codes. In some states they stick an emissions tester in the tail pipe. So in NY you can't change the ECU out. In other states you can as long as the emissions are clean. Some states also have a visual check so almost everything aftermarket is an issue.

Sigh.........

John

Wow, and i thought the rules overhere were a pain in the ass, but it's clearly not as difficult as overseas (scratch)
 
Wow, and i thought the rules overhere were a pain in the ass, but it's clearly not as difficult as overseas (scratch)

As Racebrewer said, it's different depending on the state. Some states are very lenient, some - not so much. I remember buying an out-of-state car and having to remove window tint (it was completely OK in Virginia, but not in New Jersey).

Funnily, it became less strict in NJ in recent years. I just had my other car inspected -- somehow missed a whole year, and nobody said a word.
 
H-9's, with minor mods, will also fit and put out more lumens. However, it doesn't make for a better fog light, at least with the crappy U.S. market fog lights.

When spring comes, I will attempt to modify the "glare guard" in the lights to see if that helps. If that doesn't work, I'll try installing a different light.

John
 
I've seen aftermarket fog kits on eBay that don't have the shield over the bulb. I haven't really been able to find them recently but they were inexpensive and had it's own harness and switch. They even had some that were already amber coated. I think the shield is blocking alot of the reflector area which is causing sub-par output. Keep in mind an H11 is already a 55w headlight bulb and an H9 is a 65w High beam bulb. There's plenty of lumens there, they just need to be focused correctly
 
hey rijstracked did u ever tint the headlights yellow? i was thinking about doing it. do u have any pics if u did it?
 
hey rijstracked did u ever tint the headlights yellow? i was thinking about doing it. do u have any pics if u did it?

I haven't done it yet, and i don't think that i'm going to do it on the M2 :) After all the modifications on the M2, the yellow lights didn't 'match' the rest of the car.

I'm now in doubt if i'm going to do it on my Suzuki Swift instead :D
 
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