HID's not as good as others

[Titanium2.3]

For those of you with factory HID's on your 3, have you noticed that they aren't as good as HID's on other cars? For instance, the HID's on the Acura TSX and BMW 3 series aim higher and have much sharper cut-offs. I know HID's on the 3 are manually adjustable, but I was wondering if there was a way to get them to aim higher than the highest setting allowed, and if there was a way to produce a sharper cut-off? Thanks in advance for any input you guys have.

 

[krillin]

so there is a dial to aim the lights up and down on the mazda3? sounds similar to my adjustable HIDs in my evo. anyway, this is what i would do.

drive up to a wall and mark where the lights hit. adjust the lights one setting lower, then aim your lights to the spots that you marked.

 

[Monkey_3]

The only way to get a sharper cutoff is to change the lense of the projectors. Someone has already done this by changing the lense using a Evo 8 HID lense and color modding the lense with washers. I'll find the pictures and post them for you.

 

[JOS3]

they may not be as bright because they are only 3k lighting. i dont know what bmw and acura use, but im sure its closer to 5 or 6k.

 

[Puckpimp71]

I think that's more the color of the light than the actual brightness. The higher the number, the bluer the light. HIDs in the 3 aren't quite up to par with BMW etc, but it's also not a $30,000 car.

 

[Monkey_3]

Stock:

Stock with washers:

With Evo8 lense:

With Evo8 lense and washers:

With Evo8 lense and washes and lense space mod:

S2K projectors (best in the market right now) fromt he same distance to compare:

 

[Monkey_3]

You guys are both wrong. OEM hids are usually 4100K-4300K.
The bulb doesn't produce the color the projector cutoff does.

 

[ChopstickHero]

wow, kinda cool how you're projecting it on your ceiling

 

[Puckpimp71]

How'd you get you car at that angle? How'd you get your car inside?




j/k

 

[TheMAN]

they're not as good as as the E46 BMWs because our DOT headlight projectors are bad VOR design... VOR headlights inherently limits lighting distance.... the E46 headlights are VOL headlights but despite the DOT labeling, they are actually ECE (european) certified projectors... it's just stupid lense labeling and the lack of city lights that make the "circle E" labeling not possible... they have a sharp cutoff with an upsweep... the upsweep helps increase lighting distance while not increasing the possibility of glare

why mazda chose to waste money in designing and making different sets of lights just for north america compared to the rest of the world? I don't know..... they could've saved production costs by making VOL headlights that meets the FMVSS 108 (DOT) and UNECE r98 standards... despite many differences, there ARE tollerenaces in both standards that make certain requirements such as lighting hotspots to be overlapped, allowing dual certification by only a difference in aiming-- which is the case on the E46 and 01-03 protege *sedan* headlights

the only GOOD way to improve the USDM MZ3's lighting is to get *good* ECE projectors from a different USDM car that has them or to just pay through the nose to get the EDM headlights (which you also get the cool city lights at the same time... thus no more need for the ugly amber corners being lit as parking lights)

 

[uclap5]

im glad the mz3 HIDs arent that great, they blind me less than all the bimmers out there.

 

[TheMAN]

it's not the "brightness" that causes glare... you have to understand that glare comes from stray light... I find the soft cut off on the MZ3's DOT HIDs cause more glare than the E46's... you're also forgetting aiming differences... AFAIK, the E46 is aimed to DOT height specs from the factory while somehow mazda is able to get away with ECE aiming on the MZ3's... I know because it specifies a 1.3% declimation which is ECE

despite that, it's still good that we have stock HIDs and at least manual leveling system.... although I would prefer it if it had auto leveling (but our laws don't require that... only european ones does)

FWIW, the USDM HIDs have a sharper cut off than the halogen s***! I'd take the "crappy" USDM HIDs any day!

 

[Brian MP5T]

Here is some "Stray Light"

 

[ChopstickHero]

Here is some "Stray Light"

the P5 housings have no cutoff whatsoever! the Protege sedan housing H4 have a better cut off....

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

how the **** did you get those to project on your ceiling? wtf matey?

 

[FunkyBuddha]

he's probably got the HID kit out or something.

PS: Brian...get some eyelids..they help w/ the cutoff ...that's what I did.

 

[Brian MP5T]

the P5 housings have no cutoff whatsoever! the Protege sedan housing H4 have a better cut off....

Perhaps, but then there is a ******* problem with only one bulb.. No thanks..

 

[Brian MP5T]

he's probably got the HID kit out or something.

PS: Brian...get some eyelids..they help w/ the cutoff ...that's what I did.

Sweet idea. I have however just tilted down a bit, I no longer get the Highbeam flashing...

 

[ChopstickHero]

Perhaps, but then there is a ******* problem with only one bulb.. No thanks..

you can still get a HID kit with a dual bulb... HID and halogen for "high-beam"

 

[Brian MP5T]

Sounds too complicatd. What happens whe one burns out?