Is the GT heavier than the sport?

[Young Roids]

I am still weighing all the factors. I posted this question on another board and they said that aftermarket HID kits are dangerous and could start on fire. But a much nicer sterio system could be had for under $1000. I am just not sure.

Do you think that the dealer would cut me a better deal if I went with the GT? Are there incentives for them to sell a GT over a sport?

 

[Falconx84]

start a fire? I had mine on constantly for an 8hr road trip in the summer, no signs of excessive heat. I'm running the 35w maybe that makes a difference. I think the stock bulbs are 50w so there shouldn't be too much issue there.

 

[Sacrilicious]

I am still weighing all the factors. I posted this question on another board and they said that aftermarket HID kits are dangerous and could start on fire. But a much nicer sterio system could be had for under $1000. I am just not sure.

Do you think that the dealer would cut me a better deal if I went with the GT? Are there incentives for them to sell a GT over a sport?

my understanding about aftermarket HID mods are as such:

there are two kinds of kits that you can get:

1. "HID style" halogen upgrades which are brighter than normal halogens and maybe a bit better focused. These are simply light bulb replacements.

2. ACTUALLY HID lights that include the entire lighting fixture to go with the HID lights. These lights are much brighter and better focused than the "HID style" upgrades.

normal halogen headlights run at about 50W, whereas normal HID lights run about 35W. the difference, of course, is that the HID lights emit significantly more light and significantly less heat than the halogen lights. take this bit of info, and you will deduce that the "HID style" halogen upgrades are basically higher wattage normal halogen lights. this means that they generate significantly more heat than standard 50W halogen lights. these "upgraded" lights can draw as much as 100W of power...that's 2x what your car was expecting to provide to its headlights. this definitely creates problems, since your light fixture will be exposed to much more heat than they were designed for. this also means that the wires leading to the fixtures will be loaded with up to 2x more current than they were expected to handle. this definitely makes fires more likely.

i believe that those people on the other forums were talking about the "HID style" halogen lights and not the REAL xenon HID kits (which cost significantly more, but last WAY longer than halogen lights). if you get a proper kit, i really don't think you will have to worry about fire, since you will actually be lowering the load on your connecting wires from ~50W to ~35W and using a lighting unit which generates significantly less heat than the halogen lights that came stock with the car.

just my 2c...

 

[Fritch]

I hear people b**** about "wearing out the leather" on the seat bolsters, I've got over 33k miles on mine and they look new still. Its being over exaggerated

 

[Young Roids]

Thanx for clearing that up Sac. So one more point for the sport.

 

[ZooMIN3]

^^and 10+ more for the GT?

Where I'm getting that ten from, I don't know..lol

But good luck to whatever choice you go with, so as long as you're happy.

-J

 

[Sacrilicious]

Thanx for clearing that up Sac. So one more point for the sport.

ya, if you're willing to put in the work, the only thing that you gain with the stock HIDs is that they're adjustable on the fly, which usually isn't a big deal, since you can simply carefully adjust the HID kit to point exactly where they should point when you put them in.

...just be sure you're getting the real deal, or you're probably not getting what you think you are...

 

[Young Roids]

I would get the ones from rpmstore like Falcon suggested.

 

[ZooMIN3]

or just get the GT, and save yourself the time and hassle of installing/aiming the HIDs. :-\

 

[Falconx84]

install was 45 min in the dark by flashlight, no aiming needed for mine

its as easy as changing bulbs, just wire in a ballast in line with it

 

[Sacrilicious]

ya, that 35w one for 130 that falcon got sounds like a really good idea. just make sure not to get the 55w one, cause that's not actually legal for streets! (eek2)

 

[Falconx84]

technically, neither is the 35w

I asked a friend who's a traffic cop about aftermarket HIDs - "what's an HID??" as long as they don't blind someone, they don't care. Besides, its on the GT factory, you can say its a factory upgrade

 

[Sacrilicious]

as long as they don't blind someone, they don't care. Besides, its on the GT factory, you can say its a factory upgrade

ya, this is true. as long as it's nicely focused, you don't have to worry about them blinding people. that's why i really hate the crappy HID style halogens: they blind the hell out of me when someone is coming at me with them in the other direction...=/

 

[Falconx84]

oh yeah, I know what you mean... I tested my kit several times with a friend - following, oncoming traffic, different vehicles (suv, reg car, lowered car), different weather (mist, fog, rain), around turns, everything I could think of. In no cases did my friend ever have trouble being blinded

 

[Sacrilicious]

ya, that's definitely a good bit of prepping to do. i still am paranoid about it because i almost ended up in a riverbed one winter night back in high school because of some dude who just couldn't remember to shut off his brights on a shoulderless country road...=/

how do you like your dashhawk, btw? i am thinking really hard about getting one in lieu of a boost gauge, but there's something about that nice analog needle that calls to me...

 

[Falconx84]

honestly, I haven't used it to its full potential. It's got full datalog features and alerts and everything. I'm definitely a fan of an analog gauge myself, but for a decent analog gauge/pod it was right around $200 and I got the dashhawk for a steal from a group buy for like $260. I'll sell it when the AP comes out tho, for sure

best thing is theres no cutting or anything, its plug and play. I need to play with the datalog stuff so I can give a better answer when people ask me about it. The member who pretty much convinced me to get it was jays07ms3 (I think thats his s/n) may want to PM him about it, he has a wealth of knowledge and for some reason he gets the beta flashes before I do... go figure.

heres a thread to check out too http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123686448

 

[Sacrilicious]

I'll sell it when the AP comes out tho, for sure

this was one of my main concerns...

 

[dan1101]

I installed a true HID kit in my last car, and found it to be a little unsatisfying. The HID kit needed a couple small electrical boxes to increase the voltage, and I never did find a spot at the front of my engine compartment that I was happy with.

A potentially bigger problem is the shape of your headlight housing. On the GT with factory HIDs, the headlight contains projectors that cut off the light in a sharp horizontal line in front of the car, so you're not spraying bright bluish light everywhere. My stock headlight housings did not contain those projectors. I didn't get flashed at, but the light pattern was scattered. And adding your own projectors involves cooking your headlight housings (literally) to get the glue unsealed.

Unless you like to tinker I'd go with factory HIDs.

 

[Sacrilicious]

I installed a true HID kit in my last car, and found it to be a little unsatisfying. The HID kit needed a couple small electrical boxes to increase the voltage, and I never did find a spot at the front of my engine compartment that I was happy with.

A potentially bigger problem is the shape of your headlight housing. On the GT with factory HIDs, the headlight contains projectors that cut off the light in a sharp horizontal line in front of the car, so you're not spraying bright bluish light everywhere. My stock headlight housings did not contain those projectors. I didn't get flashed at, but the light pattern was scattered. And adding your own projectors involves cooking your headlight housings (literally) to get the glue unsealed.

Unless you like to tinker I'd go with factory HIDs.

that's a really good bit of info to know...sounds like a royal pain in the arse...+1 for the GT?

 

[fourthmeal]

To verify you are talking about your last car, correct? Because the Sport and GT both use the same headlight assemblies, if I recall. The difference is the bulb vs. HID part. The projector part is the same.

So with our car, it should be a lot easier, according to my research.