Fog Lights?

[Secondtyme]

Hey all, i read the owners manual for fun last night for my "new to me" 06 touring. The manual states that the foglights take an H11 bulb; however it also states that the bulbs are integral with the unit and the WHOLE BLESSED THING SHOULD BE REPLACED! That can't be right can it? I would like to upgrade to LED bulbs when I do my HID retrofit. Unless the manual is correct, then I'll replace the whole assembly with aftermarket. So which is correct?

 

[Davicho]

Nope. H11 bulbs can be replaced seperately from the housing.

 

[Secondtyme]

Thank God! And thank you Davicho for the info. Been wanting to try the H11 LED bulbs in some foglights for a couple of years, but didn't have a car with fogs to do it on. LOL Now I do, so I shall...

 

[daan]

I have an 06 that I want to add fogs to. How well do the factory ones work? Are they mostly for "looks" or do they actually help lighting up the road?

 

[Davicho]

I'd have to say that their light output is minimal to none. I think they're mainly for "looks" as far as my opinion goes.

 

[daan]

Crap. I do have a set of Hella 500's from a truck I used to have, maybe I can wedge those things on here somewhere...

 

[Secondtyme]

I'm going to second the opinion that the factory fogs serve very little purpose, as far as light output goes. After adding HID to the headlights I haven't even turned my fogs on LOL

 

[flcruising]

That's why I did this with mine

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...ire-fog-lights-to-come-on-with-parking-lights

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123785006-HOW-TO-Rewire-fog-lights-as-DRLs-A-T-only

 

[kw_da]

I have an 06 that I want to add fogs to. How well do the factory ones work? Are they mostly for "looks" or do they actually help lighting up the road?

One thing that they do help with is side lighting. I was on a very winding road, since the main headlights are so focused, I couldn't see the next turn when my lights were pointed off the road. The fogs will help with this situation and also in reading street signs off to the side.

 

[Robotazky]

One thing that they do help with is side lighting. I was on a very winding road, since the main headlights are so focused, I couldn't see the next turn when my lights were pointed off the road. The fogs will help with this situation and also in reading street signs off to the side.

Yeah, I agree. The factory HIDs have a lack of coverage down low and to the sides. I think the factory fogs do a good job of filling that in. I can't comment on non-HIDs.

 

[kw_da]

My comments were for the non-HID headlights (2006).

When did they start having HIDs in Mazda 5s? Can they be fitted easily to non-HID cars? I know I can get a retrofit HID kit - but don't want to put HIDs into a non-HID projector and blind people.

 

[Secondtyme]

I did the drop in kit on mine, 55watt 6000K The halogen projectors on this car take to HID very very well, they maintain a good sharp cutoff and don't seem to suffer from too much backscatter or light above the cut-off the way others can. My experience with them has been entirely positive.