headlights not bright

[ultimatedbz]

Hi

Maybe i am doing something wrong i have 2011 mazda3 gs trim and for some reason these headlights are worse than a 2009 yaris i rented.

[cwp_sedan]

Are you turning them on?

[gotak]

Are you turning them on?

:gone

[shu5892001]

did you have the yaris on high beam?

[cwp_sedan]

In all seriousness, the halogens are pretty good but I needed a bit more and upgraded to HIDs.

[ultimatedbz]

yes turned on :p and yaris was not on high beam.. was alot brighter. I just tried in the underground garage and mazda3 headlights are not great...

[Nextmod]

if you are interested we can convert it to HID's for you =)

[x_o_k_x]

It is possibly because Yaris has halogen housing which concentrates light on one spot, as halogen projectors spread the beam evenly

[koorick]

Sorry to post jacked a lil here: I find the output from stock HID (10's HB GT trim) kinda low compare to some of the aftermarket HID I see on the street
Is it because the stock bulb's output ? or should I be blaming the stock ballast?

[x_o_k_x]

Sorry to post jacked a lil here: I find the output from stock HID (10's HB GT trim) kinda low compare to some of the aftermarket HID I see on the street
Is it because the stock bulb's output ? or should I be blaming the stock ballast?

OEM HIDs is what it should look like. Aftermarket is NOT what it should look like and blinds drivers. Your output is 4300k and its the brightest you can get.

[Rob23]

OEM HIDs is what it should look like. Aftermarket is NOT what it should look like and blinds drivers. Your output is 4300k and its the brightest you can get.

my 6000K HIDs don't blind other drivers at all. HIDs only blind ppl if you have no projectors. and im pretty sure you can get 6000K bulbs for your stock HIDs and they will look the same.

[aris]

my 6000K HIDs don't blind other drivers at all. HIDs only blind ppl if you have no projectors. and im pretty sure you can get 6000K bulbs for your stock HIDs and they will look the same.

What makes you think your 6000k HIDs don't blind people?


I hate HIDs I live in the country and people with HIDs blind me at night

[Rob23]

What makes you think your 6000k HIDs don't blind people?


I hate HIDs I live in the country and people with HIDs blind me at night

ive driven infront of my own car... and it only blinded me when my buddy went over speed bumps. my gf also has had to drive in front of me and she told me they don't blind her. your probably getting blinded by tall trucks or suvs with HID or non projectors.

[aris]

ive driven infront of my own car... and it only blinded me when my buddy went over speed bumps. my gf also has had to drive in front of me and she told me they don't blind her. your probably getting blinded by tall trucks or suvs with HID or non projectors.

I know the difference between a car driving by and a truck lol



But it just might be they got the pointing up... Either way they bother my eyes st night:(

[Rob23]

I know the difference between a car driving by and a truck lol



But it just might be they got the pointing up... Either way they bother my eyes st night:(

yea probably due to them being aimed to high, my cut off line isn't even as high as the side mirrors on a protege so thats probably why. they are bright and can be blinding in certain situations, but for the most part my headlights are aimed low enough not to blind.

[shu5892001]

my 6000K HIDs don't blind other drivers at all. HIDs only blind ppl if you have no projectors. and im pretty sure you can get 6000K bulbs for your stock HIDs and they will look the same.

my understanding is you won't blind people if you have auto leveling projectors, hence why HID are only legal in factory auto leveling projectors and not our cheap none moving projectors lol. But I have HIDs too, projectors for sure will make our car less blinding than cars with reflector lenses lol

[Rob23]

my understanding is you won't blind people if you have auto leveling projectors, hence why HID are only legal in factory auto leveling projectors and not our cheap none moving projectors lol. But I have HIDs too, projectors for sure will make our car less blinding than cars with reflector lenses lol

no i mean that the mazda 3s headlights project low enough that they don't shine in in your mirrors or eyes. also 2007+ mazda 3 GTs come with HID from the factory and the headlights are not auto leveling, so i don't think they or only legal in auto leveling projectors.

[shu5892001]

no i mean that the mazda 3s headlights project low enough that they don't shine in in your mirrors or eyes. also 2007+ mazda 3 GTs come with HID from the factory and the headlights are not auto leveling, so i don't think they or only legal in auto leveling projectors.

I believe there is a leveling motor for the factory HIDs on any car including mazda 3 lol.

Read Iceman_F1's post regarding problem with his OEM hids, he mentioned he had a leveling motor

[Rob23]

2010's have auto leveling. when you start the car the headlights will move up to the correct hight automaticaly. i have never seen this on a pre 2010 model. besides that was never my point to begin with...

[tycho81]

I have a feeling the general misunderstanding is to do with people putting HID's into reflectors. which creates a very large, dispersed, bright source of light without any hard directional properties (think mag light or using highbeams). The worst offenders of this seem to be civics. Due to the fact that they're so popular and there is a huge aftermarket/mod scene.
even had friends balk at the idea that I put them in, stating the blinding thing. then they see what they're like and change their tune. That being said, not everyone likes them.

I've had friends driving in front of me many times and I've made a point of asking them to keep mindful. They didn't have any problem with them (I put 6000K in).

on topic, but off. does anyone have any first hand experience with HID's in '10 fogs? I've got a set of ballast's sitting here and wanted to get some 3000K for them. -> concerned about blinding other ppl... are the fogs as big a problem on the '10?

[shu5892001]

2010's have auto leveling. when you start the car the headlights will move up to the correct hight automaticaly. i have never seen this on a pre 2010 model. besides that was never my point to begin with...

I don't mean to annoy you again, but I am pretty sure 07+ Mazda 3 with OEM HID has a leveling motor...

[Pokey]

I believe there is a leveling motor for the factory HIDs on any car including mazda 3 lol.



Sure, but ALL the ones on the BMW's are broken at the factory. That would explain why they blind me more than anyone else.

[shu5892001]

Sure, but ALL the ones on the BMW's are broken at the factory. That would explain why they blind me more than anyone else.

:chuckle

[Rob23]

I don't mean to annoy you again, but I am pretty sure 07+ Mazda 3 with OEM HID has a leveling motor...

not an annoying me id rather be corrected than not, im not that stuburn. i didn't know that about the 07+ headlights, good to know.

[koorick]

OEM HIDs is what it should look like. Aftermarket is NOT what it should look like and blinds drivers. Your output is 4300k and its the brightest you can get.

Hmmm....so even putting a 6000K won't make it look any brighter than what it is now...



2010's have auto leveling. when you start the car the headlights will move up to the correct hight automaticaly. i have never seen this on a pre 2010 model. besides that was never my point to begin with...

Not all 2010s have the auto leveling, my car (GT trim) has a manual knob to control the motor for the leveling (only up n down)
GT-E trim has the auto leveling n directional adjusting during turns


Thanks for your input guys

[shu5892001]

Hmmm....so even putting a 6000K won't make it look any brighter than what it is now...




Not all 2010s have the auto leveling, my car (GT trim) has a manual knob to control the motor for the leveling (only up n down)
GT-E trim has the auto leveling n directional adjusting during turns


Thanks for your input guys

O yeah, my mistake too. I meant all factory HID has a leveling motor, but not necessarily auto leveling

[gotak]

Hmmm....so even putting a 6000K won't make it look any brighter than what it is now...


Those K values are color temperature values and only has any meaning in terms of the color of the light at the output. It has nothing to do with how bright the lamps are.

However, whiter light tends to give the illusion that they are brighter because you can see "color" better when your headlight's white vs the yellowish halogen. The key word here is "illusion" it doesn't mean you are seeing better. This is something a lot of people doing HID mods don't realize.

Yes HIDs do put out more light and when paired with proper projectors or reflector they "can" give better illumination. BUT! When they are badly done and splashing light all over the place the foreground can seem brighter but in reality you aren't lighting anything up well in the distance and at the same time because your foreground is overly lighted your night vision is compromised. End result is you don't see very well which can be dangerous.

[ultimatedbz]

just noticed my headlights are pointed down so i guess the person in front wont get blinded? i read that dealer can set some options on mazda3's? is that a option? i have the GS model and it has auto lvl for headlights. any suggestions?

[ultimatedbz]

mine's a GS sport model 2011 and i know mine has auto lvl.. since i read it in the paper when i bought the car.

[shu5892001]

Only the 2010+ GT-E models have auto levelling; regular GT's have manual levelling that requires the driver to set the light height position with a switch left of the steering wheel.

i believe my friend's 2008.5 GT with lux package also has auto leveling

[Rob23]

i never once said that all 2010s have auto leveling, i said only 2010s have auto leveling and not pre 2010s i never said which models cuz it was an example. which apperantly is wrong anyways.

[kramr]

I have a 2010 GS Base model, no comfort package or anything like that. It did not come with HID's and no headlight leveling. I put in a set of 8k HID's yesterday. Yes, they are brighter and they have a blue hue to them as well. No one flashed me to indicate my highs are on or lights are too bright. They light up the road better it seems (one night with them so my experience with them is obviously limited) and they light up a little further left and right too. As of yet, I have no problems with them and I don't suspect I will either. My 2 cents!!

[taz4432]

my understanding is you won't blind people if you have auto leveling projectors, hence why HID are only legal in factory auto leveling projectors and not our cheap none moving projectors lol. But I have HIDs too, projectors for sure will make our car less blinding than cars with reflector lenses lol

Having come off over 4 months spent doing an engineering co-op for Magna over the summer at a plant that builds exterior automotive lights (headlights, taillights, foglights, reflectors, etc.) I can assure you that there is no legal requirement for cars with HIDs to have auto-leveling projectors. In fact, in North America we only do vertical leveling whereas in Europe they do horizontal as well.

[shu5892001]

Having come off over 4 months spent doing an engineering co-op for Magna over the summer at a plant that builds exterior automotive lights (headlights, taillights, foglights, reflectors, etc.) I can assure you that there is no legal requirement for cars with HIDs to have auto-leveling projectors. In fact, in North America we only do vertical leveling whereas in Europe they do horizontal as well.

i meant leveling projectors.. doesn't have to auto. Projector with any sort of leveling motor, auto or manual...

[BMWWW]

koorick:

You should buy a pair of uprated ballasts from TheRetrofitSource.

Your factory ballasts are at 35w's, and you can get quality 55w ballasts to run safely with your OEM Philips bulbs. That will get you brighter output that you're looking for. Going higher color temperature will only net you less light on the road.

-G

[chewy66]

if you are interested we can convert it to HID's for you =)

Just bought a 2011 3 Sport GS

What price range am I looking at for a conversion ??