So I'm new to the whole upgrade scene. I started reading post regarding HID upgrades for research and was strongly considering this route. But after looking under the hood of my 2012 Mazda 3 4dr Sky, I noticed very little room for such an upgrade. So my question is, is there an alternative to HID in the form of just replacing a bulb or something along those lines?
Alternatives to HID
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There is plenty of room for hid kit. Getting bulbs that appear white don't do much at all. There is space in the fender well where you can place the ballasts. I'll take a pic since I need to take mine out when I bring my car to get some body work done.
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There are many good places to put ballasts in the car! For ex: On top of the battery box, fenders, back of the headlight, the frame itself with zipties, on top of the fuse box, attached to the bumper itself(this is a risk taker sometimes). Honestly there are many places to put them and when a first glance the top of the engine might look crowded its reall not and below it is just lots of room! Happy shopping!
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I'll take pictures in the morning of where I mounted my ballasts but it appears stock when the hood is opened. Basically if you look to the left and right fenders while standing at the front of the car with the hood up, you'll notice that you can actually reach INTO the fender wells on the sides and there's a flat little ridge there where I put some double sided tape to secure it. The HID install took me 5 minutes and required no tools at all. I was shocked at how easy it went. The kit that I ended up with had ballasts with connectors that tapped into the old bulb sockets.
The old bulb was removed, ballast plugged into where it went, new power wires from ballasts attach to new HID bulbs and the bulbs slide in where the halogens once were. Easiest and most rewarding install ever. Love the light output as well as the look.
If you have working opposable thumbs, then you can definitely tackle this install in 30 minutes or less without even really disassembling anything. Go for it!
The old bulb was removed, ballast plugged into where it went, new power wires from ballasts attach to new HID bulbs and the bulbs slide in where the halogens once were. Easiest and most rewarding install ever. Love the light output as well as the look.
If you have working opposable thumbs, then you can definitely tackle this install in 30 minutes or less without even really disassembling anything. Go for it!
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If you're wanting to skip aftermarket HID kits and get some replacement high output H7's that are actually brighter and last as long as the stock bulbs check into these. These are a 65 watt H9 bulb retrofitted to a H7 base. You won't find these at Autozone and they aren't technically DOT legal. They work well in oem projector housings with a cutoff because you won't blind oncoming traffic, but you do get a nice bump in light output. Don't bother wasting money on expensive H7 55w bulbs that are barely brighter than oem and last half as long.
Osram Rallye 65w Ultra High Output H7 Special-Service Bulb
Osram Rallye 65w Ultra High Output H7 Special-Service Bulb
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Do the new skyactve models use different bulb than reg. 3's? I always thought they used H11 for low?
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