Nailed for HID's?

[Zotaga]

Has anyone been nailed this year for having HID's and if so, where and what were you running? :bang

[jeffjones]

I think anything under 8000k you will almost never even get a second look if they are aimed properly.


Once you get into the colored lights, that swhen police might start hassling you.

(I have ran HID's in all my vehicles for the last 8 years and never once been asked about them)

[Zotaga]

Mazda's have projection lights though so even if it's over 8000k, we're probably alright.. right?


I think anything under 8000k you will almost never even get a second look if they are aimed properly.


Once you get into the colored lights, that swhen police might start hassling you.

(I have ran HID's in all my vehicles for the last 8 years and never once been asked about them)

[Mr Wilson]

It's the colour that becomes the issue. Not the cut off.

[jeffjones]

It's the colour that becomes the issue. Not the cut off.

+1

If your driving around with purple or extremly blue lights your going to get noticed and most likely for the wrong reason.
Also, once you get past a certain Kelvin your light output decreases drastically.

[jeffjones]

Anything over 8000K will most likely put out less usable light then your stock headlights.

[Zotaga]

I've ran both 6000K and 12000K but haven't noticed a different in the light output.. seems the same to me..


Anything over 8000K will most likely put out less usable light then your stock headlights.

[bluey83]

The 'K' value is the colour, has nothing to do with the light output (strength wise). Your best bet is to run between 4500K and 8000K where it's between white and light blue. I've been pulled over running 3000K which is yellow. A buddy of mine has been pulled over for 12000K which is an extreme blue. The higher K you go the dimmer the light output as well.


I've ran both 6000K and 12000K but haven't noticed a different in the light output.. seems the same to me..

[XTOTHEL]

I hate it when I see a old school van, civic, golf, corolla, etc with improper HIDs. Yes you can see the road better now, but incoming traffic can't see anything now.

Edit: FYI, the K is for Kelvin, a temperature scale. We're using the Kelvin colour temperature scale here. Refers to the colour an ideal black body glows when reached to that temperature.

[jeffjones]

I've ran both 6000K and 12000K but haven't noticed a different in the light output.. seems the same to me..

Depending on where you got them, there might not have been much of a difference, Some chinese companies use the same bulb and just label it differently. Could be that 6-8K are the same bulb and 10-12K are the same bulb, so you were really only going on K rating up and thats why you didn't notice the difference.
Because there is a huge difference between 6000 and 12000K.


The 'K' value is the colour, has nothing to do with the light output (strength wise)....... The higher K you go the dimmer the light output as well.

Little bit of contradction there lol.

Yes the Kelvin rating is the color temperature, The peak useable light is 4300K, the farther you go away from that in either direction the les useable light will be produced.

[DDUKI]

I hate it when I see a old school van, civic, golf, corolla, etc with improper HIDs. Yes you can see the road better now, but incoming traffic can't see anything now.

+1... sometimes I go behind them and put high-beam on.

[hex]

I remember reading somewhere that eye fatigue comes into play as well, when the temperature goes up.

[Aitch]

The 'K' value is the colour, has nothing to do with the light output (strength wise). Your best bet is to run between 4500K and 8000K where it's between white and light blue. I've been pulled over running 3000K which is yellow. A buddy of mine has been pulled over for 12000K which is an extreme blue. The higher K you go the dimmer the light output as well.

The "K" value does affect light output, on either side of the 4300K mark light output decreases. This is due both to the decreasing intensity of light at the higher wavelengths (blue and purple) and the fact that all the bulbs are actually 4300K with different coatings to restrict the wavelengths that they are emitting.

[Aitch]

Mazda's have projection lights though so even if it's over 8000k, we're probably alright.. right?

Technically, HID in even OEM projector housings are illegal. However the increase in glare in such installations isn't horrible like reflector housings, and as you said under 8K it appears reasonably OEM.

[Punkrockjohn]

I got nailed twice with 3k's which are basically yellow

[sp3GT]

^You are referring to having 3k yellow in your headlights right?

For best colour and output, I'd say go with 5000k.

[sudz]

Ive had 4300k bulbs for 5 years now. They are very similar color to the silverstar ultras, but sibjectively twice as bright. Note: hids do fade signifcantly over years. I had one blow out a few months ago and replaced it. The difference was Amazing so I replaced the other. Lol

[schmat66]

i had 3000k for 2 years with no problems at all

[Reddie1337]

Technically, HID in even OEM projector housings are illegal. However the increase in glare in such installations isn't horrible like reflector housings, and as you said under 8K it appears reasonably OEM.

I was under the impression the law was it's legal in a projection lens, I assume because of the cut off of light output, and without projection is illegal?

[Aitch]

I was under the impression the law was it's legal in a projection lens, I assume because of the cut off of light output, and without projection is illegal?

We had this discussion a few weeks back (http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?72615-Got-two-tickets-need-help/page4) - although there was significant debate between a few members I *think* the general consensus is that the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) allows officers to ticket you for HIDs in both reflector and projector housings as contrary to this point:


(b) have been modified by the attachment to the lamps or the motor vehicle of any device that reduces the effective area of the lenses or the intensity of the beam of the lamps. 2002, c. 18, Sched. P, s. 19 (1).

This is ambiguous but implies that HID bulbs can be considered illegal in non-OEM installations - even though they are brighter sources the positioning of the source isn't the same as a halogen bulb and thus the intensity may be reduced. There is disagreement about whether this ambiguity means HIDs aren't actually illegal or if it is implicit that they are. Really it means that an officer can ticket you and it's up to you to prove in court that he/she was wrong.

[CH0SiiN1]

I run 10000k with no issues, drive by cop shop twice a day, everyday.. it really boils down to if the officer is pms'n or hero mode. 10000k has a huge difference between a mirrored headlight and a projection lens..

[sp3GT]

Don't quote me on this but in general I'd say you're pretty safe with putting 4300k - 8000k HID's in the MZ3.
Even though the projector lens give off a slight glare, you're already 100 times better than all those cars/vans/trucks with reflective housing that truly do blind people.

[soccerboy1491]

8k headlights and cops never say a thing about them. My blue fogs however (not sure of the k as I got them off a site that just said blue) I hAve gotten a $110 ticket in peel but York and Toronto cops don't even look twice when I pass them

[prolifik]

ive had 3000k for the better part of a year and pureyellow ebay drl/highbeams and never got pulled over here.

[standsideways]

I was under the impression the law was it's legal in a projection lens, I assume because of the cut off of light output, and without projection is illegal?

the projection lens/headlamp housing has to be originally designed for HID usage and not halogen.

some older luxury cars even had reflector style headlamps designed for HID's

[Lumberjack]

The reason is because the reflector is designed different for HID's as they use an arc between electrodes where a halogen bulb uses a filament.


the projection lens/headlamp housing has to be originally designed for HID usage and not halogen.

some older luxury cars even had reflector style headlamps designed for HID's

[Captain Mazda]

I've been told 6500K will give you a nice bluish tint with great visibility.

[Dynames]

6000k is what you are referring to as there isn't a 6500. A good 6000k will be pretty white with little blue if any at all.


I've been told 6500K will give you a nice bluish tint with great visibility.

[The Wolf]

Technically any modification to the lighting system from stock could be considered illegal. Your lights were designed to work a certain way with a certain bulb and straying from that is against the law ( I believe the HTA confirms that by forbidding ANY modifications to the system).

that being said, I truly consider my 5k HIDs a safety device and would not go back to halogen. Also wouldn't go high k because that defeats all of the purpose and looks like poo