The HID Kit is in!

Spent the whole evening on Saturday at Lai's shop. The HID kit dealer brought my set and proceeded to install the unit. It took the guy a whole two hours to install it. Firstly, the guy needed to use the mounting from the existing halogen bulbs. As the kit does not come in H4, he had to extract the existing mounting to install it on my Mazda.

Actually seeing the guy work, it should have taken him less than two hours, but because of the modification to the bulbs, it took him a little longer. He also glued the ballast shut to prevent any water from entering the units. There was a problem putting in the left side due to the obstruction from my air filter. Well, thankfully Lai was there and he made a bracket to mount the ballast next to my car battery.

The moment he asked me to switch the lights on, it was like hitting the magic button. The lights started off blue, then to white. They are so bright, it lights up even in daylight! I must say, I have tried to use different halogen bulbs and different wirings but nothing has ever succeeded in brigthening my headlights. At first I thought it was because of the small headlights on my Mazda. After installing the Xenon bulbs, how wrong I was. The headlights were perfect. It's just that the halogen bulbs do not cut it.

I had a little problem adjust the bulbs on the first day. It was either too high or too low. But just finished fiddling with the height adjustment and I think I should've gotten the right setting. I had someone putting on their high beam towards me. Guess it was a little too high, cause even the balcony on some houses were lighting up.

Now the headlights are so bright, they have made my foglights a little useless. Previously I had the Hella foglights installed onto each side of the front bumper. They were really useful when I was using the halogen bulbs. Now, the Xenon lights really overlaps the foglights. I still don't understand why some people drive with their foglights on when they are using Xenon headlights. Are they still not bright enough?

My HID Kit 2 

My HID Kit 1 

Bright lights, white lights 


Sigh, how can you not have Xenon lights on your car? It should be a factory-fitted as a standard accessory. Them beautiful white lights...

Bright idea, bright lights...

You know, I've almost come to the end of my break. I've still got another 4 days more before I go back to the working world. Had a week to refresh myself by leaving KL for a few days. But you know how they say that an idle mind is a devil's playground?

I went to Damansara Uptown to apply for my season parking. Since I'll be based here, I would prefer to park in the underground parking right below my office. In case it rains, I'll still be able to get out. Plus, my car was repainted last year so I'd rather not leave it under the hot sun. After that, thought I'd stop by S.E.A. Park to pick up some aquarium supplies for my arowana.

Also managed to meet up with Jonathan since he stays around that area. While we were having coffee in SS2, his friend Chee called up. Says he's got some funny sound coming from his exhaust on his Proton Waja. He came over and asked if I knew any good exhaust specialist. Now, it's been a while since I've been to Mr. Lai's exhaust centre. He's located just along the LDP, facing Taman Mayang. Brought Chee to his shop and he had his pipping changed coupled with a stainless steel muffler. Don't ask me to describe the brand as it's probably an immitation of one of the more prominent exhaust brands.

When we got to his shop, I saw his sleek black Honda Jazz parked in the shop. He was just switching on his newly installed Xenon lights a.k.a. HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights. I asked him how much and he said he could get it for RM 1,250 plus installation. Since I was there and I had nothing to do, told him to switch on the lights again while I observed the lighting. It's rated at 5,000K and these HID sets come from Toyota, namely the Harrier. They are OEM units which are made by Phillips. Since the brand was reliable and there's a one year warranty, I told Lai that I wanted a set for my Mazda. He called up his supplier and ordered a set just for me. Was told that the supplier was in Kedah taking down orders and will only be back on Saturday. Sigh, looks like I'll have to wait another 48 hours before I get my set of white lights.

Initially I wanted a set of HID kits rated at 7,500K. These bulbs would light up blue and turn slightly purplish. Sorta like the ones you get while playing Need For Speed Underground 2. But since they come only in 5,000K, heck I'll change the bulbs later on and get the colours that I want. Most important is that I get brighter lighting for my car. I've tried changing various bulbs and even the wires but the lights are still not bright enough. Hence, HID is the only way to go.

I knew that sitting there in the exhaust shop was a bad idea. Buying the HID kit impulsively was the last thing on my mind that day. Hopefully the HID kit from Phillips will put an end to my quest for searching for brighter lights.