My wife has a 2016 Mazda 3 S Grand Touring, and it has the fiddly headlights that look around the corners when you steer. That part is fine, but we have two problems with these headlights:

1) On low beam, these lights are fine, but on high beam, they are terrible. The low beam has a hard line across where it's totally black above the line and lit below it, and high beam does the same thing, but just adds a few degrees of height. We live in a rural area, and these lights are just not sufficient (already hit a deer, $3500 in damage), and they give off far less light than the standard halogens in our other cars.

2) There's no way to adjust the high beam independently of the low beam, so I can't even raise them without blinding oncoming traffic (not an option).


Does anyone know what my options are? Are there brighter bulbs for the high beams? Can I swap out the housings for something else? I think I'd rather have more light than having them linked to the steering.

 

We also have a 2016 Mazda3 s GT, a few comments:

• The Xenon headlights on our cars actually put out considerably more light than standard halogen bulbs, hence the need for the razor sharp cut off to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.
• Our 2009 Mazda3 i had halogen projector lamps and they also had the lens which had a sharp cutoff to the beam (just nowhere near as much light).
• We also live in a (hilly) rural area and have no such an issue with the high beams; I suggest you get them checked at your dealership.
• As for replacing the bulbs or housings, sorry, I don't believe either course of action is feasible.

 

How about fitting a LED light bar, wired up to the Highbeam?

 

Yes, the actual light is fine and quite bright, and I think that increased brightness might actually be part of the problem. Not sure if I can explain this in a way that makes sense, but I think it's a similar effect to walking indoors on a sunny day and not being able to see very well for the first few minutes. One's eyes adjust to the sunlight, so the indoors room seems much darker.

I think our eyes being trained on the brighter section of road make the unlit area seem even darker than it is. The area above that cutoff line seems pitch black. I don't mind the cutoff line on low beam, where it's needed, but I'd rather have a less bright light than no light at all above it.

Also, I'm a bit spoiled by my '06 Mini, which I've equipped with the 65w Osram H7 bulbs. At 2100 lumens they provide quite a lot of light. You just have to be vigilant about dimming for oncoming traffic. But you get to see the glowing deer eyes glowering at you from very far off.

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I think that may be the only feasible (and cost-effective) option. I actually might try to do something where he fog lights are, since they don't seem to really do anything at all. I could wire a separate relay from the alternator to the relay, and use the highbeam wiring to trigger that relay. Then I don't have to worry about cooking the stock wiring.

Thanks!

 

Oh and sweet F4U avatar there, shipo. One of my fav WWII aircraft. Had models of them hanging from the ceiling when I was a kid.

 

Have a 2016 3 sGT and a 2013 Miata GT with HID in an option. Best lights we've ever had on any car.

Think you can get LED ones online, but I think you cannot just change the bulb. You have to change the whole assembly.

Ralph