Everywhere I read, it seems that it's tough to do the conversion and there aren't any kits. Is that right?

I'm definitely getting sleek lights, 'cause I ripped my popups out when I took the engine out. Now it's just a question of getting HIDs a la Audi...and I REALLY want 'em.

Any thoughts y'all ?

-E

 

are the c-west cf lights hid?

 

no...but you can make them HID using an HID kit for the type of bulbs that are in the C-West headlights.

Mazdaspeed is supposedly coming out with HID sleek lights. look around on this forum...there are pics somewhere. they look kinda funny, IMO. not direct fit into the stock headlight area. you gotta cut a lot of the stock or any aftermarket front bumper to get them to fit.

 

Wait...I thought you couldn't get a HID kit for the C-West conversion.

Or if you can, I thought it didn't mesh with the reflectors so the beam pattern was all screwy.

Does the C-West conversion kit fit well?

-E

 

the C-West is almost a direct fit. contact jimlab on this...he'll tell you how to what is involved in the install.

 

The C-West kit fits well, but has a plastic cover which may fog and/or scratch. The lights in the kit, however, are CATZ XLO and MSC driving lights, not true low or high beams, and definitely not with replaceable bulbs, to my knowledge. However, a foglight-style mounted HID kit might fit the C-West pod, but I don't have any advice to give you on where to look.

I have had the RE Amemiya kit, the C-West kit, and just recently ordered the East Bear kit (do a search, there's an ongoing thread right now) and a set of Hella true DOT low and high beam (90mm) lights with H9 bulbs. The next step is to find an H9 HID replacement seutp (Philips doesn't apparently make one) or to swap out the low beams and replace them with a 90mm housing HID kit from someone else.

Still looking, but the Hella lights (again, check the thread for details) will be a vast improvement of the spotlight-style unfocused beam of the lights which come with the RE and East Bear kits, or the slightly more focused but still less than ideal spread and pattern of the CATZ lights included with the C-West kit.

I haven't seen any details on the lights used in the Mazdaspeed kit, but it does appear from the pictures that I've seen that it (like the R*Magic kit) requires a front bumper to accomodate the extended lighting pod. I'm sure this was done to eliminate a bulge above the hoodline of the car, which the East Bear and C-West kits have. The RE kit sits flush, but at the expense of masking part of the output of the lights.

 

I bought a pair of Raybrig HID fog lamps a while ago, before I got my FMIC. They won't fit with the FMIC in, but I think they'll fit in the C-West headlight kit, in place of the Catz main lamps. They're about 4" in diameter which, from my eyeballing of the Catz lights in the C-West kit, looks about right. The HID lampos cost me around $700 though!

 

sorry to tell you this but I just went to the Tokyo Auto Salon and the R-spec headlights are not on the car anymore, seems like they decided not to continue with that product.

David

 

Jim, how does this affect switching from low to high beams? I mean, what's the downside to this? Would I not "really" have high beams then?

Is there anyway to ventilate the C-West covers?

I'm sure there are means to give a protective coating regarding the scratches, but the fogging up is an issue.

-E

p.s. Maybe the fogging up is worse depending on your locale. You see a lot of rain I'm guessing? Don't know for sure...just speculating. Since I'm in a dry climate maybe it wouldn't be as bad.

 

They're just fog-lamp style driving lights, not headlights. They have relatively uncontrolled and unfocused beams. You'll make "light", but not necessarily in the right place, and you'll probably **** off oncoming traffic, even with the "low" beams.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Likely not, but it's still something to watch out for. At least with the C-West you can remove the cover and wipe it out fairly easily. The RE kit would require removing the wheel well liners to get to the one hidden fastener in order to remove the pod.

 

Try a coat of Fog-X it can work wonders.

 

So I ain't gettin' Audi-caliber HIDs then. How bad are they??

You've obviously had most of the aftermarket sets out there.

What's my best bet (in your opinion of course ) on getting the best light pattern I can get...and with a good looking kit if possible? Since HIDs seem to only come with the stock lights and the C-West, I may bypass that option, although I hate to do it.

-Eric

BTW, thanks for the help.

 

Doing what I'm doing... starting with the East Bear kit (~$600) and adding the Hella DOT 90mm high and low beam projectors in place of the stock lights (~$240). That's about $300 cheaper than the best price on the C-West light kit, and about $650 cheaper than the RE Amemiya light kit, and you'll have better lighting than either with better looks. In my opinion.

 

Cool. Thanks for the op.

Oh, one more thing...maybe I'm not understanding the difference between Xenon's and HIDs, but I can put Xenon's in the East Bear kit. Can I put them in the C-West kit also?

I haven't yet figured out whether I really like the light covers up front or not.

-E

 

The C-West kit works only with the CATZ lights it comes with. If you wanted to change lights, you'd have to modify the pod and the covers.

 

Xenon is an inert gas which is common (actually, basically universal) in High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights. HID lamp systems are just that - a system. This consists of special bulbs that do not use a filament like traditional bulbs and a ballast, which controls the high voltage needed for the HID bulbs.

The confusion comes about when unscrupulous (sp?) 'traditional' bulb manufacturers inject Xenon gas into their bulbs, and lable it Xenon. Legally they can do so (as that it does have Xenon gas), but these bulbs do not have the efficiency advantages of true Xenon HID lamps systems.

There are H3 (majority of fog lamps' bulbs) true HID conversion kits,but they are hard to find - and more then likely do not position the bulb correctly. Keep in mind that a lamp assembly is designed for a bulb to be in a specific position relative to the reflector assembly for it to output light correctly - the beam pattern. The H3 bulb is extremely small and the D2x HID bulb is much longer making the conversion difficult.

Even if you were to position the HID bulb correctly in the H3 lamp assembly, more then likely you have been working with a lamp assembly designed for fog/auxilary light applications and you still would not have an ideal beam pattern.

I took some pics comparing the bulbs of my HID driving lamp set (that I sold to A-Spec) with H3 bulbs last year, but the pics were lost when Photopoint ditched town.

Hope that helps!

 

So, basically, regardless of what I do, I'm not gonna end up with HIDs (Phillips Xenons) that look worth a damn in my housings anyway.

I might as well go with whatever looks best then. How 'bout them RUN Racing sets?

 

Ok now I want to know where I can get these c-west headlights. I'm trying to surprise my boyfriend with them and I can't seem to find them anywhere. Are they good headlights.

 

They've been discontinued, unfortunately.

 

I am going to go with either the Cwest kit or maybe rotary extremes new kit. Any opinions

Mike

 

If you definely want the sleek headlight kit, the east bear might be the best. All the other aren't at a correct angle to make a good beam pattern on the road. They are cutoff by the bumper or something else. The best bet for lighting wise is to get the Hella H4 conversion or Rabring or CBs or wahtever. Those things make a good beam pattern and greatly improve lighting. I'm going to experiment and put an H4 HID kit in my Hella H4 conversion. I know i know, i've heard the argument of putting HID in a non HID housing. But my belief is that the euro Hella H4 kit is excellent with it's very sharp cutoff (doesn't blind traffic) and it's great beam pattern

danny

 

You can get the details and pictures of the RotaryExtreme kit here: http://www.rotaryextreme.com/sleeklight.html

BTW: they offer HID options for both low and high beams.

k

 

Try www.rotaryextreme.com
They have sample of the projection as well.

 

Jim,

Off the topic, what are your thoughts to using correct LHD ecode lights in the stock housing. Same OEM look, not too expensive, and better performance. I believe the OEM size is pretty standard. Combine that with good bulbs and you would have a less expensive proposition. Thoughts?

 

Pretty1.8T...audi or vw?

edit: nevermind, checked your profile...