Improving headlamp beam
I live in Spain and recently bought a Spanish Mazda6 turbodiesel LHD, first registered in Feb 2007. I decided to uprate my headlights and low beam lights, as I had done with my previous Xedos. However, I found that the original bulbs were not good enough, so upgraded both of them to H1 55W +120%. The main beam light is OK, but the low beams (dipped as I have always known it) are abysmal when driving in traffic at night – on unlit roads they are just about passable, but not as bright as I had hoped. I trawled the internet and found one article that mentioned the light might not be sufficiently earthed. Is this correct? If that is the case, where is the earth point so I can make sure it is correct?
Second, how can I increase the amount of light on low beam? In both the Spanish and English handbooks it shows two types of bulb for low beam: Halogen 55W and Xenon Fusion 035W. Nowhere in the handbook does it tell me what type of low beam bulb is fitted as standard. Is my problem that I am using H1 halogen and not the Xenon Fusion bulbs? Are Xenon Fusion bulbs interchangeable with Halogen H1s? Maurice Venn The earth for the headlamp bulbs can be easily found by tracing the loom back from the headlamp; the earth connection should be just below the lamp, near to the inner wing.
I would not think this is the problem, though, especially given that your main beam is operating correctly. The data I have from Mazda shows two different headlamp bulbs used in your unit, excluding Xenon HID lamps. They should be either H11, which is a 12V 55W bulb, or HB4, which is a 12V 51W bulb. Both bulbs come complete with a holder and bayonet fixing. However, my data may be inaccurate as the vehicle is registered in Spain.
The Xenon Fusion 035W bulb will not replace the H1 bulb as the Xenon bulb is a discharge component and needs a ballast unit to operate. This would require a conversion kit and, in the UK, you would also need to fit headlamp washers. I am not sure about the Spanish regulations.
Uprated bulbs are available for the H1 and I would recommend trying these. This site http://bit.ly/1trjo20 lists a range of uprated bulbs, although I have not used this service myself, so this is only a suggestion and not a recommendation.