FYI: brighter H9 bulbs for fog lights

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bootymac
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Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:04 am

I aimed my fog lights 3-4" higher and what a difference! They're actually useful now. I recommend this before trying H9 bulbs.

No fogs (don't worry about the dark spot, it's the camera being weird):
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Fogs:
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Factory aim:
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Adjusted:
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

Yup, looks like it was the same for your car and for halogens too. I believe Suzuki deliberately aimed them low at the factory. It's annoying that Suzuki aimed the lights of the car more for oncoming traffic than the actual driver. The driver side headlight aim issue and the fog light downward aim issue are stupid moves on Suzuki's part as they compromise the driver's vision, therefore safety.
There is such an astonishing improvement in light performance once you adjust them yourself to what is optimal for the driver.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
bootymac
Posts: 1602
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:04 am

KuroNekko wrote:Yup, looks like it was the same for your car and for halogens too. I believe Suzuki deliberately aimed them low at the factory. It's annoying that Suzuki aimed the lights of the car more for oncoming traffic than the actual driver. The driver side headlight aim issue and the fog light downward aim issue are stupid moves on Suzuki's part as they compromise the driver's vision, therefore safety.
There is such an astonishing improvement in light performance once you adjust them yourself to what is optimal for the driver.
The Japanese are just too damned polite and courteous with everything they do! :lol:
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

bootymac wrote:
KuroNekko wrote:Yup, looks like it was the same for your car and for halogens too. I believe Suzuki deliberately aimed them low at the factory. It's annoying that Suzuki aimed the lights of the car more for oncoming traffic than the actual driver. The driver side headlight aim issue and the fog light downward aim issue are stupid moves on Suzuki's part as they compromise the driver's vision, therefore safety.
There is such an astonishing improvement in light performance once you adjust them yourself to what is optimal for the driver.
The Japanese are just too damned polite and courteous with everything they do! :lol:
I love watching the Japanese talk on the phone. They even bow when talking to the person over the phone.
Heck, the deer there also bow.

[youtube][/youtube]
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
bootymac
Posts: 1602
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:04 am

They weren't that kind when I was in Nara. Buggers kept nipping my pockets thinking I had food. I saw one headbutt a little girl to the ground too :lol:

Still a cool place and I'd love to go back
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

bootymac wrote:They weren't that kind when I was in Nara. Buggers kept nipping my pockets thinking I had food. I saw one headbutt a little girl to the ground too :lol:

Still a cool place and I'd love to go back
Actually, I was kicked by a deer in Nara, but this was about 20 years ago. It wasn't an aggressive kick like it was trying to hurt me though.
Looks like they've learned manners since and now bow to get food. :lol:

Back on topic: My Morimoto HID H11 bulbs arrived. I installed them and took photos and will discuss it further in my fog light thread sometime later. However, I've come to notice that the bulb color is different, much like the last set. These Morimoto bulbs are still better and now the RHS actually outputs light, but I'm thinking the color difference may be due to the ballasts. The RHS and LHS ballasts differ a bit. I'm not sure what the situation was when the previous owner installed them.

When I have more time, I'm going to test my old low beam ballasts and try to use ones that work well.
I don't want to spend more money on these lights so I'm going to try avoid having to get new ballasts from Morimoto. These new H11 bulbs only cost me $20.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

I put in the old ballasts and now the fogs have the same color output. So I'm basically running my old low beam ballasts on the new Morimoto 3Five 3000K HID bulbs.

Here's what the HID set-up looks like as mounted behind the bumper. The bumper actually has a cavity next to the fog light housing that acts as a convenient ballast pocket.
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2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
SamirD
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Lovely light output!
~tc~
Posts: 999
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:33 am
Location: Houston, TX USA

Wow, that's yellow!
2011 Sport SLS with nav Black Pearl Metallic
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

TRS calls it "Golden Yellow". 3000K and 3000 lumens.
The fogs illuminate the immediate front and the sides of the road very well. It's great for dark rainy nights or drives on dark rural roads.
Yellow fogs are popular in the JDM even as factory so the JDM-focused tuning scene in the US also adopted the look. I personally always liked it so was glad when my car had it from the previous owner. That being said, the old bulbs sucked and these Morimotos give off a better color and more usable light.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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