FTO AUSTRALIA

ANBU_fto wrote:how much again.....
lol

check your PM

tangcla wrote:...can be moved onto your next car...

provided that the headlights on your next car uses HB4 as well...

GPXXX wrote:provided that the headlights on your next car uses HB4 as well...

or you can buy replacement globes off me...

and take another ten years

ANBU and HiRAEdd: your kits are here! Contact me to arrange something

I got my HID's fitted today.
I have mixed emotions.
As has been pointed out on these forums, they are incredibly bright. But it's not so much the brightness but the amount of usable light they project. It's quite literally a different driving experience, which I know sounds weird, but trust me on this
On the flip side, as has been pointed out on these forums also, retro fitting something like this can change the way your car behaves. In this case, the way the car projects light. I haven't seen the car from a distance yet, but in a 5 minute drive, I had one car turn their high beams on me. I dare say that's going to happen some more. I'm going to try and point the beams down slightly, if I can find a screw driver small enough to get down to the adjustment screw, and hope that rectifies most of the problems. I should add, the light doesn't seem to be reflecting any differently to normal bulbs, it's just that it's brighter. The cut off point is quite well defined hence why I'm hoping lowering the beams will help a lot.
Anyone else with HID's got any feedback to offer?

Thanks for your review Gavin Other FTO owners haven't had the same problem as you have with the beam, try adjusting your headlights and see if that fixes the problem.

I think for regulations, you the beam needs to be +10 degrees and -15 degrees at a certain distance away.

tangcla wrote:I think for regulations, you the beam needs to be +10 degrees and -15 degrees at a certain distance away.

Where would I go to have this professionally checked (and adjusted)?

HiRAEdd wrote:Where would I go to have this professionally checked (and adjusted)?

Go to a workshop or Mitsubishi and see if they'll be nice enough to do it for free. Toyota did that for me for free but I don't know how nice Mitsu dealers are.

tangcla wrote: Go to a workshop or Mitsubishi and see if they'll be nice enough to do it for free. Toyota did that for me for free but I don't know how nice Mitsu dealers are.

Poo! Was quoted $99 for up to an hour (could take less time and less money). But they confirmed they have the special board that they line it up with, etc., etc.
Nihon down the Gold Coast quoted $45 but by the time I pay for fuel to get down there and just the general hassle of getting down there just for my headlights to get realligned all seems to much bother.

HiRAEdd wrote:Poo! Was quoted $99 for up to an hour (could take less time and less money). But they confirmed they have the special board that they line it up with, etc., etc.
Nihon down the Gold Coast quoted $45 but by the time I pay for fuel to get down there and just the general hassle of getting down there just for my headlights to get realligned all seems to much bother.

hmmm... expensive
What to do - call up your traffic authority and ask them what the requirements are for. Then you do it yourself by driving your car towards the wall and stopping at the right distance, and adjusting it yourself


I must say, Toyota service is the best I've seen around.

tangcla wrote:

HiRAEdd wrote:I must say, Toyota service is the best I've seen around.

Yeah but you're car isn't an import is it? Mitsubishi Australia couldn't give a rats cause I didn't buy my car from Mitsu Australia.
They'll do it while I wait and I know the job will be done right so I'm happy to get it done. I mean I've changed the suspension and put new lights on and to top it off I don't know if they were ever right given it's had a front-on crash at some stage in the past plus had non-standard suspension when it was imported. Who knows how far out it is.

hmmm, fair call Gavin. Yeah, import would mean that Mitsubishi won't care much about you, but try to find a dealer that will be nicer. I asked a few dealers to check the lights for me and some charged, whereas the dealer I went back to didn't. (they actually did a lot of testing for me as well and they're great )

Front-on collision will almost definitely get the headlight alignment out of whack if the repairer didn't do a good job. Suspension will also make a difference, especially if the front is higher/lower than the rear in comparison to stock.

Hey Gavin - So I assume you highly recommend getting these as I am still skeptical to say the least essentially due to the projector setup offering little in the way of reflection to brighten the output. Any chance I can have a night viewing at all sometime, please:-) I do most of my driving at night so if they are good enough it would be very advantageous for me to get them. Also how much all up incl fitting to do and who fitted them please?

Thanks, Brad.

Brad - I'd actually say that projector headlights look cleaner than reflectors for HIDs. The light is a lot 'smoother' and a lot less bright spots than in a reflector set up - trust me, I've fitted them in both and yes, projector ones LOOK brighter (ie. more glare) but projector ones are a lot nicer on the road.

Brad,
If I can resolve the paranoia I feel about them blinding other drivers, then yeah, I'd highly recommend them. I'm pretty confident that they aren't properly alligned so fingers crossed.
As for their output. Well, put it this way, when I hopped in the car and turned them on, I thought "Holy crap! They're bright!"
One thing I will say is on a black road, the "bluish" light "looks" like it's not as good as traditional yellow lights. However, you see pretty quick that anything in front of you is plucked out of the darkness. And when you drive beside someone with traditional lights, the difference is massive. I can see a pedestrian walking on the footpath many times further down the road than normal.
As for a night viewing, I can probably do that. Just got to organise a time and place. There's probably quite a few people that would be interested to see them fitted on an FTO.

Just let me know if you can spare a little night time to show them off ok. No great rush as I am going away in a week for about 10 days. So maybe after Xmas or whatever suits you. I can meet on your side of town no probs. Any hassles with install at all? Like mounting ballast etc...?

Well any night from Tuesday is good after I've had them adjusted
Pick a night and I'll post it in the Queensland forum and anyone who's interested can come along. Just got to think of somewhere relatively dark to meet
No hassles with the install AFAIK. The left ballast is mounted on the front of the suspension in the engine bay and the right one is mounted down beside the engine. I should take some photos and put them up on my web site.

OK sounds good. I work til midnight Mon - Fri so I will assume that is too late for you unless you say otherwise:) So given that I would have to say Sat night only but I am not certain I can make it though as I am meant to be going away on Sat! As I said before I am in no hurry so even a look when I return after ~ 10 Dec is cool...

Yeah, I'm in the Land of Nod by midnight
Ok, after the 10th it is. Get back to me with a date either now or when you get back and we'll organise it.