What Did You Do With Your Kizashi Today?

[SamirD]

Long time since I've updated (and I still need to read the thread to catch up on others' activities).

Switched to the winter set of tires, reset the tpms for the winter set, checked brake pads and body for rust spots and treated them with pbblaster, discovered oil was a bit low and filled it with some mobil1. Took it for a spin and aired up the tires again since they lost the normal 1psi per month while in storage.

Whew! I'm pooped!

[bootymac]

Removed the bumper and headlights just to replace the halogen parking lights with LEDs.

RHS headlight has a Phillips Blue Vision bulb which is supposedly 4000K but they are much yellower than my 4300K HIDs. The LHS has a 6000K LED that I had laying around. It's a bit bluer than my HIDs but they're a better match than halogen bulbs.

These are the LEDs: http://m.dx.com/p/yrxt10-2w-200-lumen-6 ... -12v-80817

[KuroNekko]

Removed the bumper and headlights just to replace the halogen parking lights with LEDs.

RHS headlight has a Phillips Blue Vision bulb which is supposedly 4000K but they are much yellower than my 4300K HIDs. The LHS has a 6000K LED that I had laying around. It's a bit bluer than my HIDs but they're a better match than halogen bulbs.

These are the LEDs: http://m.dx.com/p/yrxt10-2w-200-lumen-6 ... -12v-80817

Looks good. I did this a while ago and though it's a pain to get to, swapping out the position bulbs with LEDs to match the color of the HIDs is worth it. I'm currently in Japan so I'll be on the prowl for some more LED bulbs for the Kizashi. I got my PIAA LED position bulbs in Japan the last time I was here.

[bootymac]

Thanks! In hindsight, the parking lights are pretty useless especially when we have DRLs. I should have just unplugged them!

[KuroNekko]

Thanks! In hindsight, the parking lights are pretty useless especially when we have DRLs. I should have just unplugged them!

Yeah, these position bulbs are really designed around the JDM. In Japan, they are used often because people turn off their headlights when stopped at an intersection. The position bulbs are then used to mark the car's position, but without the use of the bright headlights. The JDM does not have DRLs by law so position bulbs actually can serve a stand-alone purpose.

DRLs indeed make position bulbs rather useless because the DRLs are on whenever the engine is on and the handbrake is down.
For North American drivers, the position bulbs are only useful when parked with the engine off. I use them when getting gas at night or when I'm parked but inside my car and waiting.

[bootymac]

My Kizashi has pink eye. One of the HIDs is now pink. I knew I was getting a "lower quality" kit but with lifetime warranty, who cares. Replacement bulb is already en route

[KuroNekko]

Has it been cycling (basically, flickering) before or since?

[bootymac]

Has it been cycling (basically, flickering) before or since?

Not yet, but I expect it to soon

[bootymac]

Replacement HID bulbs arrived today. The vendor was nice enough to send two bulbs even though only one was faulty.

I was almost able to replace the bulb from the engine bay but ran into issues with the retaining clip, so the bumper had to come off again. An impact driver makes life a lot easier though.

Anyway, the bulbs now match. I'm hoping this is a one off failure as the original bulb only lasted one year of minimal use (<5000km)...

[golftango]

I washed the engine bay and undercarriage. Some of the paintwork needed to be buffed, specifically the hood, driver side and trunk lid, luckily the roof and pass side was in good nick. I did a orange pad and some medium cut polish, proceeded by a light cut polish/seal and finished with a best In show carnauba wax. Detailed the wheel wells, door jambs and wheels. Ready for the winter.