MX-3.com

I am looking to uprate the headlight bulbs.

I have the European lights so already have glass and decent reflectors.

PIAA are now producing 80/80 bulbs that output 130 w of light.

I have used 100w bulbs in an 80w wiring loom in the past with no problems. Has anyone been brave enough to try using the 80w bulbs instead of the 60w bulbs in our Mazda's ?

Electrical systems are normally specced for twice the wattage and a 25% increase is nothing huge.

I have tried the Osram Silverstars, and frankly they are just not as good as the higher wattage bulbs.

If you are worried I will blind people....you will find that is mostly about good headlamp adjustment. Mine are spot on, and I tend to drop a degree or so to be on the safe side.

I'd be careful, the MX wiring is not what I'd call on the safe side to start with. The wiring is likely old (don't know what year car you have). Also the wiring from the NA spec MX-3s and your Euro model could be a different size. You can check the size of the wire and a quick internet search will tell you how many amps it can handle at 12 volts. I cannot remember the formula off hand, but there is a simple mathmatical formula that will allow you to convert amps into watts to tell you if your system can handle it. I'd also make sure you still have some fudge room over what the math sai you can have for the age of the wiring and terminals. I think my MX used 22 or 20 guage wire, which is only good for 7-11 amps. I found the conversion (watt = amp x volt) so that the system can handle 82-132 watts per wire depending on which wire size it uses.