raxiom smoked headlights

Raxiom Smoked Projector Headlights Review (2010-2012 Mustang)

Aesthetics

The styling of the Raxiom smoked projector headlights is phenomenal. With a black housing and smoked lens they make the front end of the Mustang look far more aggressive and stealthy. The quality is adequate for an aftermarket part.

Performance

In terms of lighting, the headlights come with stock halogen bulbs which, when coupled with the smoked lens, makes for fairly dim headlights; much dimmer than stock. Because of this I bought an HID kit separately from DDM Tuning. If you would like to do the same simply make sure that the bulbs are H9’s and 35 watts. OEM HIDs are typically 4300K, this color is the closest the pure white. The higher up you go in the Kelvin range the bluer the lights will be and the lower you go the yellower they will be.  But even with these HIDs the lights are not much brighter than the stock halogens and there is no need to worry about the housings melting so long as the bulbs are 35W. Additionally, because the bulbs are closer to the center of the car than on the stock headlights (where they were on the outside), the width of coverage is a bit less. This is noticeable when driving around a blind corner or a corner with no street lights. Lastly, the high beams do work but only the shutter of the projector opens fully, altering the beam pattern and scattering the light more; they do not get brighter.

Installation

Installation is not too difficult and little to no prior knowledge is needed. The Mustang will need to be lifted in order to remove the front bumper. Either jack stands or ramps will suffice. Without proper tools and a basic set of hand wrenches it took about 7 hours from start to finish but with the correct tools it should take about a whole afternoon. Furthermore, the lights did need to be adjusted up. From the factory the bulbs were pointed almost all the way down.

Negative(s)

The halo and accent LEDs, which add a brilliant touch of elegance and stealthiness, are only designed to turn on with the parking lights or when the headlights are on, they do not act as daytime running lights (DRLs). In order to get around this, the red power wire for the accent lights from the left headlight was connected to the red power wire from the right headlight using extra wire. This was then ran to fuse 39 in the fuse box. With this modification made, when the ignition is turned on the halos and accent LEDs turn on, just like with the OEM fog lights.

Installation Guide: v6mustangperformance.com/modifications…
Bumper Removal Guide: v6mustangperformance.com/tips…
Rewiring Guide: http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums…
Fuse and Relay Information (PDF): http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=710&viewfile=011%20-%20Fuse%20and%20Relay%20Information.pdf

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