Headlamps with HID
- Thread starter Suki22
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mazda6i07
New member
HID's are where it's at! They are the best headlights with the best visibility, and the "whitest" light. Are they projectors?
imported_FORMULa
New member
I would get them, i got them for my mustang (not projectors) and compared to regular lights, visibility went up greatly. Im happy i got them.
Roishe Cheng
New member
All of my cars have had HIDs. If it didn't have it, I retrofitted TSX projectors into the housings. I cannot drive a car with halogens anymore.
Wolf-Strong
New member
DEFIANTLY go for it! HIDs with projectors make a WORLD of difference in night driving. I will post up some comparisons.
Just a note for everyone, but what he is talking about is that he put HIDs in freeform headlight fixtures vs putting them in a projector housing. While this may or may not be illegal, it is NOT a good idea to put HIDs in free form light housings as it WILL blind oncoming drivers and is even worse than driving with your highbeams on.
Simply put, the difference between projectors and freeform is that a projector housing consists of 3 things; the light source, cutoff, and lens. The light source is put behind a cutoff which is usually just a piece of metal so that the bottom half of the light is COMPLETELY cut off. This is then followed by a lens, which like your eyes, flips the image around so that you essentially got the light being cut off on the top so you won't blind oncoming drivers.
Projector light housings with HIDs light output will look like this:
Freeform lights are done one of two ways: satellite style reflection and literally, freeform depending on the lens used in front of the light. In older style lights, the best way to describe it is to look at a flash light. The bulb is sitting in the bottom of a reflective cone and all the light is just shot out. The 'cutoff' here is usually manipulated by the lens out front with designs cut into it. This is HIGHLY in effective as it will still through a LOT of light out everywhere, and just tries to get as much light as possible down at the bottom. This was good pre-HIDs as it helped give more light at night, but generally bad for oncoming drivers. Now-a-days you won't see this rather satellite style lights. Think of a satellite dish, and now imagine that behind the receive/sender, there is the light bulb which shoots out at the little thing in the center, which is usually metal/plastic shaped to throw most the light toward the bottom. Still not an exact science as light is still reflected all around the dish.
This will be an example of HIDs put on freeform lights:
And to show the difference between freeform and projector lights, here you will see two different headlight housings. The one on the left is a projector style as you can tell by the clear lens in the middle. The one on the right is a freeform light with the lens trying to control the light output instead of a real cutoff.
FORMULa said:
Just a note for everyone, but what he is talking about is that he put HIDs in freeform headlight fixtures vs putting them in a projector housing. While this may or may not be illegal, it is NOT a good idea to put HIDs in free form light housings as it WILL blind oncoming drivers and is even worse than driving with your highbeams on.
Simply put, the difference between projectors and freeform is that a projector housing consists of 3 things; the light source, cutoff, and lens. The light source is put behind a cutoff which is usually just a piece of metal so that the bottom half of the light is COMPLETELY cut off. This is then followed by a lens, which like your eyes, flips the image around so that you essentially got the light being cut off on the top so you won't blind oncoming drivers.
Projector light housings with HIDs light output will look like this:
Freeform lights are done one of two ways: satellite style reflection and literally, freeform depending on the lens used in front of the light. In older style lights, the best way to describe it is to look at a flash light. The bulb is sitting in the bottom of a reflective cone and all the light is just shot out. The 'cutoff' here is usually manipulated by the lens out front with designs cut into it. This is HIGHLY in effective as it will still through a LOT of light out everywhere, and just tries to get as much light as possible down at the bottom. This was good pre-HIDs as it helped give more light at night, but generally bad for oncoming drivers. Now-a-days you won't see this rather satellite style lights. Think of a satellite dish, and now imagine that behind the receive/sender, there is the light bulb which shoots out at the little thing in the center, which is usually metal/plastic shaped to throw most the light toward the bottom. Still not an exact science as light is still reflected all around the dish.
This will be an example of HIDs put on freeform lights:
And to show the difference between freeform and projector lights, here you will see two different headlight housings. The one on the left is a projector style as you can tell by the clear lens in the middle. The one on the right is a freeform light with the lens trying to control the light output instead of a real cutoff.
wolf, i've seen a bunch of cheaper non-projector setups like that. Basically, some cars headlights work better than others. Most do end up throwing light everywhere. The only way to know, unfortunately, is to try, and the vast majority have poor results. Others i have seen end up with a fairly distinct upper cutoff when the headlights are aimed properly. even though the beam isn't perfectly uniform, they were not the menace to society that some make them out to be.
Alternately, for someone not wanting to spend the money to properly convert on the vast majority of cars with reflectors that will throw light everywhere, HIR 9011 and 9012 bulbs are available that are direct replacements for 9005 and 9006. They are a filament bulb design that has double the output of a standard halogen.
Alternately, for someone not wanting to spend the money to properly convert on the vast majority of cars with reflectors that will throw light everywhere, HIR 9011 and 9012 bulbs are available that are direct replacements for 9005 and 9006. They are a filament bulb design that has double the output of a standard halogen.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
The one con that no one mentioned is the fact that on certain cars HID's have become targets for theft. It was so bad around here with the Infiniti's for a while that theives were stealing them in broad daylight in the middle of shopping center parking lots. (that was an issue where the lights fit into a Maxima making them a prime "upgrade")
well technically anything that doesn't come from the factory with them installed is illegal. but as long as you have a good retrofit you should be fine. oh and all you aftermarket guy's, go 4300k on the bulb temp. anything else is screaming for the cops to hassle you, all factory hid's are 4300K.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
reaper34 said:
Is that true?
Roishe Cheng
New member
Setec Astronomy said:
Actually it was the other way around. The 5th Gen Maximas (2002 - 2003) were getting the HIDS stolen like crazy. The 6th gen (2004+) changed the design so it's much harder. It's also pretty difficult to take the HIDS from the G35s.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
Roishe Cheng said:
Yes, you are right...I even started a thread about it myself (almost 4 years ago) when I was considering a new car with HID's:
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-driver/44153-theft-hid-headlights.html ...boy, it sucks getting old
Eisen Hulk
New member
Definitely go with HID. When I got my 99 TL (In October of 1998) it was one of the few cars that had HID, and was one of the main factors of buying the TL.
There is a guy on Ebay who has a HID bulb store, and his prices are great. I've been using him for 4-5 years now. Here is the link. eBay Store - HID CONCEPT: PHILIPS OEM HID, 4300K HID BULBS KITS, Wire connectors
Save that somewhere, because you will need to order bulbs one day.
There is a guy on Ebay who has a HID bulb store, and his prices are great. I've been using him for 4-5 years now. Here is the link. eBay Store - HID CONCEPT: PHILIPS OEM HID, 4300K HID BULBS KITS, Wire connectors
Save that somewhere, because you will need to order bulbs one day.
imported_Denzil
New member
Factory HID kits are fine by me... it's just the aftermarket crowd that doesn't properly retrofit them in their cars is what irritates me. It just gives HIDs a bad wrap when improperly housed HIDs blind oncoming traffic... it's just plain stupid.
Fortunate for me, my R6 produces such a clean cutoff that a retrofit isn't required.
Fortunate for me, my R6 produces such a clean cutoff that a retrofit isn't required.
Eisen Hulk
New member
No problem.
Glad I could help.
Glad I could help.
suki22 said: