Bulbs

[DreadAngel]

Yo guys,

Tell us the diff btw:

- Normal Lights (Are Halogen normal or no?)
- HID (Is Xenon part of HID?)

Also could you tell us on older cars if you need conversion kits and stuff?

Thanks

DA

[Fr3aKi3]

Normal bulbs are halogen

Xenon is the gas that is used in HID bulbs.

Have a read here (http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2080&start=0) (need to register but it's free), it has a very detailed explaination of HID's.

Majority of older cars will have halogen headlights. If you want's HID's you'll have to get a kit. A point to keep in mind is that most kits will only provide you with the bulb, wiring harness and ballast and NOT the projector.

IMO HID's work best with proper projectors. HID's (at the correct ratings) will no doubt provide much more visible when used with normal headlights (reflectors) instead of projectors, the only problem is you'll pretty much be blinding everyone else on the road. If a car that has projector HID's (S2000, Euro Lux, JDM DC2R) is parked near a wall and the light is sone directly on it, you'll notice that the light doesn't fade off. It somewhat just cuts off (hence the term cut-off), you'll also notice that it's not alligned. One side is slightly lower than the other, this is to prevent the lights glaring into other drivers.

HID Cut-off (http://wagdaddy_1.tripod.com/images/HID/DSC00010.jpg)

That picture is off a US car, which is why the left side is lower than the right. It's the other way around here in Aus.

[Xplodin]

well well i think u've asked the right person for this question.

There are a few type of blubs out on the market these days and it makes it a bit harder for people who dont know whats what.

For starters, Normal lights we'll refer to them as Haloges, and HID's as HID's.

The main and noticable difference between Halogens and HID's is the Glow that the light gives. Ever notice when driving you see that car driving on the other side has a much brighter, Whiter and most commonly appears like they've got their highbeams on? Well Thats HID's. HID's stands for High Intesity Discharge.

The light that is dischared from a Halogen bulb is much more yellower than HID's. Yeah sure you can get like blue and white blubs, But they are only tinted glass. The Fillament is still halogen. How light is emmited from halogen blubs is by passing a electricity through a thin wire (Tungsten) and by doing this, the wire gives resistance and hence glows and gives off heat. This is where HID's differ, HID's dont use a wire but uses a gas (xenon). The electricity moves past the two electrodes and excites the gases, which in turn gives off light. However, in order to excite the gas, a higher voltage is required which is why you need a ballast to use HID's. Ballast creates high voltage (2400V Im pretty sure) and then passes that through the gas. HID's gives off a more Bluer/whiter glow on the road. The colour of the light is measured by Kelvins or K. The lower the number (ie4300K) the more yellow its going to be the more higher (ie 8000K) the more bluer/purple the light is. But when using HID's you must select the right range of lighting for best preformance, generaly this is 4300K - 6000K any more than that your losing your visablity at night.

Another thing to note, is that HID's are NOT ADR aproved, unless you have Headlight washers, and an auto leveling system. In other words Unless you got them OEM with your car, then they are illegal!

I hope that helps you.

[DreadAngel]

Thanks guys, that actually does clear up a lot of things. I'm confused when you go to the stores and they have things like HID H4 then they have something thats described as 'Like HID but you don't need to convert'. Is that the tinted glass your talking about?

Man, that really sucks, how come we can convert them on the old cars? Isn't it safer to have HID than the normal Halogen? Bastards!

[Fr3aKi3]

Most of the time when you see something that says "Like HID" or "HID xxxxk" (but the packaging looks sus... then chances are it's just normal halogens but with a higher kelvin rating (the higher the rating the more it goes from yellow to blue to purple).

Have a look in this thread (http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40272&page=1&highlight=light+bulbs) for a proper way of installing HID's onto a car that has halogen's as standard. Although it's not ADR approved so you'll be taking your chances if you do a retrofit, but it's far better than getting a HID kit and using it in your standard headlight housing without projectors.

HID's aren't always safer, HID kits without projectors are particularly annoying. Have you ever driven on the road, at night with a 4wd or van behind you? Does it shine up your whole car, and glare from the rear and side view mirrors? Imagine that but much worse... much brighter, much more glare. I was driving home from work the other day and saw a wrx which was following a van, it was a white van but if you were in the wrx you'd think it was a blue van because it was probably a HID kit rated at 7300+k.

Having HID's that are rated too high are not only bad for other drivers but also for you. Apparently your eyes strain to pick up things on the road which are lit up (by poor lighting), whereas it'd be less stressful on the eye with halogens or HID's with a proper rating. My personal preferrence for HID's would be 43-5500k, simple because the output is still white and doesn't have much of a blue or purple colour (the colouring mean's there's less light output and you'll be seeing less!).