Looking to buy a HID conversion kit...6000k good enough?

[xenonkuraz]

I'm not very familiar with car lights. Everyone seems to be going in the direction of HID these days...a quick few questions to get me going:

1. Are HID lights legal?
2. What is the best colour temperature to get? I've been told 6000k is quite common, but produces a bit of yellow and that 8000k is better.
3. What is the difficulty of installation?

Cheers.

[VTC-8OY]

1. yes and no
2. 8k better (super white light wid a hint of blue..)
3. piss easy, like connecting leggos

4. hope that helps

[SeverAMV]

1. legal if you get the full reflector kit? illegal if you're just fitting it as a replacement for your regulars.

2. after about 4k, tis all white, just a matter of how far you wanna see. note that if you get 8k, people will be blinded and drive right into ye.

3. relatively easy.

[xenonkuraz]

Hrmm...I just bought a top-end (the best you can probably get online) HID conversion kit. Now my question is; 6000k or 8000k? You guys who already have experience in using them...

I don't want to blind anyone! haha...or attract cops either.

[wp89]

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb274/wp89__/P06-08-07_17-24.jpg

my 8000k havnt had any problems with the police...
had 6000k before these.. also did not have any problems

doubt it will matter which one you have... if he wants to pull you over.. he will... they both stand out!

[SeverAMV]

I don't want to blind anyone! haha...or attract cops either.

tooooooooo late, lol. is it the genuine kit for your car? or just globes and hid amp thingy? i think you need reflector thingies made for the HID or else its illegal or something. HID in the factory light enclosures reflect a bit too much and will most likely blind people. that and HID = bright = attract cops anyway.

6000k should be good enough. i've got 4000k xenons and they're already pretty darn illuminating. and mine aren't even HID.

[Shimian]

How can you tell if you need to modify your headlights. This reflector thingy, what is it?

[SeverAMV]

cant remember where, but i remember reading somewhere on these forums that you have to get a new light enclosure for the HID lights (reflector thingy = shiny stuff around your lights that reflects it so that the beam is relatively straight).

im most likely wrong tho. just use the forum search tool and look up HID for other people's threads.

[xenonkuraz]

I didn't get a full genuine kit...I just bought the kit with the 2 globes, ballasts, wiring, etc. I'm still deciding 6000k or 8000k lol.

WP89: did you have to modify your reflectors? Or is that standard. Thanks.

[NeoNode]

I'm not very familiar with car lights. Everyone seems to be going in the direction of HID these days...a quick few questions to get me going:

1. Are HID lights legal?
2. What is the best colour temperature to get? I've been told 6000k is quite common, but produces a bit of yellow and that 8000k is better.
3. What is the difficulty of installation?

Cheers.

1. Legal only if they came standard from the factory (eg. Euro Lux) or an factory option when purchasing the car (eg. BMW/Mercedes)
To be legal, you need HID specific reflectors/projectors, headlight washers, and auto-leveling.

2. 4300k - These are very slightly yellow, and would be optimal.

3. If what I have stated above in Point 1 is the legal requirements for HID on factory cars, then it would be very hard to retrofit for the average person, but for off road use HID kits that you can buy cheaply, then they are very easy to install.

If you don't want to blind or attract the attention of the police, simply don't use them.

There's always an element of risk involved when you do things that are not legal, so it's up to your own discretion wether you want to use them or not.

[mrwillz]

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb274/wp89__/P06-08-07_17-24.jpg

my 8000k havnt had any problems with the police...
had 6000k before these.. also did not have any problems

doubt it will matter which one you have... if he wants to pull you over.. he will... they both stand out!

its ok on dc2
projector ftw
so nice as well
nice cut

[Shimian]

To be legal, you need HID specific reflectors/projectors, headlight washers, and auto-leveling.



How do you know if your car needs this (Civic FD2)? I know Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand stock models have HID. Not sure if their headlights have been modified.

[aaronng]

How do you know if your car needs this (Civic FD2)? I know Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand stock models have HID. Not sure if their headlights have been modified.

To stay legal, you need auto-levellers and headlight washers in Australia. You don't need them in other countries.

The HID-specific headlights are better as they have a better cut-off and will be less likely to blind oncoming drivers. Also, they use D2R and D2S bulbs, which are HID-specific designs. If you buy aftermarket bulbs+ballast for use with your halogen housings, they will be a H-style bulb and the light projection won't be optimum.

If you still want to go HID without the auto-levellers and headlight washers, the next best way is to find out if the Singapore FD2 uses D2S/R bulbs and if they do, to get a set of their headlights to replace your current ones. This way, you will be less likely to blind oncoming traffic.

[NeoNode]

How do you know if your car needs this (Civic FD2)? I know Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand stock models have HID. Not sure if their headlights have been modified.
Simply, your Civic runs on halogen bulbs, thus the reflectors for your headlights are for halogen use only.


To quote Daniel Stern in regards to installing HID's into Halogen specific optics.


If you go and change the light source, you've done the equivalent of putting on somebody else's eyeglasses: You can probably make them fit on your face OK, but you won't see properly.
Source (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html)

[xenonkuraz]

Simply, your Civic runs on halogen bulbs, thus the reflectors for your headlights are for halogen use only.


To quote Daniel Stern in regards to installing HID's into Halogen specific optics.


Source (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html)


Daniel Stern's website was really helpful. I now regret being conned into buying the HID "kit"...oops.

[aaronng]

The worse one I've seen is an Euro with a kit. Two parallel shadows were projected on the ground like 2 sticks pointing forwards, stuck on to the front of the car. :)

[MZ3]

I installed my HID the other day..car as halogen projectors. look like HID projectors.. but car came with halogen. The light seems pretty good.. did around 1~2 nights worth of testing to see if i blind on coming cars etc

WITH HID KIT
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q258/darkauthority/My%20Mazda%203/DSCF1198.jpg
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q258/darkauthority/My%20Mazda%203/DSCF1200.jpg

LIGHT CUTOFF WITH HID KIT (i have since levelled it to match the halogens)
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q258/darkauthority/My%20Mazda%203/DSCF1195.jpg

Standard Halogen Bulbs with Phillips Diamond Vision
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q258/darkauthority/My%20Mazda%203/DSCF1036.jpg

In the pics.. it looks like the halogens are brighter.. thats probably just my camera... the HID's produce soo much more light. They're currently 6000K.. might put in 8000K