[CL9] To anyone who has HIDs on their CL9

[curtis265]

i like how that skoda auto washes ... the only purpose of these auto washers are to cool the headlight covers to minimize heat exposure caused by the HID globe temps.

good info here guys

not quite buddy, they run much cooler

dirty headlamp covers cause glare hence the need to wash them

Physical examination speaks for itself

blablalablabla -snip-

HID lights are available in different color temperatures, ranging from 4300K to 30000K. The lower the temperature, the whiter and brighter the light, the higher the temperature, the more blue or purple and dimmer the light. 4300K are the color temperature of OEM bulbs. Over time as they age, their color will shift to closer to 6000K

I chose 6000K as a good compromise of brightness and color. It is a bright white blue color (similar to the color of the car!). It is quite a bit different from the Sylvania bulbs that come with the car.



One of the concerns that I had was that the new bulbs might generate too much heat and deform the headlight housing. So I ran a test in which I let the headlights run for 1 hour, and then took their temperature with an IR thermometer. To my pleasant surprise, the headlights were actually running 5 degrees cooler with the new bulbs.




How do they perform? Very well, the Civic headlight reflector design seems to be able to handle the new bulbs with little to no glare, or other undesirable effects. I have had no one flash their lights at me, and have actually driven in front of the Civic with one of the my other cars to see how it looks from a rear-view mirror. The lights top-cutoff is very good, and the effect is no different from any other car with Xenon lights.

All-in-all, this was a well spent. I recommend it.

UPDATE
In the 9 months since I installed these HID lamps, they have worked flawlessly with no problems whatsoever. I have yet to have any other driver complain about excessive glare from them, and their ability to light the roadway is on a par with the Bi-Xenons in my other vehicles.

While a projector retrofit will give you the best light focus and cutoff, a good projector retrofit can cost upwards of $1000. This HID retrofit is probably 90% as good as the Projector retrofit, but costs only 10% to 15% of it. After using this HID retrofit for the past 9 months, I have to say that it is a great value.

2009 UPDATE
Since I last updated this DIY, the HID kit continues to work flawlessly. I have had absolutely no problems, and for the money spent, this continues to be a great value.

[thezaza101]

Sorry it took soo long, been really buys over the last few days, anyway what can you guys tell me from these terrible quality pictures. The lights look a lot brighter in the pictures because of my bad camera phone but they are a lot softer then they look in real life.