Xenon HID Lights?

[bizzy187]

Just orderd some new Head lights for the car


Just wondering if any one else has these lights and if so how do you like them

[Bio248]

are those actually HID bulbs? where is the kelvin rating? are they even bright with that blue lense?

[archemedes]

those are the fake ones that are just a bit dimmer than stock (already tried them and the fog lights are the only thing that makes them bright enough to use)

[bizzy187]

So would you recomend these or no?

[archemedes]

not unless they are free (advance just discontinued the APC version for 9.95 and they may even give a discount, I got a set for $2.50)

[Sabrewings]

Good way to fry your wiring. Let me explain.

They are not HID. Nor are they Xenon. Maybe they filled the bulb with a different gas than usual, but its still your average light bulb. Not only that, but they coated the bulb so it glows to look like a HID bulb. The problem with this is that the coating reduces light output... And to overcome that they make the bulb brighter which draws more current and fries your stock harness or damages your housing. Seen it plenty of times.

True HID... Is not just a bulb. It's a completely different method of lighting. HID = High Intensity Discharge. The bulb is filled with special gas and two electrodes. Extremely high voltage is applied to these electrodes and an arc jumps igniting the gas into a plasma, which glows. It makes very little heat output, and is very bright, but the voltage required is way more than the 12V-14V provided by your car. This requires an external ballast to be mounted which will step up the voltage for you.

Here, you can see my ballast for the driver side mounted in the fender (one for each HID bulb)...



These are my brights (which are plenty bright, just my camera with no flash didn't pick it up well)...



And the HIDs (which still the camera didn't pick up just how bright)...



And how they look...




Regular bulbs...



Here is the complete kit. Do yourself a favor and do it right. This kit cost me $150.



Hope this helps. And I hope someone learned something.

[y1a3o]

i got them for my GP. i was thinking that it would turn out to be the really cool bright blue color that you see on most cadillacs these days. but i was wrong. the color is slightly different, but the intensity is terrible. its very difficult to see while driving at night due to the dimness. thank god for my fog lights because if it wasnt for them, it could actually be dangerous to drive with these. not recommended..