My new HID conversion (Pics)

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71
what's the difference between an entire kit and the $9 sets you can get off ebay ? Well I'll tell you... the cheap ones on ebay died after 1-2 years (acceptable at that price). What's the cost for a kit ?

there is no such thing as a $9 hid kit. that's $9 "hid like" bulb

That's exactly what I mean... why spend money for an entire kit when you can get the same effect, albeit for a shorter amount of time (possibly), with a $9 set of bulbs ? How much is the conversion kit and what else is the difference ?

You do not get the same effect. You can easily tell HIDs from Xenon bulbs.

I have Xenon bulbs as my high-beams and they are completely drowned out by the HIDs. The Xenon bulbs aren't really that good either. I originally had a set in my car but they burned out (literally melted) in about a week. They also required higher power so they could potentially damage your electrical system.

OTOH, Sylvania Silverstars are quite bright though they do not have the same color as HIDs. They are often marketed as HID replacements.

SS' burn out like crazy though. Average life expectancy for those damn things are like 6 months :| :| Sylvania Xtravisions are supposed to be much better - they're not tinted blue like the Silverstars and produce better light output.

 

[Doggiedog]

Better than 6 days for my cheapies

How much are the Xtravisions?

 

[PatboyX]

if you came at me with those id curse you and raise my fist in the air.
or if you came behind me with those.
in fact, unless i was in that car, i would curse it with my fist in the air.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Ouch, 6 days?

Cost on Xtravisions - to be honest, I have no idea. Xtravisions = European Silverstars though. I'm surprised they're not more popular, so I'm going to guess b/c of that fact, they're probably at least $10 a set more.

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch, 6 days?

Cost on Xtravisions - to be honest, I have no idea. Xtravisions = European Silverstars though. I'm surprised they're not more popular, so I'm going to guess b/c of that fact, they're probably at least $10 a set more.

Yup. They had a lifetime guarantee but what good is it when shipping costs as much as the original set? Nice scam huh?

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71
what's the difference between an entire kit and the $9 sets you can get off ebay ? Well I'll tell you... the cheap ones on ebay died after 1-2 years (acceptable at that price). What's the cost for a kit ?

there is no such thing as a $9 hid kit. that's $9 "hid like" bulb

That's exactly what I mean... why spend money for an entire kit when you can get the same effect, albeit for a shorter amount of time (possibly), with a $9 set of bulbs ? How much is the conversion kit and what else is the difference ?

you're kidding me right?

you're talking about blue tinted white bulbs vs hid's, it's a total difference

they look brighter from the outisde, but when youre inside visibility is crap

hidkit is on the left, projector retrofit is on the right
comparison



mine

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch, 6 days?

Cost on Xtravisions - to be honest, I have no idea. Xtravisions = European Silverstars though. I'm surprised they're not more popular, so I'm going to guess b/c of that fact, they're probably at least $10 a set more.

european sylvania/osram silverstars are +50% bulbs whereas the xtravisions are +30%. you can get philips vision plus (european, sometimes you can find then here in the US), which are also +50%. I have xtravision bulbs in almost all the cars, cept for my dad's audi, which currently has philips vision plus. They do make a diffenerence over regular halogen bulbs, especially the +50% ones. You can get them at Powerbulbs or autolamps-online.

A clear bulbs is alsways going to put out more light than a tinted bulb; the tint is just another medium the light has to pass through and that reduces output.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch, 6 days?

Cost on Xtravisions - to be honest, I have no idea. Xtravisions = European Silverstars though. I'm surprised they're not more popular, so I'm going to guess b/c of that fact, they're probably at least $10 a set more.

european sylvania/osram silverstars are +50% bulbs whereas the xtravisions are +30%. you can get philips vision plus (european, sometimes you can find then here in the US), which are also +50%. I have xtravision bulbs in almost all the cars, cept for my dad's audi, which currently has philips vision plus. They do make a diffenerence over regular halogen bulbs, especially the +50% ones. You can get them at Powerbulbs or autolamps-online.

A clear bulbs is alsways going to put out more light than a tinted bulb; the tint is just another medium the light has to pass through and that reduces output.

Ahh ok, my bad - I thought they were the Euro Osram SS's. Would you say the +50% is worth it over the +30%? And what's the lifespan on those?

 

Do any of you really need such bright headlights?

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch, 6 days?

Cost on Xtravisions - to be honest, I have no idea. Xtravisions = European Silverstars though. I'm surprised they're not more popular, so I'm going to guess b/c of that fact, they're probably at least $10 a set more.

european sylvania/osram silverstars are +50% bulbs whereas the xtravisions are +30%. you can get philips vision plus (european, sometimes you can find then here in the US), which are also +50%. I have xtravision bulbs in almost all the cars, cept for my dad's audi, which currently has philips vision plus. They do make a diffenerence over regular halogen bulbs, especially the +50% ones. You can get them at Powerbulbs or autolamps-online.

A clear bulbs is alsways going to put out more light than a tinted bulb; the tint is just another medium the light has to pass through and that reduces output.

Ahh ok, my bad - I thought they were the Euro Osram SS's. Would you say the +50% is worth it over the +30%? And what's the lifespan on those?

for the simple fact that the +50% bulbs are harder to get (say if one blew out on you), i would just stick with the sylvania xtravision bulbs. I do not know how long the xtravisions last compared to teh philips vision plus or euro silverstar, but the euro ss amd visionplus are not going to last as long as the +30% bulbs. It's comparable im sure.

 

[isekii]

I had Piaa H4's Plasma bulbs for my family CR-V, and those lasted about 6-7months until 1 blew out.
Sold the other on ebay for like 45 bucks.

Piaa bulbs are expensive, but they also bring it a hefty price

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71
what's the difference between an entire kit and the $9 sets you can get off ebay ? Well I'll tell you... the cheap ones on ebay died after 1-2 years (acceptable at that price). What's the cost for a kit ?

there is no such thing as a $9 hid kit. that's $9 "hid like" bulb

That's exactly what I mean... why spend money for an entire kit when you can get the same effect, albeit for a shorter amount of time (possibly), with a $9 set of bulbs ? How much is the conversion kit and what else is the difference ?

you're kidding me right?

you're talking about blue tinted white bulbs vs hid's, it's a total difference

they look brighter from the outisde, but when youre inside visibility is crap

hidkit is on the left, projector retrofit is on the right
comparison



mine

Nah I'm just looking to be educated. I can see the difference. But honestly when I had my bulbs... they were plenty brighter than stock. I would rather invest my money in something else. Still no answer to - what's the price for a kit?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: SuperTool
They looked fine before, and they were stock, as in designed and extensively tested specifically for that car by a real Honda engineer.

Yeah well, so are 100 hp d series motors in civic DXs. That doesn't mean it's a bad idea to get a motor swap.

Yes it does. Just sell it and get another Civic with a better motor.

You've obviously got no idea of the internals of a Civic, do you.

- M4H

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Kwan1

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: bmacd
i thought about converting the lights on my motorcycle, but got lazy and ditched the idea. Are you sure your beams are aimed correctly?

-=bmacd=-

They're not.

These are.

- M4H

holy crap. thats a crazy sharp cutoff!!!! :Q:Q

Either those are OEM or they are retrofitted projectors:thumbsup:

Those are OEM WRX STi lights. These are projectors in a Civic.

- M4H

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71
what's the difference between an entire kit and the $9 sets you can get off ebay ? Well I'll tell you... the cheap ones on ebay died after 1-2 years (acceptable at that price). What's the cost for a kit ?

there is no such thing as a $9 hid kit. that's $9 "hid like" bulb

That's exactly what I mean... why spend money for an entire kit when you can get the same effect, albeit for a shorter amount of time (possibly), with a $9 set of bulbs ? How much is the conversion kit and what else is the difference ?

you're kidding me right?

you're talking about blue tinted white bulbs vs hid's, it's a total difference

they look brighter from the outisde, but when youre inside visibility is crap

hidkit is on the left, projector retrofit is on the right
comparison



mine

Nah I'm just looking to be educated. I can see the difference. But honestly when I had my bulbs... they were plenty brighter than stock. I would rather invest my money in something else. Still no answer to - what's the price for a kit?

Depends on the kit, but Xenondepot.com has a few Philips branded kit for like $400. (Depends on the car though)

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: rh71
what's the difference between an entire kit and the $9 sets you can get off ebay ? Well I'll tell you... the cheap ones on ebay died after 1-2 years (acceptable at that price). What's the cost for a kit ?

there is no such thing as a $9 hid kit. that's $9 "hid like" bulb

That's exactly what I mean... why spend money for an entire kit when you can get the same effect, albeit for a shorter amount of time (possibly), with a $9 set of bulbs ? How much is the conversion kit and what else is the difference ?

you're kidding me right?

you're talking about blue tinted white bulbs vs hid's, it's a total difference

they look brighter from the outisde, but when youre inside visibility is crap

hidkit is on the left, projector retrofit is on the right
comparison



mine

Nah I'm just looking to be educated. I can see the difference. But honestly when I had my bulbs... they were plenty brighter than stock. I would rather invest my money in something else. Still no answer to - what's the price for a kit?

uh the ones i have were part of the first run of some guy on a prelude forum, set me back 600 + shipping or so i don't really remember

nowadays it's something like 1400 for retrofitted projectors from the same company

companies like illusion lighting charge 800-1300 for a retrofit

if you have skills you can do it yourself for 300-500

 

[no0b]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus

Originally posted by: HiTek21
Just installed my McCulloch 5300k HID kit that I bought from the Acura board. These things are great, they put out 3x as much light on the road as my old halogens. I made sure that they were aimed properly, I had my buddy drive in front of me and we drove past each other on the road and he said they were just different looking but not blinding.

Shot of the headlights straight on
Before
After

Shot of the beam patterns
Before
After

You are an as$hole.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: Amused
HIDS require more than just good aiming. They require auto leveling devices so that load variations in the car do not blind oncoming cars.

This is why aftermarket solutions are sold as "offroad use only."

Lots of HID systems are non-auto leveling, mostly 1st gen iterations of factory HID systems

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch, 6 days?

Cost on Xtravisions - to be honest, I have no idea. Xtravisions = European Silverstars though. I'm surprised they're not more popular, so I'm going to guess b/c of that fact, they're probably at least $10 a set more.

I have used both silverstars and xtravisions. Don't waste your money on silverstars!! (unless you get them $12 a set like i did ) They look good, but one of mine burned out after 3 months.

xtravisions are great. They only cost $1 more per bulb than bone stock replacements. You can get a pair at walmart for under $20. They are significantly brighter than stock. Expected lifespan is about half of OEM, but that is not so bad considering OEM can last many years.