What do I need to know about HID lights for my car?

[blurredvision]

Alright guys, a quick google search gave me too much info to search through to get the answers I need, so I was hoping you guys could answer some questions about HID lights. I'm not necessarily thinking about getting some, but mainly wanting to know more about them at this point.

Questions aplenty:

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?

I know you guys hate people who ask too many questions, but I often find an individual's response far greater than any google search.

 

[mchammer]

1. Yes
2. Possibly
3. Legal
4. Extra Equiptment
5. No
6. ?

 

[nageov3t]

don't do it. everyone else on the road will hate you

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: loki8481
don't do it. everyone else on the road will hate you

Hmmm, I've always liked the look of them, and they've never bothered me. However, I do not do much night driving, so that's why I'm just looking into it at the moment.

 

[mchammer]

$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Questions aplenty:

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?

1. For the most part, Xenon is a gas within bulbs and mostly all HID's use it.
2. Most likely, it depends on the temperature they are rated at.
3. Some are illegal, I never worried about it though.
4. You can either buy an entire HID kit that costs upwards of $500 or just buy an HID bulb that might run you $40, make sure the bulb matches your cars wattage output, the number is something like 60/55W.
5. You get what you pay for, an HID kit will burn the bulb for longer, just buying the HID bulb to plug into your cars harness might cause some conflicts that lead to early burnout.
6. Silverstar Sylvania and PIAA to name the most liked brands.

 

[mb]

>>What do I need to know about HID lights for my car?<<
That if they didn't come on your car or wern't even an option, they don't belong on there.

 

[mchammer]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Questions aplenty:

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?

1. For the most part, Xenon is a gas within bulbs and mostly all HID's use it.
2. Most likely, it depends on the temperature they are rated at.
3. Some are illegal, I never worried about it though.
4. You can either buy an entire HID kit that costs upwards of $500 or just buy an HID bulb that might run you $40, make sure the bulb matches your cars wattage output, the number is something like 60/55W.
5. You get what you pay for, an HID kit will burn the bulb for longer, just buying the HID bulb to plug into your cars harness might cause some conflicts that lead to early burnout.
6. Silverstar Sylvania and PIAA to name the most liked brands.

About 20% correct.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
You can either buy an entire HID kit that costs upwards of $500

No thanks.

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

[Black88GTA]

"HID look" bulbs are just blue-tinted regular bulbs with a $$ price tag, i.e. crap.

Silverstars are nice, but are $$$ and rated service life is substantially less than standard bulbs. Not true HID bulbs either.

True HID systems, as has been said, require extra equipment and are very expensive.

 

[myusername]

Hey I want to try this!

Originally posted by: blurredvision

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?.

1. Lots of halogen manufacturers are adding Xenon to their bulbs to call them Xenon, so unless it says Xenarc (which is probably a brand name, but anyway) or HID, it's not HID
2. Yes. Generally non-HID bulbs look blue, but they don't exhibit the extreme blue/white chromatic shift of HID lights.
3. HID is legal if your car came equipped (or if the same model-year was available with HID option even if your particular car did not come with). Blue-tinted halogens are sometimes legal, sometimes not, but there's no real reason to use them other than to impress fellow ricers.
4. Extra equipment, hundreds of $$
5. no idea.
6. No idea. Phillips?

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: mchammer

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Questions aplenty:

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?

1. For the most part, Xenon is a gas within bulbs and mostly all HID's use it.
2. Most likely, it depends on the temperature they are rated at.
3. Some are illegal, I never worried about it though.
4. You can either buy an entire HID kit that costs upwards of $500 or just buy an HID bulb that might run you $40, make sure the bulb matches your cars wattage output, the number is something like 60/55W.
5. You get what you pay for, an HID kit will burn the bulb for longer, just buying the HID bulb to plug into your cars harness might cause some conflicts that lead to early burnout.
6. Silverstar Sylvania and PIAA to name the most liked brands.

About 20% correct.

Why don't you explain the 80% I got wrong then? Atleast answer the OP's questions like I did. Fucking arrogant lurker.

 

[V00DOO]

What do I need to know about HID lights for my car?

Spend the money and do it right or don't bother.

 

[helloedchen]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Alright guys, a quick google search gave me too much info to search through to get the answers I need, so I was hoping you guys could answer some questions about HID lights. I'm not necessarily thinking about getting some, but mainly wanting to know more about them at this point.

Questions aplenty:

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?

I know you guys hate people who ask too many questions, but I often find an individual's response far greater than any google search.

1. HIDs use xenon gas, so in that sense, yes. However, don't get fooled by the cheap knockoffs on e-bay.
2. This will depend on the rating of the HID bulb as well as what kind of projector they are housed in.
3. Legal if it came with the car. You can figure it out
4. Extra equipment is required. You can of course just shove the HID bulbs into your headlights and run with it. However, as your normal halogen designed headlight used reflection to point the beam of light in front of you, your HID will turn into a glare/scattered pattern. For best results, retro-fitting projectors into your headlight and aiming them correctly will do the trick. A popular choice is stealing the projector from Audis.
5. HID bulbs last about 4-5 times the amount of a normal bulb. Since the HID uses only about 35W compared to the 55-65W of halogens, they last a tad bit longer, which of course depends on how much you use them.
6. Philips.

And yes, I have aftermarket HIDs and no, other drivers do not hate me. Total came out to about $400 (balast and bulbs).

*edited for spelling

 

[mchammer]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: mchammer

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Questions aplenty:

1. Are HID lights the same as Xenon lights?
2. These are the lights that I've seen that seem to change shades as I approach the oncoming car, correct?
3. Are these typically illegal, or are they 100% legal?
4. Are these like a standard replacement that will fit into existing slots? Or is extra equipment needed to get these running?
5. What is the standard life of HID lights? Do they burn out quickly?
6. Best brands?

1. For the most part, Xenon is a gas within bulbs and mostly all HID's use it.
2. Most likely, it depends on the temperature they are rated at.
3. Some are illegal, I never worried about it though.
4. You can either buy an entire HID kit that costs upwards of $500 or just buy an HID bulb that might run you $40, make sure the bulb matches your cars wattage output, the number is something like 60/55W.
5. You get what you pay for, an HID kit will burn the bulb for longer, just buying the HID bulb to plug into your cars harness might cause some conflicts that lead to early burnout.
6. Silverstar Sylvania and PIAA to name the most liked brands.

About 20% correct.

Why don't you explain the 80% I got wrong then? Atleast answer the OP's questions like I did. Fucking arrogant lurker.

Well I did post the first reply.
1. all HIDS use xenon
2. would probably be seeing the light from different angles as the car moves.
3. looks good
4. Needs extra equiptment
5. see 4
6. Those are regular bulbs, but with better color temperature, or so they say.

 

[wbresson]

came stock on mine with a in car level adjustment knob :thumbsup:

 

[JulesMaximus]

My car came with HID lights. I can't help you out with aftermarket. I do know that those blue ones are illegal and you will most likely be pulled over for them.

 

[mchammer]

Originally posted by: wbresson
came stock on mine with a in car level adjustment knob :thumbsup:

What car is that?

 

[wbresson]

Originally posted by: mchammer

Originally posted by: wbresson
came stock on mine with a in car level adjustment knob :thumbsup:

What car is that?

Evo

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: mchammer
1. Yes
2. Possibly
3. Legal
4. Extra Equiptment
5. No
6. ?

Much mis-information.

1. NO! "Xenon" bulbs are often simply regular filment-type bulbs that are over-driven, filled with xenon gas and tinted to achieve a color effect similar to true HID bulbs (which employ arc-discharge technology and do use xenon gas). The xenon gas is not what gives true HID's their lighting characteristics, but rather it's the design of the arc-discharge system.

2. Not sure about "changing color". HID setups should have a uniform color appearance, though they do have a tendency to generate slightly more "dazzle" (the star-like pattern around headlights) than typical halogen units.

3. Almost always ILLEGAL. The kits will clearly say "For off-road use ONLY". They are NOT legal for street use. There is NO DOT approved non-factory HID upgrade kit. The ONLY way to legally put HID lights in your car is if they were offered as an option and you do a factory retrofit.

4. Much extra equipment. You'll need to wire in a relay system with leads from the battery as well as get completely new reflector units and the ballasts capable of generating the _thousands_ of volts necessary to initiate the electrical arc. I cannot stress the need for new reflectors enough, there is NO WAY to put a HID capsule into a reflector designed for halogen bulbs. It is physically possible, yes, but the optics will result in a wildly mis-aligned light pattern. The arc in a HID capsule cannot be placed in the same position and orientation as the filament of a halogen bulb, and because of this there is no possible way to get a good beam pattern from a HID capsule that is inserted into a halogen reflector.

5. Except for some early models that had problems with the ballasts failing, HID systems typically last for the life of the vehicle.

6. As there are precisely zero legal options for on-road use, there are precisely zero good brands.

ZV

 

[myusername]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
2. Not sure about "changing color". HID setups should have a uniform color appearance, though they do have a tendency to generate slightly more "dazzle" (the star-like pattern around headlights) than typical halogen units.
ZV

I believe it is a prismatic effect from the optics. If you haven't seen it, let someone with an S2000 drive behind you for awhile.

I was on thie highway and thought "my god, what is that awful car with all that blue flickering? I would never ever buy that car on principle" and then 3 minutes later, the S2000 - which at the time was my "dream car" pases me.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: myusername

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
2. Not sure about "changing color". HID setups should have a uniform color appearance, though they do have a tendency to generate slightly more "dazzle" (the star-like pattern around headlights) than typical halogen units.
ZV

I believe it is a prismatic effect from the optics. If you haven't seen it, let someone with an S2000 drive behind you for awhile.

I was on thie highway and thought "my god, what is that awful car with all that blue flickering? I would never ever buy that car on principle" and then 3 minutes later, the S2000 - which at the time was my "dream car" pases me.

That would be "dazzle". I've never noticed a color change from it though. And yes, I've driven in front of S2000's before.

ZV

 

[myusername]

Hm. Are you maybe blue-colorblind?

 

[Evadman]

HID is only legal if they came on your car. Other than that, they are for off-road use only.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: myusername
Hm. Are you maybe blue-colorblind?

Nope.

I do wear glasses though. Perhaps the particular chromatic aberration is canceled by my prescription. I'll agree that there's a slight blue-ish "halo" around the light source for HIDs, but I've not ever seen that flicker or change color so I figured that you were talking about something else.

ZV