Cheap alternative to HID conversion?

bushido · Post by **bushido** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:51 am

Just having a look through some catalogues and i see in the supercheap auto one that they sell "Calibre performance globes" for mist cars.

"Did you know? Calibre performance globes increase safety! The use of xenon gas additives and increased Kelvin ratings increase the light volume from the globe putting more daylight on the road!

Extra vision delivers up to 50% ectra light volume
Xenon blue delivers superior white light
Available in H1, H3, H4 and H7. "

Well i know nothing about lights so is this possible to just fit onto our FTOs and get a brighter light? Or is thi just some marketing riff raff?

The sell from $24.99 and they can fit them for you.

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:58 am

FTO lights are HB4

kid_dynamite · Post by **kid_dynamite** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:15 am

They are still a halogen globe and as such can't come close to matching the light output from a proper HID setup.

Also have to watch that they are not simply a higher wattage globe (which may lead to melted light relays/sockets/etc).

Personal opinion for a decent non-HID setup is the Narva Plus30 bulbs. They come in HB3 and HB4 sizes too (and are still 51/60W bulbs). There are other brands out there but I've generally used Narvas most of the time and haven't had any issues.

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:43 am

^ Yup, the plus30's are much better than the originals, but still not as good as HID.

If you're not wanting to spend the cash on a HID setup, then go for the plus30's. Had them in for a while and no probs.

(Still recomend you save up for some though!)

scottlei · Post by **scottlei** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:15 pm

Just go ebay and get some cheap HID, better off than spending otherwise.

bushido · Post by **bushido** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:07 pm

Are they Plus30 availabel at any automotive shop?

kid_dynamite · Post by **kid_dynamite** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:11 pm

bushido wrote:Are they Plus30 availabel at any automotive shop?

Most of them will have - Autobarn, SuperCheap, Repco etc.

Post by **I8A4RE** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:19 pm

HID all the way, im getting mine now

Delvance · Post by **Delvance** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:46 am

Plus 50's are available which are noticeably better than the plus 30's so go for the plus 50's...same price iirc.

HID if not done properly is defect, and the plus 50's give pretty white light already and the beam pattern from the projectors is quite good, plus gives a good amount of lumens.

Don't forget some fto's are h1 connection instead, if it has been converted from factory hid setup.

Xenon globes > halogen globes, meaning increased lumen output, generally the light will be higher in the kelvin range too (whiter).

Definitely not marketing riff raff.

Richy · Post by **Richy** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:07 am

i was there once playing around with different light bulbs....
all i can say is...

FORGET IT, GO FOR HID...

Delvance · Post by **Delvance** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:48 pm

Lol...yeah i'll agree hids are better. My new car has hids and yeah it's nice, the other car i drive also has hids but not oem (i.e. defectable) and i hate the feeling when driving it around that i can be pulled over and defected, also gives a cop more reason to pull you over for "rbt" etc.

A 35w hid globe will output about ~3200 lumens or so whereas a Narva/Hella plus 50 globe will give you around ~1500 lumens so you're looking at half the output compared to hid but don't forget with lumens, it exponentially decreases (when seen by the human eye), much like sound levels.

Oh and one more thing...when ppl buy hid kits they usually go for 6000k or higher in colour temp...higher in colour temp with hids, the more the output of lumens drop, and also the higher the colour temp, the harder it is to distinguish colours and perceive depth of objects etc. Put simply, the light washes out becomes next to useless. So if you go hid, unless you really want the look, try to get 6000k or preferably 4200k.