Sourcing HID Light Kits

ellusion · Post by **ellusion** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 2:06 pm

Just wondering where i could get a HID kit from.
How much are they and how much is installation?

I have tried looking for a HID kit from another fto with no luck.

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 2:23 pm

HIDs usually go for around the $1K mark, but I know of someone who can get them n for a little less than that... PM me if interested. If we have enough numbers, we might even do a group buy ourselves...

ellusion · Post by **ellusion** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:12 pm

Well the fto has 3 bulbs on each side: Parking Lights and High Beam in one cluster, and Normal Driving lights in the second cluster.

How much would it cost to replace all bulbs?
What do the factory FTO with HIDs have? All 6 bulbs? Or just the low beam?

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:22 pm

i'm quite certain it's just the low beam... Ask Eric (MADFTO) he has HID installed on his GPvR...

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 10:01 pm

These days you can get HID kit that had high & low beam, but its around $400-600 more.

Geeeee Mikey I wonder who your "contact" is hey???? heheheheheeheh

TimmyD · Post by **TimmyD** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 10:33 pm

uhhhh hah, and wats a HID?

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 10:37 pm

HID = High Intensity Discharge

It works on a similar basis to a fluroscent tube or an over-head street light, where rather than a filament it uses a capsule of xenon or halcyon gas that emits are VERY bright and VERY white light when an arc of electricity passes through it.

They also use less power than standard high brightness halogen globes.

TimmyD · Post by **TimmyD** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 10:44 pm

ruchi wrote:HID = High Intensity Discharge

It works on a similar basis to a fluroscent tube, where rather than a filerment it uses a capsule of halcyon gas that emits are VERY bright and VERY white light when an arc of electricity passes through it.

They also use less power than standard high brightness halogen globes.

mmm so the globes in your headlights? then y 1grand for bright white ones? i thought they were like 60bux from autobarn?

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 11:11 pm

Timmy Timmy Timmy I think ruchi explain it very clearly HID aren't really globe. Maybe you should go & check out some shop who sell them, so you have a better idea.

& if you read those 60bucks light globe packages from autobarn, it actually said it give a Xennon/HID looks. So they aren't HID or real Xennon head light.

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 11:15 pm

you just have to see the difference between HID and xenon bulbs for yourself and you'll easily understand why they cost $1k+...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 11:28 pm

Aside from brightness and power, lights are also rated based on their colour. Colour is measured in terms of temperature in kelvin (as opposed to celsius). Interestingly enough, it is inverted, so the higher the kelvin rating the cooler the light is said to be and vice versa. Warmer light is orange (around 2000K) cooler light is blue (around 9000K), white is around 6000K.

In a traditional light bulb, the filament heats up to a point where it is "white hot" thereby emiting light. Depending upon the filament used, and the type of gas inside the globe, the temperature that the filament can reach, and in turn the colour of the light it produces will vary.

Standard globes use cheaper materials, therefore the filament can't get as hot, and the light they produce is warmer (more orange). More expensive globes use gas such as halogen which allows the filament to get MUCH hotter and produce a cooler (bluer) light. Halogen globes are whiter and brighter than standard globes. Generally speaking, the hotter a filament gets, the more power it draws and the more fragile it is.

A cheap way to get the HID effect, is to take a standard or halogen globe producing a warmer light, and tint the globe with a cooler colour. Then when the orange light passes through the blue tint it appears whiter. The problem with these blue tipped globes is that you lose light in the process and can get varied results.

They are more expensive than your standard globes, but far cheaper than HID, but also not as good as HID. It will give you the HID look, but not the HID performance.

HID globes, don't use a filament, and therefore aren't constrained by the same issues, instead in a similar manner to a fluorescent tube, when an arc of electricity jumps from one electrode to the other, the gas within the globe gets excited and produces a light. Unlike fluorescents which produce UV light, which is then converted to visible light as it passes through a phosphorous coating, HID lights use a xenon or halcyon gas which when excited emits a VERY white and VERY bright light. The result is a light superior to filament based globes, that uses less power and isn't as fragile.

Most overhead street lights are HID / Gas Discharge lights.

HID globes are generally at least twice as bright but use about half the power. They produce a purer light and shine it further, meaning you can see much better as you drive down the road.

They are more expensive than a normal globe, as aside from being far superior, it's also not just a matter of changing a globe, there's a bit more to it.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:00 am

While we on the topic of HID, since it replacing the whole unit of headlights, so is it possible to use different type of unit??? eg: H3 instead of H4

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:27 am

it's possible, if they fit. but it may change the result, as a different size globe will not have the same focal point on the parabolic reflector, nor the lens.

BTW, aren't these things supposed to be professionally installed, as opposed to DIY?

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:31 pm

heheheh yeah well i was wondering thats all, cause some HID kits are cheaper then others eg:H3 seem to be the cheapest out there. & since they are so bright is the focal point really matter then?? (Yes i know these r the dumbest question i've ever ask since i join up! ahhahahahhah)

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:11 pm

Like any parabolic dish, the reflectors in a headlight have a focal point. If this point is moved then the angles of reflection change and the light will no longer go in the direction intended. (similar concept to cupping your hands around your mouth when shouting, so it goes further).

This could potentially cancel the benefits provided by a HID unit, such as increased brightness and range, and the light distribution pattern.

But as long as the new HID globe emits light from the same point that the original globe did, then it will work properly, regardless of the overall globe size. So the answer is that it might just work, and you possibly could get away with a cheaper HID kit.

Kev, I haven't looked at HID kits, so I'm not sure of the differences between them, but as long as the H3 HID globe fits where the old one did (connectors, seals, length etc), and as long as it emits light from roughly the same point within the reflector you should be fine. It would probably pay to take the old globe out and put it side-by-side with a H3 globe to see. However, there must be some reason why they have different kits, do they vary in brightness, connectors, seals etc?

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 8:04 pm

Cool thax, i guess i just have to pull one out to find out then.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:38 pm

As i said earlier, I thought these were supposed to be professionally installed. It could be worth while taking your car to someone who installs them and get them to give you some advice as to what would be the cheapest options, and whether you could get away with the H3 HID kits.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:48 pm

actually i did, one of them told me an H3 should work, but i want to get a second opinion. Thax anyway

fto12345 · Post by **fto12345** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:29 pm

First of all I don't think you should go and start painting your light bulbs cause that will eventually stuff up your bulbs as the paint will melt due to the bulb temperature.

So how much is the cheapest you can get a set of HIDs for an fto?

I know there are two different ones you can get...one is the h4 style so that it has the high beam and low beam...all HIDs..
The other one is the 9006 ones which are just the low beams...

So how much for the 9006 ones?

Any one know?

Thanks,

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:37 pm

I can't find any mention of painting the globes in this thread, but if you are refering to my comments about the ones which are tinted blue, I am refering to the ones you buy off the shelf, such as the Philips Bluevision globes.

They are halogen globe that has been tinted blue so as to give a xenon-like effect, by changing warmer coloured light into whiter light by passing it through a cooler light tint. Make sense?