| Author | Message | ||
     Eric Thatcher (Desertdork) New Member Username: Desertdork Post Number: 8 Registered: 02-2003 |
Has anyone tried converting the stock halogen headlight lamps to HID lamps? I have noticed the generic HID kit prices are coming down to within reach $399.99 instead of $1599.99 it must be a supply and demand 99 cent Whopper circle of life kind of thing... | ||
| Garrett (Rover7592) New Member Username: Rover7592 Post Number: 13 Registered: 03-2003 |
Eric, Have you looked into just replacing just the bulbs with HID blue, purple, green, or ice white? I replaced mine with the blue, it looks just like the BMW X5's headlamps that have over a $1000.00 headlamp kit. Let me know what you think, i looked into replacing the whole thing but found it easier and cheaper to do the bulbs. They run around $28.00-$50.00. -Garrett | ||
| Keith Kreutzer (Revor) Member Username: Revor Post Number: 157 Registered: 11-2002 |
I have read on a Mercedes list that the blue/white Xenon type bulbs reduce the ability of the eyes, or out brains to pick up moving objects at the side of the road thus reducing our reaction time to such obstacles, Deer, pedestrians, at night... The belief was that the green colored lamps enhanced this ability... This was based on some German testing... Anyone heard of this? I've got green in my truck and they certainly seem to be easier on the eyes than the bright HID's in the bosses new Lexus | ||
| Rich Lee (Rich_lee) New Member Username: Rich_lee Post Number: 3 Registered: 02-2003 |
Eric, Save your money. Before you go HID. Get a high-wattage relay wiring harness that powers your lights directly through the battery, instead of the wimpy internal contacts of your headlight switch (which will wear out much faster if you continue to run all the headlight power through them). Next, get a pair of Sylvania/Osram "White Star" bulbs. the output is clearly brighter for the same wattage, and they do not have the overly-blue color of tinted wanna-be HID bulbs that are actually darker than OEM bulbs. These bulbs are less expensive and more widely available than all of the PIAA variants. | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Senior Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 1888 Registered: 02-2002 |
When we picked up the wife's Disco, the PO had blue-tinted bulbs in it... brand new, and I pitched them... couldn't see worth anything with 'em... went with the nice Sylvanias.... these are REALLY bright, put a lot of light out on the road. The only downside, because the Disco is so much higher than a lot of the other vehicles out there on the road, that I get people in low-lying sedans, or old folks, flashing me as if they're telling my that my high-beams are on.... they all always swerve when I flash back to show them that they aren't...  FWIW, I've checked, they're correctly aimed... they're just bright..... -L | ||
| Jason T. Barker (Speedminded) Member Username: Speedminded Post Number: 98 Registered: 10-2002 |
I second Leslie...I have the same problem with my Sylvania Silverstar's but they are well worth the $20 each I paid for them. Probably about the purest white available short of HID. The newer Piaa's may be just as good or better but are nearly twice the price. Flashing is illegal in Georgia but I still do it anyways when someone fails to dim. I'll flash my high AND low beams together and if they still don't dim their headlights I'll just hold back on the stick and turn both the high and lows on again then I just love hitting my hella driving lights button at the same time. Have yet to have anyone not dim their lights for me (I think equivalent to 480 watts total) | ||
| Glenn Guinto (Glenn) Senior Member Username: Glenn Post Number: 512 Registered: 02-2002 |
Les, old folks flashing you?!  Damn! -Glenn | ||
| Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) Senior Member Username: Deanbrown3d Post Number: 562 Registered: 02-2002 |
Keith, I think its the other way round. The sodium street lamps we have over here are intense in the yellow region, and combined with the sinsitivity spectrum of our vision this is the most efficient (in lumens). BUT, this is only true when the light is above a certain dim level. Below that, the green and blue regions excel, which is why for very dim back streets you often get white metal halide street bulbs. So if there's a deer hiding behind a tree in the dim corner of your headlight's beam, you're gonna be better off with the xenon, which are more blue/green than regular tungsten bulbs. just 0.02 Dean |
