My new HID kit

[geoff5093]

Before anyone says anything, I just bought these to see how they look. I heard about all the glare and the uneven cut off and such, but as I said, I just wanted to see for myself. If the glare is too bad I'll just to an HID projector retrofit. Anyways, here are some pics:

The glare isnt anywhere near as bad as the photos and videos I saw, the camera makes it look worse then it is. In reality, you cant see any glare until your a few inches above the bulb, and the cutoff seems to be pretty even as well.

[95WhiteCamry]

looks pretty good, actually.

have someone drive your car for you while you sit in another car to see how bright it is and what not. it might seem ok from your driver's perspective but when you are approached head on by your own car with those lights, the case may change.

[Venom_5]

looks good, but whats the big deal with HID? why not just get blue/white or brighter bulbs?

[white3ch0c0late]

Originally Posted by Venom_5

looks good, but whats the big deal with HID? why not just get blue/white or brighter bulbs?

You should do your homework.

There is not a halogen bulb in the world that can put out the kind of light output that HIDs can. Standard halogen bulbs emit about 1000 lumens. 4300K HIDs emit 3300-3500 lumens. There are lots and lots of other advantages to having HIDs over halogen, but thats only IF they are properly installed (ie. projector retrofit).

Which brings me to my next point... from the looks of it in the pics, those are well above 4300K... looks like 6000K or 8000K. You're GREATLY suffering in output. In addition, you can't see the glare on the wall from that close up. Pictures of cutoffs have to be taken at 25-30 feet away, and should be done on a clean wall with nothing in the way. You might not think that there's any glare, but I can guarantee you that there is.

[bigbird]

the only reason to keep halogens over HID is if u have a really high temp HID, i read on hidplanet that anything above 8K(very blue) i think, will not give u more light then a hologen bulb. lookin good geoff, im hopin to get mine on next week

[white3ch0c0late]

^Yup. With 8000K+ bulbs, you're better of using a flashlight.

[Venom_5]

i understand what HID kits do ...

however, people have been driving for years without them ... i dont see why you need so much light to drive - i can see just fine with my Sylvania XtraVision bulbs, and i dont blind people with em either

[white3ch0c0late]

^Well, I don't blind people with my retrofit.

I think if you were to retrofit your headlights with HID projectors and if you drove with them, you'd see the difference. I can't stand to drive my 2007 Camry at night after I put HID projectors in my 2002. It feels like I can't see anything.

[bigbird]

what i like about HIDs is that if done right(projectors), they can be even less distracting to other drivers than halogens because the beam is so concentrated, but u still get a light thats, for the most part, brighter then halogens.

[geoff5093]

I have 5000K HID's, and I realize that it would be better from far away, but these pics were taking this afternoon so it was very bright out, and I only have that wall near me when I installed it, i'll find one later and see if I can still see the cutoff at ~30feet.

And tonight is my first drive with them, so i'll see if I get anyone to flash me. I also havent adjusted the headlights at all, so I may have to lower them. But I think part of the reason they dont glare as much as others, is because they are DEPO's and have that cover which goes over most of the bulb.

[Pimpinda93camry]

i have to say that i dont know much about hid and such but most of it i learned on here from white3chocolate.

i still see cars that have projectors and they still blind(not really blind but hurt my eyes)
just like the rices most of these cars are jettas, and other ones. i think there is more glare that comes off of a jetta then does preuis or is300 or the acura ones that are in the reflector lens.

there is a guy that has a martrix with a 6000k kit in his car and he came to the dealership and ask us to properly alighit. so i was the one that did it. i aliged it very good to were i will see him(he is hard to miss becasue he live right in the next niegborhood.) and i never get blinded by him and he as the rebased kit. so if you aligine them right they dont put out as much glare

[geoff5093]

I also see glare from stock HID's when they are coming over a hill or hit a bump. I didnt get to do much night driving yet, but what I saw was that when I was about 10 feet behind a car, my light beam was around a trucks bumper area, or slightly above that on a car. And when I was about 3-4 feet, it was right at the bumper on a car.