HID lights

[asoomal]

I would love to see a pic of your cut off.

[Razi]

Food for your brain:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... sions.html

[asoomal]

Thank you.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Eh, I don't know what to tell you... I noticed improved visibility and more or less the exact same light pattern and cutoff. I never get flashed by other drivers.

Don't be fooled; it's an error to judge a beam pattern solely by its cutoff. In many lamps, especially the projector types, the cutoff will remain the same regardless of what light source is behind it. Halogen bulb, HID capsule, cigarette lighter, firefly, hold it up to the sun—whatever.

as with all other automotive lamps (and, in fact, all optical instruments), the optics are calculated based not just on where the light source is within the lamp (focal length) but also the specific photometric characteristics of the light source...which parts of it are brighter, which parts of it are darker, where the boundaries of the light source are, whether the boundaries are sharp or fuzzy, the shape of the light source, and so forth.

The most dangerous part of the attempt to "retrofit" Xenon headlamps is that sometimes you get a deceptive and illusory "improvement" in the performance of the headlamp. The performance of the headlamp is perceived to be "better" because of the much higher level of foreground lighting (on the road immediately in front of the car). However, the beam patterns produced by this kind of "conversion" virtually always give less distance light, and often an alarming lack of light where there's meant to be a relative maximum in light intensity. The result is the illusion that you can see better than you actually can, and that's not safe.

Illusion or not, the conversion puts MORE light where I want it. I'll see if I can find some flat level ground when I get back to Mississippi and take some pictures with both the Miata and the Prelude. I'm not going to retrofit BACK to normal lights for 2 reasons: 1, I don't care enough to do that work for any of you. 2, I'm almost positive I don't have the original bulbs anymore. The 240 has some crappy halogens (that attempt to have a higher temperature) in it that are so effin horrible, I don't drive the car at night.

[blkvrtswp]

This is the reason I did not go with HIDs in those Autopal housings:

"A relatively new gimmick is HID arc capsules set in an electromagnetic base so that they shift up and down or back and forth. These are being marketed as "dual beam" kits that claim to address the loss of high beam with fixed-base "retrofits" in place of dual-filament halogen bulbs like 9004, 9007, H4, and H13. A cheaper variant of this is one that uses a fixed HID bulb with a halogen bulb strapped or glued to the side of it...yikes! What you wind up with is two poorly-formed beams, at best. The reason the original equipment market has not adopted the movable-capsule designs they've been playing with since the mid 1990s is because it is impossible to control the arc position accurately so it winds up in the same position each and every time. "

The H4's look & work great though. I got hyper white NO BLUE AT ALL.

[PANDAemic]

I'd probably never get HID's unless I get projectors. I absolutely hate those D-bags that have super bright HID's and blind me. I always fear for my life whenever theres one behind me or on the oppisite side of me if I'm trying to turn into my neighborhood.

[Razi]

People with sucky lighting setups is the reason I got the Broadway and sideview mirrors with the special tint.

[krash]

Why the hell would you modify your car when your a college student? I didn't when I was in school -_-

Some of us actually like modifying cars, freaking weird right? I know.

Theres some good info in here. You can put HIDs in those Cibie or Hella H4 housings, its not like it wont work. It will work. The problem is, those housings aren't made for HID bulbs, so the reflection pattern won't work properly with the HID bulb. This doesn't mean you wont get light, you'll get light, but it will be everywhere. HID bulbs are made for cars with projector headlights, and if you want to go through the trouble of retrofitting projector lenses into an H4 housing, HID bulbs are the way to go.

However, with the options we have now, its not really necessary.

Proper headlights like Hella or Cibies with a bright H4 bulb are great.

Here's a picture taken by 94_240sx of his Cibie headlamps:

Proper cutoff, and great lighting.
On par with OEM quality HID projector setups.

That setup is better than any HID kit you can put in an H4 housing.

Being a college student and modding your car is hard, I know. But here is some advice. When the modification is not necessary, don't cheap out on the part just because you want it. You'll initially be happy with it, and then you'll find out all the reasons why it sucks. And then you'll realize that you could have waited a few weeks to save up that extra $50 to get the quality part.

[Juliankamlley]

I would like to do the lighting correctly with proper cutoff

And where can I purchase cibies from? Thanks guys sorry about all of this, I know nothing when it comes to hid lighting

[LoserCard]

I am planning on getting Autopal's H4 headlights because there are tons of reviews on how they are on par with higher quality products made by Hella and other manufacturers. Obviously they wont be the best you can get, but they do provide a good cutoff and are very budget friendly. They are also made with glass lens and metal reflectors so no worry of melting when using higher wattage bulbs. They make DOT legal ones so you don't have to worry about cops pulling you over and inspecting your headlights.

[asoomal]

I would like to do the lighting correctly with proper cutoff

And where can I purchase cibies from? Thanks guys sorry about all of this, I know nothing when it comes to hid lighting

Google up Daniel Stern Lighting.

[420sxWETDREAMS]

If you are a student or just on a budget and want better lighting then what you have, then get these...for now, then comback to this thread $250 dollars later $79.99 x 2 for cibie and the rest on good bulbs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/89-94-240SX-S13 ... 5131wt_808

[420sxWETDREAMS]

Im on a budget my self and did my build as such until I am able to do it the way I really want. but heres mine
8000 k


I got these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/89-94-Nissan-24 ... 711wt_1025
with these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HID-XENON-HEADL ... 3018wt_990

As far as cut off, its not terrible and probably blinding people who shouldnt be camping in the left lane and has helped me get rid of them out of the lane..so for me...duh winning! Especially since under $50.

[asoomal]

What the f*** is wrong with you?

[Razi]

The new Civic.

[alms24sebring]

My 6000K HIDs in my Kouki were just as good as the posted S13. I swear I will never have headlights that good again. I did every now and again get flashed at, but rarely. I wish I had a pic of it.

[blkvrtswp]

<sarcasm directed at the deleted spammer post that was above this deleted>