HID's....planning on buying some for the Z32. Input por favor

[nsrZ32]

Ok....so here's what I got.

The most common color temperatures or Kelvin (K) are 4300K, 6000K, 8000K, and 10000K.

The higher the Kelvin the lower the Lumen (measure of lights brightness) output.

The higher the Kelvin the bluer the bulbs appear.

HID's use 3 times less wattage on average than convention halogen lighting. They generate an average of 4 times more lumens of light. They also generate up to 10 times more Candela (the measure of light intensity). And, HID bulbs last roughly 6 times longer than regular bulbs.

Major manufacturers such as Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Audi, BMW, etc use anywhere from 4100K - 6000K as anything above 6000K just produces blur and glare. The reason some of them appear so blue is due the the curvature of the projector, the etching of the glass, the reflector bowl, the shield, etc.

The two Kelvin ratings that I am debating between are 4300K and 6000K. The 4300K is generally considered whiter than the 6000K but they are both very white and effective. The 4300K puts out 3100 Lumens and the 6000K puts out 2900 Lumens.

The HID kit will be going in my Z32 which already has projectors (although not setup out of the factory for HID's so I will lose of some the lumen output).

So....with that little bit of info, which would you go with? The 4300K or the 6000K?

[AmoebAssassin]

6000k fo' da blang-blang

[nsrZ32]

6000k fo' da blang-blang

I really like the look but the main thing is visibility. Stock Z32 lighting sucks. I have upgraded halogen bulbs and visibility at night is nil.

[Red coupe]

ummm am I missing something?

You said nothing about price or budget, and everything you posted says that the 4300 are brighter, and give better lightWhy is this a question?

Are you seriously considering buying a bluer bulb just so people can tell you have HID?

[nsrZ32]

Price or budget doesn't really come into play. I'm not really concerned in that department.

The reason I am torn is that Nissan factory HID's are 6000K and they provide amazing visibility. Yet Audi runs 4100K and that provides great visibility.

Both seem overly effective. Was hoping someone had experience with an aftermarket kit of one or both of those Kelvin ratings.

[gabossie]

My guess is you're not going to lose either way. It's more important that you choose a quality kit than whether you choose 4100k or 6000k. I would go with the 4100k. More light = better.

[NSR_s30]

<----------6000k ftw

[Jookmasta]

i personally run 6500K and i will say that you will be pleased with the 6000K. granted their might be more output with the 4300K, i personally went for optimal lighting output and color. Not that i had a choice for 4300K when i got mine but i didn't want it too blue. TRUST ME when i say that the 6000K will look OEM. and since ur a mod, i assume u will just get em' from the peeps in the advertiser's section.

in either case, it will be a nite and day difference with HIDs............

[Zinister]

Probably the 6000k will work. I am not sure what the MINI Cooper HIDs are in terms of kelvin, but they are pretty dang bright. I am converting to HID soon. The Mini's have a problem with there headlight adjuster braking and thusly the head light drops and points at the ground and it cant be reajusted, therefor they we replace the whole fixture. Well, warranty for what ever reason does not need them back, so I scored myself a set of MINI HIDs and i am just going to take them out along with the ballast and everything else needed and wire them up to the Z. I cant wait!

[MysteryIncMan]

A buddy of mine had a set from a 350z in his Z32 and they were very bright. I have the same ones in my 240.

[Dano]

Jerry, hit me up online tomorrow about it

-Dan

[NSR240sxe]

Glad your finally going to be getting HID's!!

Can't help you out since I dont know much about 'em tho, which I'm sure you'll teach me lol but either way it will make a huge difference and I know how long you've been wanting HID's for. Plus this way we can take the Z out at nite and you wont have to worry about your headlights not lighting the road enough!!

[kamikazestorm420]

Price or budget doesn't really come into play. I'm not really concerned in that department.

The reason I am torn is that Nissan factory HID's are 6000K and they provide amazing visibility. Yet Audi runs 4100K and that provides great visibility.

Both seem overly effective. Was hoping someone had experience with an aftermarket kit of one or both of those Kelvin ratings.

everysingle bulb that came from the factory is 4100k.

the blue, purple, you see from bmws and acuras from far away is the color thats on the cutoff. if you really want good lighting, i say hid retrofit. if you stick a rebased bulb in there you will not be happy.

[Jookmasta]

absolutely not true. an hid retrofit is pretty much obsolete these days as the cost and hassle make for a marginal improvement over buying an hid kit. not to mention that the ballasts aren't warrantied as with the aftermarket stuff. the factory colors that you see are indeed due to the projector's that they use and the "cutoff" which is produced. this unfortunately doesn't mean that you still can't get outstanding lighting from a aftermarket kit.

perhaps if you yourself were to sit behind the wheel of 2 different cars (one with an aftermarket kit and one with an hid retrofit), you would see what i mean. nonetheless, i still say 6000K.

[kamikazestorm420]

be in a s2000, and now drive in a car with a hid kit. retrofit is FAR superior than a halogen projector with hids. the only halogen projector that reacts decently with HIDs are h7 projector. IIRC 300zx's are not h7s.

HIDs in halogen projectors have hot spots and are not evenly spreadout on the side. hid projectors are more evenly spread out, and the colorful flicker you get (which a halogen projector would not have)

im not telling you not to get a kit but before you go off and buy one, try going onto http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/ and then look at pictures of a halogen projectors with a hid kit, and a retrofit. they have some valueable (sp) information there. (about 300zx lighting)

btw i had cibie headlamps with oem d2s and casper adaptors and i was not happy at all with the light output. hence the reason why i am using halogen bulbs right now.

you have to sign in but heres a couple threadsthis guys opinion on hid kit in a 300zx:http://www.hidplanet.com/forum...300zx

his opinion after he did a retrofit:http://www.hidplanet.com/forum...300zx

why not to get a hid kit:http://www.hidplanet.com/forum...21129
Modified by kamikazestorm420 at 1:59 AM 11/19/2006

[Dano]

Good job posting links you have to log into. Awesome.

-Dan

[NSR240sxe]

^ LOL ^

[nsrZ32]

There is a lot more to HID's, fitment, performance, retrofit, etc than what I mentioned. But I think opinion gets in the way of a lot of your statements as opposed to fact. For example, I have worked on factory Infiniti cars with my own two hands that have had 6000K setups according to badging on the bulbs and units. I'm decently well educated on HID's and all the options and I'll do my best to put together an unbiased article on NICO for reference. Thanks so much for your input and everything thus far though

[hudy]

Can't you "warranty" some headlamps on an Infinity to take apart and make work? haha. I have one Range Rover HID headlamp but I don't know anything about what color temp it is. All of the LR stuff is very good for light output. Follow your heart for the right choice! Sounds like you know a lot more than most anyhow.