HID's

[Gurv]

Hey guys I have a 2012 Altima Coupe S, and I was thinking of getting HID's for it, but I'm a little confused,(sorry never gotten a single mod for any car before) and I got two questions on the topic of HID's:

1.) Why are projectors important if you want HID's?
2.) My car has projectors already, so what exactly am I getting when I buy HID's? (meaning am I getting a different bulb for the headlight that will change the color of it?)

Thank you in advance for the help with this, and I apologize if these are really, really basic or stupid questions, I'm just starting to get into this (modding cars that is) ><

[AlexN09]

A projector housing will focus the light that your headlight produces down towards the payment. It creates a clear cutoff line so you avoid shining your lights into other cars and keeps the light on the road where you need it.

An HID (High Intensity Discharge) kit will come with a new bulb and a ballast. The ballast is a simple little box that is wired between your car's harness and the new lightbulb. It converts the 12VDC signal into a much higher voltage that can drive your new bulbs.

You're not just changing the color of the bulb with an HID kit, in fact you can get the same color bulb if you chose to. You're replacing the halogen bulb with a MUCH more efficient light source with a higher output. So you can see better, be safer, and take a little strain off of your electrical.

A quick guide on color choice:

You will often see the bulbs sold as 4300K, 6000K, 8000K, 10000K, or 43k, 6k, 8k, 10k. The K isn't actually referring to the number one thousand, but actually Kelvin temperature. The color of light is measured based on the color of steel as it is heated to these specific Kelvin temperatures. Theoretically, 10,000K is the color of the sun, or natural daylight.

In practice however, when you buy a bulb that says 10K it will look extremely blue. Most Manufacturers use 4300K bulbs and many hobbyists will use that or 6000K for a slightly blue hue.

[Gurv]

A projector housing will focus the light that your headlight produces down towards the payment. It creates a clear cutoff line so you avoid shining your lights into other cars and keeps the light on the road where you need it.

An HID (High Intensity Discharge) kit will come with a new bulb and a ballast. The ballast is a simple little box that is wired between your car's harness and the new lightbulb. It converts the 12VDC signal into a much higher voltage that can drive your new bulbs.

You're not just changing the color of the bulb with an HID kit, in fact you can get the same color bulb if you chose to. You're replacing the halogen bulb with a MUCH more efficient light source with a higher output. So you can see better, be safer, and take a little strain off of your electrical.

A quick guide on color choice:

You will often see the bulbs sold as 4300K, 6000K, 8000K, 10000K, or 43k, 6k, 8k, 10k. The K isn't actually referring to the number one thousand, but actually Kelvin temperature. The color of light is measured based on the color of steel as it is heated to these specific Kelvin temperatures. Theoretically, 10,000K is the color of the sun, or natural daylight.

In practice however, when you buy a bulb that says 10K it will look extremely blue. Most Manufacturers use 4300K bulbs and many hobbyists will use that or 6000K for a slightly blue hue.

TY so much I couldn't have asked for a more elaborate explanation, much appreciated

[UhFive]

+1 to everything Alex said...probably the best explination I have seen.

[AlexN09]

TY so much I couldn't have asked for a more elaborate explanation, much appreciated

No problem! I've been helped so often on this forum that it's worth my time to help someone else out.

I bought my kit from DDM Tuning. It was called the slim ballast kit or something and I chose the 35W kit over the 55W.

I think that the 55W kit can overheat in our headlights and cause some burning and slight melting. The 30-35W kit is plenty bright enough and installed with ease. They include harnesses that plug right up to the factory harnesses too. if for whatever reason your bulbs don't fire up, try reversing the polarity by turning the harnesses around and plugging them back in backwards.

BTW our bulb size is H11.

[Gurv]

TY so much I couldn't have asked for a more elaborate explanation, much appreciated

No problem! I've been helped so often on this forum that it's worth my time to help someone else out.

I bought my kit from DDM Tuning. It was called the slim ballast kit or something and I chose the 35W kit over the 55W.

I think that the 55W kit can overheat in our headlights and cause some burning and slight melting. The 30-35W kit is plenty bright enough and installed with ease. They included harnesses that plugged right up to the factory harnesses too. if for whatever reason your bulbs don't fire up, try reversing the polarity by turning the harnesses around and plugging them back in backwards.

BTW our bulb size is H11.

Once again thx for the tips! Ill keep em in mind when I get my kit

[BTUT5]

+1 for DDM tuning 35w kit! Have got a coupe kits for multiple cars and all work flawlessly. Def go for the slim ballast and another +1 for the reverse polarity tip that's how mine had to go in great tips and insight Alex.