New Project Sneak Peak

[Clipsed]

Modified by Clipsed at 2:35 PM 4/8/2007

[snwbrdraw]

Maybe I don't get it but please explain why putting really bright headlights in your car is going to make it so different and exciting...

[Clipsed]

Modified by Clipsed at 2:36 PM 4/8/2007

[BenzTech Gone Versa]

I was about to do the same thing but my garage is full of parts from benz's.I missplaced my projectors. but i also hurt my back in aug. so this is why my parts money and labor time has gone out the window.good luck with the lights...looks like its gonna look hoTTTTTTTTTt.

[HirosRide]

Is this the same type of light that the Land Rovers have, there is a Land Rover Sport that blinds me at night with them lites!

[BBISHOPPCM]

Do you know what HID's are? They are 3x brighter than halogen, and consume only 35Watts of power unlike the bulbs that are currently in our car that are 55/65Watt bulbs. They will make it that much safer to drive at night, and the way I am going to modify them, they are going to have a really sharp colorful cutoff line.

...The only person benefiting from these is you. The other drivers will be blinded by the oncoming aftermarket (non-DOT approved) installed headlights from your car, INCREASING the chances of an accident. Everytime I see a car with those damn things, I want to ram it.

[Legacy40k]

...The only person benefiting from these is you. The other drivers will be blinded by the oncoming aftermarket (non-DOT approved) installed headlights from your car, INCREASING the chances of an accident. Everytime I see a car with those damn things, I want to ram it.

Same here! Especially in the rain when the water droplets magnify the light!

[marleyfan]

Yeah I agree. Changing the color temp of your headlights to a whiter light is one thing, but putting in high intensity lights that have a tendency to blind other drivers is quite another. Driving toward these on a rain soaked road is very unnerving.

[ShusterVision]

Plus its a cop-magnet. But anyways you bought them so enjoy. I do think that the V stock lights stink.

SV

[motoguy128]

Many luxury and sports cars have these... they are hardly exclusive, just expensive. Yes they are brighter and provide better contrast, but despite iriginal advertisements 10 years ago when they were first comming on the market... the light is very annoying to other drivers and almost blinding ot pedestrians. When I go for a jog at night, I have ot turn my head away so I'm not temporarily blinded. Definitely more of a problem, because the light seems more focused.

I'd like to see some high intensity LED fog lights. I think LED's are clearly the next best technology. I think with some special lenses you could do a lot. I have a headlamp I used while jogging and working around the house. 100 hours from 2 AA batteries, and it's brighter than the average flashlight.

[Ever Victorious]

Plus its a cop-magnet. But anyways you bought them so enjoy. I do think that the V stock lights stink.

Uhm, as compared to?

They're brighter and cast a better focus than my Legacy, my Tucson, both of my old Kias... for that matter, better than ANY vehicle I have ever owned. Perhaps your V has a problem?

[Nismo V]

The stock lights are fine they would have been better with projectors but the aftermarket will take care of that soon enough and maybe even factory H.I.D.S as well ... have fun with your project Clipsed... as for me i'm happy with my Hella upgrades til the projectors come out with D.O.T. approval

[snwbrdraw]

I'm sure none of us mean to ruin your project, especially since you sound like you are very excited about it. This is your car and you can do whatever you want to it. I can imagine doing a lot worse to a car than making the headlights brighter. Remember that guy who wanted to put a train whistle on his V?!

I've always wondered why people choose to spend their money on certain types of "upgrades" to their car. Maybe you can explain it to us?

If I was going to improve my car, I'd focus one of the areas below:

1. Horsepower2. MPG3. Handling4. Safety

I guess having brighter lights does improve safety for you but maybe not so much for others. How else would people like to improve their cars?

As a final thought, I've always wondered if people spend 5 - 10 k on car improvements trying to make it appear or actually be faster, why wouldn't they just go buy a faster or sportier looking car in the first place?!

[proxim2020]

For some, styling will out weigh performance (i.e Show Car Guys). Having a one off, customized item that no company is even offering yet it a huge thing in the styling arena.

[Greek.intuit]

Don't let people burst your bubble... just do yourself a favor and take the reflectors and coat them with a non-reflective material or paint so that all you have reflected is the controlled beam.

Everyone likes to complain about all the nicer things you can do to your car, personally, I would love to see how this project turns out!

If you could, let me know where you got these lights and if any wire modifications were needed!

Good Luck, and as we say in New York,

Faghettaboutit. You go enjoy your car!

[Ever Victorious]

As a final thought, I've always wondered if people spend 5 - 10 k on car improvements trying to make it appear or actually be faster, why wouldn't they just go buy a faster or sportier looking car in the first place?!

more or less exactly what Proxim said. If, for example, you have a $15k Civic, and put $10k into cosmetic and performance upgrages (body styling, turbo kit, suspension, etc.) it will look far more unique and perform far faster than the stock version. Whereas if you buy a $25k WRX, you've goit just that. A WRX. As it came from Subaru. One of thousands.

Everyone who mods has different reasons. Performance, show, comfort, whatever... and it's up to each individual person as to what they like and what they want.

My only caveat to that is things at least have to remain legal... and my only concern about this project is that Clipsed could potentially have his headlamps emit enough light that his low beams look like high beams... which, at least in every municipality I know, is illegal.

However, I understand his reasons for wanting projectors. Though the headlamps on my Optima were not HIDs, they were projectors, and the beam they cast was extremely even... the only advantage they had over the V (as they were far weaker actual beams on that car).

[marleyfan]

Every single person here who spoke negatively about Clipsed's project did so for one reason only...the safety of others. Nobody is criticizing him over a cosmetic project. Clipsed is (I believe) the youngest active member on this board. Sometimes young people do things without considering all the consequences (I of course never did anything like that ). I like Clipsed's enthusiasm with his car and look forward to seeing what he's done with his V when all is said and done, but when he chooses to do a project that is potentially (though not intentionally) dangerous to others then I think we all need to speak up. It's what a community does.

[Clipsed]

wow, I was never quite expecting this response when I decided to actually post this up. Sorry you guys think that this is so dangerous to others when it is not. I really don't think you all actually know about HID's. I believe the first thing that pops into your head is that idiot who has them and they are really bright blue and all over the place! This is not so with these HID's, they are OEM projectors off of an Infinity. What I actually plan to do is not what you all think, and yes there are idiots who do things with HID's who do not know what in the hell they are doing, and the difference is I do. It is very hard to blind someone when your headlight beam is like this . . . .



Because that is the exact same beam that my projector is going to emit. HID's off of BMW's, Mercedes, Lexus, etc. were all approved because they are SAFE to have, if they were not, they would not be on the streets. Once I complete this project, I will show you guys that they are not blinding to others, and you will realize that they are safe and provide 3x the light output that our stock halogens are, and put less strain on your charging system, which if you do not consume a lot of power could gain better MPG!

[Ever Victorious]

I'd be careful using the phrase "3x the light output". Light output is measured in lumens. You don't even get that much of a bump between low an hi beams. Example case: a certain car puts out 700 lumens from its low beams, 1200 from its high beams. If you're talking about tripling its low beam output, you are talking about making the beams more than 150% of the intensity of it high beams!

You don't necessarily want to put out LOTS of light, you want to make sure the light you do put out is efficiently used and not blinding others.

And just because a HID was legally installed in an Infiniti or BMW does not necessarily make it legal to install in another vehicle, because you're modifying the system. Can you say, with 100% certainty, that the modifications you require to get it to fit will keep it DOT compliant?

Again, I'm not saying I think your idea is bad, I just have concerns about it.

And remember, your 17 year old eyes are much more resiliant than the average 40 year old driver's eyes. Something that is not blinding to you may well be to someone else.

[KimberKenobi]

Another comment about the modding... yeah, it is about having something unique that you can talk about or that will turn heads... I bought a $20K car and I plan on spending at least $5K on it to do improvements to the interior and exterior styling ... and I say, to each his own...

Wayne, I love your enthusiasm for your idea (and you know I'm behind you) and I trust that you'll make competent decisions... I have an unrelated question for you, so I'll msg you on CarDomain...

As another aside... (I am asking because I am totally stupid in this area...) but the LEDs are brighter (as headlights) so how do they affect/impair other drivers and pedestrians? I want to do this, but I am concerned of being one of those cars that you have to look away from... (but I definitely want more focused/powerful backup lights... the ones on my Loyale were like rear headlights, it was great)

[Clipsed]

"I was doing some searching and found some GREAT videos to show all those people who swear kits don't have glare or they are better than stock halogen. Here is the proof:

the first video is great because not only does he have one HID kit in one headlight and the other stock to show good differences but you can also tell just how much glare you get. Also notice that the halogen side is actually puting out more useable light on the GROUND, where it counts!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...dding

Check out this HORRIBLE narrow beam pattern. Notice how blue and stupid everything looks. Smurf-style y0!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...dding

Mmmm glarehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v...dding

Enjoy, now get to spreading these video links haha"

[KimberKenobi]

"the first video is great because not only does he have one HID kit in one headlight and the other stock to show good differences but you can also tell just how much glare you get. Also notice that the halogen side is actually puting out more useable light on the GROUND, where it counts!

waitwait, I thought you were pro-HIDs (and I realize that the one in the video is missing some important part) but why would you point out that the Halogens light better (with more usable light) I feel like I've missed something... I'm so confused... (not a feat by any stretch)

[motoguy128]

I think he's showing examples of bad installations/kits. Optics and the reflector design are one of the most important parts of how effective a light is.

I guess for the $400+ for a good HID kit (last I checked), I'd rather have a really good set of tires. That would add more safety IMO.

I will admit, at night, it's would be easy to mistake your Versa with HID's for a VW GTI/Audi A3... or, well that about the only hatchback with HID's I can think of.

The feature I which I wish were standard on headlights, were servo motors to automatically aim them depending on the pitch of the nose during braking, accelerating, and going up hills, and aiming them in the direction of the steering wheel.

[BBISHOPPCM]

The first (and last) time I ever drove a car with projectors, I almost crashed the damn thing. It was a 1999 Toyota Celica, and the beam cutoff was way too sharp, I prefer the light scattering of a conventional Halogen bulb. I have driven with incandescent lights as well; I used to own a 1970 Pontiac Tempest with incandescent; that's an experience everyone should have!

[Ever Victorious]

If you want to talk about sharp beam cutoff, I'd gladly tell you about the halogens on my parents' '92 Pontiac Grand Prix. It's not type of light that causes that, it's poor design.

[dudealex]

heyjust wondering how many K is your projector light bulb is ?

[wai_jai268]

Great work Clipsed!!

I was just looking into purchasing a Versa, and come across someone who is willing to retrofit their headlights with OEM HID instead of purchasing the JDM OEM Projector Xenon and rewiring them.

I got a few questions if you don't mind answering,

1.) do you have a shrouds for these FX projectors?2.) Are the projectors filling up the headlights nicely? Because they are pretty big...i believe M45 or Q45 projectors are bigger...

Please keep us or me updated, i am very interested at this! Perhaps a lot of people in the Versa forum are not penetrated with the idea of retrofitting yet. I totally support ur project. Maybe people here should refer to the HID planet forum EDITED for more information. These are not a HID kit or super high k colour bulbs. Even though retrofitting might seem illegal, but the benefit is they produce OEM Xenon lights without blinding others because of the cutoff or those generic HID kits. I mean those Navigators+Escalators have DOT approved reflector xenons, but they light up the whole back on people's cars, blinding everyone!