K2 GTi
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Registered: 21st Oct 04
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With it being darker at night ive realised my lights are shit.
I used to be fairly clued up on these 10 years ago but haven't look since.
Does anyone have the picture to compare the different shades of colours? I'm after something that doesn't look chavvy but is nice and bright.
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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Have you looked at the Osram 100% Brighter white headlamps? Not quite the same as Xenon but damn brighter than standard lamps!
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Dave
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Registered: 26th Feb 01
Location: Lancs
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You want 4300k really, 6000k max. The higher the number the more blue-purple it goes but less useful light.
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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I have 5000k hid's. The light colour is perfect. Very clear white.
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Jambo
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Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
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Don't get HIDs unless you have the correct projectors.
Osram and Ring IIRC do some brighter standard bulbs. I would also check the state of your lenses, current bulbs and wiring before upgrading anything tbh
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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I've had mine a good while now and haven't crashed nor have a killed anyone else.
Internet must be wrong.
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MarkM
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Registered: 11th Apr 01
Location: Liverpool
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quote:
Originally posted by Jambo
Don't get HIDs unless you have the correct projectors.
Osram and Ring IIRC do some brighter standard bulbs. I would also check the state of your lenses, current bulbs and wiring before upgrading anything tbh
I've used the Ring bulbs. Recommend them.
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Generation
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Registered: 7th Jul 09
Location: Essex
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Pretty sure mine are 6k. Had them aligned properly and not a single person flash me.
Must be annoying loads of people as Internet says so
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big eck
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Registered: 20th Apr 03
Location: Tullibody. Drives - Audi B8 S4 & Fiesta Zetec-S
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One of the best mods anyone can do to a car IMO. They're perfectly fine without projectors as well. Ran them for years on my LCR without blinding anyone. You just need to make sure the light beams are adjusted properly.
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Generation
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Registered: 7th Jul 09
Location: Essex
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Internet myths
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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The light scatters everywhere, it's not a myth. Had them in enough cars to know how they look.
Projectors are better than reflector lamps but still not as good as an actual HID lamp.
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VegasPhil
Premium Member
Registered: 16th Jan 05
Location: Fareham, Hants Drives: Octavia VRS
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The Osram Nightbreakers seem to get good reviews.
Corsa 2.0 16v Vegas - Sold
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Neo
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Registered: 20th Feb 07
Location: Essex
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Thought aftermarket hids were illegal now and failed mot ?
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whitter45
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Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
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6k is probably the limit
Ran 8k in my BMW which were factory xenon's with replacement bulbs and light out reduced dramatically
When it rains it makes it even worse
5k or even factory 4.3k is probably the best
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Generation
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Registered: 7th Jul 09
Location: Essex
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I agree on some lights it goes to shit, but I wasn't debating that at all
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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quote:
Originally posted by John
The light scatters everywhere, it's not a myth. Had them in enough cars to know how they look.
Projectors are better than reflector lamps but still not as good as an actual HID lamp.
Definitely agree with you on the reflector lights. I've only ever used them in projectors. Puma ones weren't great, but the z4 ones are fine.
It's the 8k hid's in saxo's that look awful.
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Jambo
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Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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4300k is factory/oem spec. The blue/purple hue comes from the border to which the cut off is visible and the human eye detects the light being scattered. Many idiots believe the higher the Kelvin count the more they will look like they have sik lights bruv lik dem Lexuziz innit. Factory Xenons project white light, not blue.
There is not internet myth, its science. A halogen bulb needs a type of reflector bowl to scatter the light as is desired. An HID/Xenon bulb needs a completely different projector to function in the way it was intended. Unsurprisingly the internet £25 "fix" is bollocks.
People will harp on about re-based Chinese bulbs as being amazing and much better than their stock setup, but it is simply bollocks. Yes your foreground may be illuminated slightly differently but the output and vision will be severely compromised. You also are usually finding people with 10year old cars and bulbs comparing their new kits to their defunct parts. If your light output is compromised then I suggest as mentioned earlier, checking the clarity of possibly UV damaged lenses, decayed bio degradable wiring, dodgy fuses, or dead bulbs before embarking on a quick fix.
The two technologies work in two different ways (Halogen spreads far and gently, Xenon/HID close and intense) They are not retro compatible either way, no matter what some goon tells you on a forum. It is quite easy and not all that expensive these days to obtain proper projectors, and yes some of these even work with rebased bulbs! But if you wish to have proper lights, a set of D2S bulbs and a decent projector and some of your time modifying your lamps to accept them will have all your internet friends in disbelief as to how you have such good lighting. Check out HIDPlanet or TRS for more details....
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Jambo
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Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
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It is also worthy of note, that if you do decide to ignore sensible advice and fit incompatible bulbs to your halogen lights that you may need a relay harness to save degrading your cars headlamp loom and not posing a fire risk.
They are inexpensive and easy to fit and will cure a lot of known issues with retrofitting HID lamps to vehicles not present with them to begin with.
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Simon_16v
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Registered: 14th Aug 06
Location: Yorkshire
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5000K is as close to white as you'll get, look brilliant compared to my brothers 6000K kit on his 197
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ShEp
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Registered: 9th Aug 05
Location: Dingwall, Highland
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I got 5000k for my corsa and it's loads better.
As said though, don't get them unless it's projector headlights. I had to get them, as normal bulbs are useless in the projectors and couldn't see bugger all.
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Balling
Premium Member
Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
User status: Offline
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Just ordered Osram Night Breaker Unlimited bulbs for the Juke as it has horrible light output.
Will report back, once they're fitted.
As for HID's, there's definitely a lot of confusion based on some facts applying to OEM xenon lamps and others to cheap China retro fit kits.
Your retro fit HID kit might not "cause accidents", fitted in halogen reflector or projector headlights, but then they're no where near as bright as OEM xenon lamps.
I know this as I've owned both.
I've also tried fitting cheap China xenon bulbs to my OEM lamps and they are not as bright as the original bulbs. There's a reason that one single OEM bulb is more expensive than a complete retro fit kit. And no, it's not all markup.
It's true that 5000 kelvin will, theoretically, give the brightest output as it physically contains the most light.
It's also true that most, yet not all, OEM xenon bulbs are 4300k. Mercedes, and I believe BMW, both use 5500k in at least some of their cars. From my understanding, this is to better fit with the colour of LED DRL's as 4300k is a difficult colour to obtain with LED's (hence most cheap sidelight LED bulbs tending to look very blue).
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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I'm not being argumentative, I'm just clueless so would like filling in. Oh er..
I've had a car with factory projector xenons before, and I've recently fitted Japan spec lights to my Impreza which have got the HID "ballast" or whatever it's called, HID bulbs but no projectors.
They're a factory item from JDM cars, so not a retrofit/eBay kit.
Am I muddling up two technologies here, or am I missing something as I read a few posts in here that suggests only projectors would be fitted in tandem with HID bulbs on a factory car?
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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HID lamps don't have to be projectors. Civic being a good example.
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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So the downsides to people retro-fitting DIY kits would be present on non-projector HID factory lights too? Or is there something else to it?
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Jason x
Premium Member
Registered: 19th Apr 13
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I've driven past punto who had what looked like 13000K (completely purple) I had to almost stop my car, I couldn't see anything that might of been becuase they weren't aligned though.
I'm thinking of 6000K for mine, just the right amount of blue between 5000K & 8000K.
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