VF HID hi beam

[PIR4TE]

Common sense

Oh give me a break.
live in the country and see how much safer you are without bright lights.
learn to dip them its not hard.

love when you modify something simple and people are all " Will someone PLEASE think of the children" just use common sence.

there no good for flashing but great for long periods in the sticks.

Each to their own opinion on common sense mate, and I agree those bulbs are practically useless in terms of response rate when you need them fast, like checking what danger just appeared in front of you - plus not matched to the spread of the reflector - these are safety facts.

Common sense tells me when I used them that after being flashed from 2-3 km away from trucks appearing over the horizon / around a blind bend that HIDs are unnatural and unsuitable for other road users on high beam using a reflector and no lens, just bugs and scratched Perspex. Also as a long distance country driver that does more driving in the sticks than anywhere else, the intensity and cool colour temp stuffs my eyes more and tires me out after long periods driving.

You should be able to see safely and well with high quality legal halogens in the proper colour range, everyone else does, thats not opinion just common sense.

 

[Black X]

I had HID's on the EVO and they were great. I just bought a set for the VF.

 

[Tasmaniak]

I also do a lot of highway driving... and I'm in two minds about HIDs in hi beam reflectors. In regards to your cheap eBay kits, jaycar and supercheap auto kits. They're simple answer. No.
I'll use some google images to help explain why... The problem with cheaper bulbs apart from response time is the "Focal point". When you insert the halogen H7 (as example) into the reflector housing, the parabola(curve) of the housing is designed to reflect the light from a source (filament in the bulb) located 25mm from the base of the reflector. When you compare the two bulbs side by side, you will see that the section where the arc is formed in the HID is actually further from the base than the halogen. It only needs to be 1mm or 2mm out to cause poor spread and glare. Hopefully this helps...

You can see how the light source is further forward in the housing and throws **** everywhere!... including having your non-cutoff section thrown into the opposite lane instead of the left hand side of the road. This is the biggest problem with low beam HIDs.

Enter Philips HID kits. You will pay through the nose for these puppies... Average is about $300-$500 on eBay. But, the difference is outstanding. First off, they have a much quicker response time, a matter of seconds. Still not quick enough for my liking but much more rapid. Furthermore, they also have the same focal points as the halogen bulb they are replacing. In the case of eBay kits, they have one HID bulb and simply change the base to suit. In the instance of Philips, they have different length bulbs dependant upon application. It's why they don't make a H3 HID kit anymore... can't make a bulb that short and previous model had fitment issues because it was too long. I've also found them to be much brighter as a rule of thumb... Here is a photo of one of my customers an Audi TT. When he brought the car to me, it was fitted with eBay specials 55w HIDs. He wasn't happy with the light output and wanted my help. After much brow beating I convinced him to lower the wattage but increase the quality with Philips HIDs.

Philips 35W bulb on the left and eBay 55W bulb on the right. Massive difference.

Now for those of you who INSIST on using the cheap ****, there is a bit of a work around for the focal point issue. It's not perfect, but it can achieve better results. By packing the HID with washers, you can decrease how far the bulb gets inserted into the housing. Use solid plastic/metal rings, not rubber as it compresses unevenly and will cause inequality between the two sides.

Heres one...

Note the red ring...

Commercially available spacer...

Heres how it works...

Now in case anyone is interested, I happen to have a pair of prototype 75W Philips ballasts at home. I use 6000K 35W bulbs on them. By boosting the input voltage and current into a HID bulb you will increase light output but changes it colour. So by using the 6000K I get the COLOUR of a 4300K bulb. When I use 4300K bulbs, I get roughly the COLOUR of a Halogen 3000K bulb. But #### me, they are bright! Also take about 20 seconds to warm up! lol

At the end of the day, HID retrofits are illegal, they can be a problem on the road, rarely are they converted correctly and hence the light output is not what people were hoping for. The biggest downfall is ALWAYS that focal point issue. Correct that, and you can probably get away with it. All of our cars have or have had HIDs with a lot of effort put into setting them up correctly. The only vehicle I have removed them from is our Prado which only has a H4 reflector and because of the height of the vehicle I couldn't prevent glare to other drivers I could certainly reduce it, but I'd still get flashed occasionally which tells me, I was upsetting a lot of people that just couldn't be bothered giving a flash. Mind you, on our Prado it has some fancy OSRAM Nightbreaker bulbs in the H4s. High beam with flick of a few extra switches will bring on 240Watts of LEDs, 220Watts of HID Spotlights... oh and the H4 high beam filament, but that tends to get left behind.

I am by no means an expert on HID bulbs, but I like to think I know more than the average guy, so if anyone has any questions, ask away and I'll do my best.

 

[Tasmaniak]

Also, I'd just like to add...that using HIDs in a non-HID housing, will eventually destroy the outer plastic lens. Glass doesn't care, but in plastic, you will develop a hazing on the inside of the lens. It's not dirty or gritty, it's actually destroying the plastic itself. This is due to the UV light emitted from the HIDs... its aging the plastic prematurely. This will cause decreased light output after a period of time. With that being said, I have ran HIDs in the Ford Ka now for two years with no evidence of hazing. But, it WILL happen eventually. Something to keep in mind. If all you do is night driving, or you drive with your headlights on.... that will happen even quicker.

 

[davey g-force]

Great info Tasmaniak, that makes sense.

Does that issue with the focal point apply only to reflector headlights, or to projectors as well?

 

[vl_nick]

I can understand the above issues with low beam, however you only use high beam when there is no other traffic around, so I cant see an issue with HID on hi-beam if they give better visibility, except when you need to flash someone which is also illegal in most situations. I am monitoring this thread to help me decide whether to install a low beam kit in my VF to improve in my opinion the poor output from the factory headlights, in my opinion my VT has better visibility than VF.

 

[bretto86]

Coming from a BMW, with aftermarket HIDs in projector headlights, I actually think the light output of the VF is pretty good...
Better than I expected.

HIDs were one of the first things I planned to fit but not sure I'll bother now. If I do it will be largely for looks rather than being unhappy with the standard setup.

& yes this is after doing a lot of night driving on totally unlit roads...

 

[VFSSVUTE]

I am also interested to know if the focal point applies to the projector headlights

 

[Tasmaniak]

Same issue as projectors have a reflector behind them throwing everything forward. Although typically, nowhere near as much of a problem. Often times, not noticed at all. I noticed on our mercedes, it didn't seem to cause anyone any dramas but I noticed it and I corrected it... perhaps better than a halogen spread!

 

[XUV]

You should be able to see safely and well with high quality legal halogens in the proper colour range, everyone else does, thats not opinion just common sense.

Word :spot on: