HID kits

[MrShadow]

Cool, thanks for that. Hmmmmm.......... I wonder if my bank account will stretch that far.

Ahh, 1996 BA is H3 or H1?

[BigMal]

You know that hella make a xenon HD conversion kit look at
http://www.hella.com.au/ under globes.

Mal

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by BigMal

You know that hella make a xenon HD conversion kit look at
http://www.hella.com.au/ under globes.

Mal

Globe
http://www.hella.com.au/cgi-bin/cata...mp;flmaint=131

H4 Globe
http://www.hella.com.au/cgi-bin/cata...p;flmaint=2543

Conversion kit
http://www.hella.com.au/cgi-bin/cata...p;flmaint=2085

Originally Posted by Hella

SUITABLE FOR OFF-ROAD APPLICATIONS ONLY. NOT ADR COMPLIANT OR LEGAL FOR ROAD USE. Fitment and use is only permitted for H4 headlamp systems with integral globe shield.

Oh well I've got H4 so I guess it's down to AutoBain Saturday to see how much, if they are dual beam and lenses (I think I have spares though) etc.....

[Snagglepuss]

Greetings,

This is my first post to this site and I hope you will find the following of use. I work for a company that is one of the largest supplier of HID's (High Intensity Discharge) lights to the mining industry. HID's are rated according to the colour temperature they produce and wattage output. The most common are 4250K and 35 watts. A light of this capacity produces a blue/white light that is similar to daylight and throws out about double the luminence of a 100watt halogen globe. As mentioned above it's all to do with efficiency.

You need to be careful when fitting aftermarket HID's that you don't set them too high and blind oncoming traffic. Vehicles fitted with HID's as standard usually have a self levelling system to prevent this. I know of a number of drivers who have come foul of the law because their lights were too bright.

Another factor to consider is the colour you choose. Bright sunlight is rated at between 5000k - 5500k. Above that and the light changes colour and you actually start to see less. 4250k is considered by most OE manufacturers to be the best compromise. Most recommend 5000k and above for show use only. You should also consider beefing up the wiring leading to the ballast (the electronics box) as it will draw more current than your standard lights. HID's require between 22,000 - 24,000 volts to get started and this is what the ballast does.

With everything it's a matter of choice. I know that I'm looking for some HID's to fit my Astina through my company contacts. I'll bet you got a shock when you asked the price of a conversion kit at Autobarn! I used to work for them and they know how to charge. I hope this was of some use.

Cheers

[KittyKatSmack]

Hiya Snagglepuss,



Thanks for the fantastic information!!!

Hope you enjoy your time here at AstinaGT.com.





*exits, stage left*

[sacah]

Interesting

Have a look at that page, plus from the reaserch I have read, HID is actually worse for driving and for everyone else driving.
HID create a bright patch, with of real gradient at front of car, this means that your eyes go small, cause of the bright light and they can't actually see as far into the distance as normal lights that have a smaller lighting, but allow your eyes to go larger and thus making you actually able to see better.

Not sure if that makes sense, I'm pretty tired, but even if HID cost nothing, I would not have chosen them...
(-:

Just though I would drop my 2 cents...

[Snagglepuss]

The trick is to get the colour that closely mimicks daylight. This is why manufacturers got for 4250k. It represents a cloudy day without too much bright sunlight. You will see further with HID's, and if set up properly your eyes will be more relaxed for it. The HID's we sell to the mining industry cost about $2,200 a piece and will illuminate an object about a kilometre away with a high beam pattern. This is with 35watts of power!

HID's are the way of the future. As mentioned earlier my company is looking at getting some HID replacement kits soon. Many of our suppliers have offered them to us but we're very fussy when it comes to quality (not a bad thing). If we have any luck I will post the details. Meanwhile, if you get the chance to change, do so. You won't be sorry.

Cheers

- Exit, stage front even!!!-

[Cosmo Dude]

The problem isn't so much with the lights it is more to do with the way they are installed and the respect the car owner has with other motorists. ATM it's legal to install and aim them the same way as halogens, they are not halogens and the difference needs to be respected and not exploited.

P.S. I was thinking of installing them as the high beam, not high/low. I have seperate high and high/low lenses.

[twilightprotege]

arh who cares about other motorists? what are they going to do, flash their high beam at you?

but really, all lights should be projector lights (like the BA's???) not the crappy old school lights like what we have. projector lights give superior light coverage in front of the car w/o doubt

[platypus]

thats because projector lights make focused light onto the correct patch of the road...

sacah - HID won't make your pupil go pin hole - they will stay dialated - just as they would normally at night, but what they will do is allow your eyes cones to operate in the distance, instead of relying on your rods as per normal....

rods take a full hour to 2 hours to be fully effective and the moment that you have a light (which will cause a pinhole pupil again) your rods will go semi dormant depending on the brightness of the light, as in daylight you don't use them!!!!


and in case you didn't know i've worked in eye care for the last 4 years

[sacah]

I have not studied eyes, but, in a room, turn the light off, your eyes get bigger, like 30 seconds later you can see resonably well, your eyes have adjusted for low light compred to the bright light as before

In the dark, go on a road or field etc, shine a bright torch like a meter from your feet, look into the distance and see how far and clearly you can see, Turn torch off, let eyes adjust, then shine a dimmer light a meter infront of you, you will be able to see further, while to you, you would prefer the brighter light, it makes you feel more comfitable, studies have shown that the brain can actually interprit the dimmer light seeing further, so its not as comfitable, but to avoid acidents etc, its better.

With having them the same as the sun on a cloudy day, the reason that its good during a cloudy day is because its the same every where, but when a spot is like that and everything else is not, your eyes have great difficulty with the contrast, shine a bright torch at a wall, you have to focus longer to see the picture on the wall in the fading part of the light because your eye will focus on the bright patch. The time needed to focus in a moving vechile could be dangerous.

For mining I'm sure HID are brilliant, but those cost a fortune and mining is extremly different than road driving...

This has been my rant, I'm not against HID, its just every where I look on car forums ppl are like HID are the best, nothing bad about em, spend outragious amounts of money for them now, I would just like to put another side to the story out there, for those who might not have spent the money if they knew both sides, in years to come, when a lot more research has gone into HID light placement and so forth, they could very well be the new thing, though I would think IR illumination, and IR sensitive cameras that project a display on the windshield like a HU display will be the next thing, computers can ellinintae any high bright points and provide a much more viewable drving experience.

(-:

Jeeze, anyone would think I loved typing or something...

PS.
If anyone has evidence to support or go against anything I said, I'm more than happy to listen, I like learning about how things work. (-:

[chicaboo]

This is how my eyes work:

When I'm driving at night with my headlights on low beam or high beam I have no problems. When a car comes from the other direction on a 2 lane road, all of a sudden everything else aside from their lights goes black. So all I can see is their lights and I lose the background detail from my own lights almost entirely. Like my eyes are focusing on the hotspot from the other car's lights...
That sort of sounds like what Sacah is describing, and lately as bad as my headlights are I have been comfortable using them on low beam because it IS more relaxing on my eys even if I can't see as far. But when I am concerned about 'roos and such I always use the high beams with no other traffic. But when the foglights are in the SP18 I will use them for low level illumination quite often.

Gav.

[platypus]

don't your gauges, stereo etc light up?
coz mine do!!!!

[chicaboo]

Originally Posted by ahb11m

don't your gauges, stereo etc light up?
coz mine do!!!!

Huh? Stereo and guages are fine, I'm talking about my view through the windscrean and how my eyes are affected by the oncoming light. My eyes react to the stronger light or atleast contract to accommodate the light from the headlights and everything else gets darker in the fallout area.
I have some understanding of this from a photography point of view. eg: go take a photo of the front of your car at night using the flash. The picture will still come out dark with a very bright reflection of your number plate (assuming it has a light background). The camera reads the light of the number plate and closes down the exposure to suit. That's about the most common relation I can give to the eye problem I experience...

Gav.

[platypus]

i meant in relation to your eyes being off focus... if your having trouble like this you should try and dim your lights on your dash as this will improve your forward vision

[sacah]

I do a lot of outback driving, and I found the guage and radio light dimmer a god send, outback where the only light is your headlights, it really helps relax my eyes not having the bright green glaring at me, the purple I'm changing it to is a bit more soothing, but outback, I'll still dim it...