Projector HID noob

[Limeade]

Little help here, I am thinking about getting a some HIDs for my Leggy Gt, but its not the brand thats the question, it's something else.

When you see a really nice car with HID stock, they have the blue flicker thing, where light comeing out of the side of the projector ball? is blue, and straightline light is the pretty white.

Now I am under the impression that ours will not do that, can we change out the "optics" of the housing, the little glass thing, and get that type of look?

Or am I really off, and does it have something to do with something else?

Sorry I searched, but I guess my searching skills suck as well.

[PeterJMC]

You mean the warm up when the HIDs first ignite? That is all part of the bulbs warming up. I have an Xtec HID kit and it runs through the warm up routine. It goes from blueish purple to bright white with a bit of blue.

[laz]

I think he means the flicker when the car goes over an uneven surface and the person seeing it is actually witnessing the flicker from the cutoff.

 

Not sure if our cars do it, but the projectors are pretty good with HID's. Many will say they are not the optimal setup, and they are right, but they are pretty darn close. Can you tell I love my XTEC kit?

 

X

[PeterJMC]

Ohh... well yes. Our cars don't have that auto leveling doohickey. So if you hit a small bump, the beam will raise along with the car.

[VXCL]

you will get flicker. we have it with the oem halogens. pretty much all projector setups have it becuase of the cutoff shield. when you go over a bump it changes the angle at which oncomming traffic see your light which allows them to see the unfocused blue, purple, and yellow light. people really lover when you have a stiffer suspension. you flicker like crazy. like an s2k.

[RockyMtnGT]

I have the Xtecs too! And yes I LOVE them. One of my favorite mods. My car is lowered, and is on 18's, so they do "jiggle" a little over bigger bumps.

 

I think the unfocused blueish light at the top of beam cutoff is what your referring too. Our cars do it but not as much as some others...IMO I think Saab's seem do it the most. I'm pretty sure you can increase the amount of this bluish light by bending the top of the reflector inside the light housing.

 

Not sure if this is something you'd want to mess with though? Do a search I've seen it posted on here somewhere...

 

Ok I was bored.... I found some info for you:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1081754

 

"about the cut off color, there should be a metal reflector plate inside your projector that you can bend to make ur cut off as blue as you wish."

 

"6000k would give you that rich purple effect if that's what you going for. But you can get the same or even better effect by going with 4600k and bend your projector shield toward the HID bulb and..."

[Limeade]

Sweet thanks!

[TYNY]

why do you want that flicker? isn't it more annoying than anything?

[VXCL]

why do you want that flicker? isn't it more annoying than anything?

 

agreed but its a status thing. all high end cars with projector d2s systems have it, so if your going for that oem look.

 

thing is we already have it as do almost all projector setups.

[lookslikeanevo]

all you would really need to do is mod the cutoff sheild to get some color out of it,

 

chech HIDplanet.com/forums and ask questions there, people there are pretty helpful aswell

[John M]

Anybody impressed by HIDs is pathetic. They appeared on Lincolns 11 years ago but now having them makes you cool? Whatever!

[lookslikeanevo]

^ lol i like HIDS cus i can see better

[TSiWRX]

^ "Seeing better" with HIDs is a highly controversial claim.

 

Current-technology HIDs can provide "more light" output, but much of this light serves to flood the foreground, thus effectively ruins your natural night-time distance-vision. However, the vast majority of us feel that we're subjectively "seeing better" because the foreground is so brightly lit that we can see every pebble, every crack, every slight roadway imperfection - thus adding to an illusion of comfort, while it actually is causing us to lose what many consider to be most important visual factor in night-time driving, particularly at-speeds.

 

Similarly, although the trend is to get as close to stark-white light output as possible, this is ironically not where our eyes are most sensitive. Indeed, there has been research to show that biasing light towards more of a yellow/"straw" end of the spectrum will enhance night-time vision. However, like with LED-based lighting that is so much the craze nowadays, manufacturers are having a hard time - both in a commercial-profit sense as well as in a public-perception/demand sense - converting what has become commonly perceived to be "superior" HID lighting with stark-white and even bluish light output to what should actually be better for us, in a biological-technological sense, to light that is more yellow in output.

 

Finally, during inclimate weather conditions, HID lighting, which is typically more biased towards the bluer end of the color spectrum (even the stark-white output of "proper" OEM/factory-designed HIDs - i.e. 4300 to 4600K color-temperature) will cause more glare to both oncoming drivers *_as well as_* the vehicle driver him/herself.

 

HIDs, in their current state, are definitely far from the end-all and be-all of lighting technology. Much of what we think defines "seeing better" comes from subjective perceptions, rather than any measureable, quantitative truth.

 

However, without a doubt, as HIDs continue to receive development and research, they'll continue to improve beyond what is capable of by their incandescent counterparts, which have had their day - but are still clinging-on as a viable and well-performing source of automotive lighting, despite hype to the contrary.

[lookslikeanevo]

^nice

 

ill rephrase my statement

 

I like HIDs cus it makes me think i can see better...

[coxx]

^nice

 

ill rephrase my statement

 

I like HIDs cus it makes me think i can see better...

 

+1

[TSiWRX]

 

Didn't mean to come-off sounding harsh. Y'all know that's not my way.

 

It's not that you're not "seeing better," it's rather that you're "seeing better" only in a very, very restricted sense.

 

HIDs aren't a magic bullet to this night-time driving thing. It's got its benefits, and it's got its shortcomings. You just have to know where both lie so that you can best take advantage of what system you choose.

[John M]

Oh yeah - and don't take my comment to mean I'm not buying HIDs. I will very shortly -- just for the improved lighting, not the bling factor.

[VXCL]

i had the pleasure of driving around with just one of my retro'd bmw projectors last night and visibilty was better then any other car i've driven at night with halogens cept for the legacy's small gremlin popped up from water finding its way into my ballast's power connector after rinsing my car at a magic wand place. she's all fixed now and no way in hell that will ever happen again.

[PeterJMC]

Just one? Did the other one go bad?

[VXCL]

haha you posted while i was editing

[lookslikeanevo]

i had the pleasure of driving around with just one of my retro'd bmw projectors last night and visibilty was better then any other car i've driven at night with halogens cept for the legacy's small gremlin popped up from water finding its way into my ballast's power connector after rinsing my car at a magic wand place. she's all fixed now and no way in hell that will ever happen again.

 

bmw projectors are not usually known for their visibility, but are known for their color that they put out.

 

now the TSX/TL projectors are known for both

[gt_ltd]

S2000 > TL > TSX, imo.

[VXCL]

bmw projectors are not usually known for their visibility, but are known for their color that they put out.

 

now the TSX/TL projectors are known for both

 

really depends on which units. i've seen and sold almost everything. i was going to use valeo, but these particular hella bmw units performed basically the same and i got them for pratically nothing. generally i stay away from hella myself.