redline76 Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I finally received the Xenondepot HID kit I ordered a month ago (apparently on backorder) and the kit looked to be very good quality. I went with Xenondepot because they claim to use genuine Phillips 4300K bulbs and ballasts, and I don't have any reason to disbelieve them The install took way longer than it should have based on the fact that I tried to make it as neat as the factory would have done it, and the ballasts are huge ad are a pain to find a place to hide. Anyhoo, the kit was done and I pop the lights on. Same familiar warm up as my STI, but the effect is unlike any HID I've seen before. At the top of the cutoff is a very yellow light, much like an ion-crystal effect. When looking at the lights from a distance, they pretty much look like halogens, same for in the driver's seat. The cutoff isn't razor sharp which I guess is expected since the lights aren't designed for HIDs, but overall they project a decent amount of light and they don't seem to have too much glare. Anyone else have this lighting phenomenon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt_ltd Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 any night pics? This Space For Rent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al-gorithm Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Try this link. I believe that you have to bend the projector shield to give that sharp blue cutoff. http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8544&page=1&pp=40 post 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaStaMooN Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I installed mine also recently. Same kit as yours also. And behaves exactly how you describe. A very yellow output near the top... Very white when looking head on.. but if you get low enough, they turn blueish. My brother and I took our cars for a photoshoot to compare his S2000 HID's to mine... His are a bit more blue than mine, but his are also a few years old and HIDS will 'color shift' with age. Head on over to http://www.mastamoon.com for some day/night pictures of my car. There you will find some pictures (excuse the crappyness) of my lights and pics of his car vs. mine. Im hoping my lights get a little more blue as time goes on, but not to much.. I like the extreme white light these put out.. Very bright. Jon - vBGarage Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redline76 Posted March 29, 2005 Author Share Posted March 29, 2005 Thanks for the advice on the shield bend. As it would seem to be an inexact science, I will probably leave well enough alone for now. Very unusual how yellow that light is, though; Mastamoon's pics show the effect very well. From a distance you can hardly tell the difference between the halogen fogs and the HID bulbs. As I bought them for performance before looks, I'm not as concerned about the bling factor but I am worried that I'm creating glare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne53 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Any pics of said shield bending? -Tyler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NasdTrader Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Well, my apparently "inferior" and much less expensive McCulloch kit doesn't have that issue. It has 4600k bulbs, and has a sharp blue cutoff. I didn't have to modify the reflector.. just popped them in. Driving wise they are worlds better than halogens and noticably different. Of course, if my ballasts fail in a year or two, I guess it won't matter much! It seems odd that you would have to change the reflector in the '05 cars, they are a projector style, and shouldn't have to be adjusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt_ltd Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 It has 4600k bulbs the forum vendor said those 4600k used to be rated as 5300k, that may be why yours looks bluer. This Space For Rent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 I installed mine also recently. Same kit as yours also. And behaves exactly how you describe. A very yellow output near the top... Very white when looking head on.. but if you get low enough, they turn blueish. My brother and I took our cars for a photoshoot to compare his S2000 HID's to mine... His are a bit more blue than mine, but his are also a few years old and HIDS will 'color shift' with age. Head on over to http://www.mastamoon.com for some day/night pictures of my car. There you will find some pictures (excuse the crappyness) of my lights and pics of his car vs. mine. Im hoping my lights get a little more blue as time goes on, but not to much.. I like the extreme white light these put out.. Very bright.I can appreciate your color.. but I'm not overly thrilled with the difference in light output.. how would you rate the difference in the pics vs real life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaStaMooN Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 If anything, output is the biggest difference I have seen with my install. These totally light up the road infront of you and then some. The stockers were very good, but you see a difference in the 'fill' area between the 2. Imagine having 2 flashlights held a distance apart in front of you.. You get pretty good fill right in front of you, but as you move away, the beams dim quick.. Now imagine having 2 flood lights held the same way.. The road in front of you will most likely look about the same brightness.. but the flood lights will carry it much further away from you.. So instead of the stockers being great like 10 ft away then fading... the HIDs are great up to like 20 ft, then start falling off. There are pictures on the net that better illustrate what im trying to say here. I would rate the pictures like a 5 or so on how the lights really look. I think they show the intensity ok, but the overall effect and brightness is not reproduced well in these pics. I dont know. These were not on my list of upgrades actually. Maybe down the line when I was done with everything else. But my wife bought these for me for our 1st anniversary, so I put them in. Im happy with the result, but is it worth my $450... probably not. Especially since I hardly drive at night.. But I will say.. these do look nice in the day time also Jon - vBGarage Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redline76 Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 I finally had a chance to really test the light output on a dimly lit highway. I can honestly say that there is a significant difference in light output. Not only is the road floodlit for 20-30 feet but signs are lit up down the road extremely well. As for another thing, when I used to put the fogs on, there was more light thrown down in front of the car. Now when I put the fogs on you can hardly tell the difference. So far no one has flashed me so I'm hoping the glare isn't as much of a big deal as I initially feared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 i bet you anything the problem is that the bulbs arent focusesd 100%. try moving the bulb around, but you;ll only be able to pull it abck and not push it foward without modifying it. xenon should work awesome in an h7 projector since they are almost identical in design and share almost the exact same foacl point. i have never used a kit in an h7 setup, but d2s bulbs focus perfectly especially in audi (valeo h7 units), but then you got to get them to stay put. cut off should be razor sharp if focused properly. peace MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaStaMooN Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I plan on opening my lights up again and seeing if there is any room to move the bulbs around. If not, I might try bending the sheild a little bit. The more I use these, the less impressed I am with them. Jon - vBGarage Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaptan Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Where exactly is the shield? I was looking for it when I did my McCulloch HID install, but didn't see anything. Ok, maybe I didn't know exactly what it looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaStaMooN Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I dont know either, I was just gonna take the bulbs out and look for something. Anybody know if we have a shield in there and/or what it looks like? Jon - vBGarage Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I dont know either, I was just gonna take the bulbs out and look for something. Anybody know if we have a shield in there and/or what it looks like? its all the way inside the projector. i wouldnt bother messign with it. it will not do anything for light light output (unless u change it severly which will result in blinding everyone) by changing slightly u can effect cutoff shape and color to an extent. to make your light work better they need to be focused and the only way to do that is to mess with the bulbs. ifyou dont have a razor sharp cutoff like when it was stock then it isnt focused. 1mm can make a HUGE difference. if its focused and still doesnt impress you then the kit is crap. h7 halogen should not seem anything like xenon. something is wrong. although i will say the legacy has some of the brightest h7 halogen setups i have seen. i came from a car with a bmw bi-xenon retro and have been able to stand the halogen while waiting for some parts to convert the legacy. but still it is a joke compared to what i had but its pretty damn good for what it is. MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redline76 Posted April 7, 2005 Author Share Posted April 7, 2005 I wouldn't go as far as to say the kit is crap (yet) but I would like to figure out why I'm getting this effect. Has anyone found their headlights to be aimed low from the factory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaStaMooN Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 Thats another thing I want to check out is the aim. I plan on following the instructions at http://faqlight.carpassion.info/hl-aiming.htm seems easy enough. Jon - vBGarage Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 I wouldn't go as far as to say the kit is crap (yet) but I would like to figure out why I'm getting this effect. Has anyone found their headlights to be aimed low from the factory? I wasn't saying it was crap, but if after its focused and still doesnt do it for you then its the kit. more specifically the bulbs most likely. MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redline76 Posted April 8, 2005 Author Share Posted April 8, 2005 Fair enough. After looking at the light pattern against a white wall it would appear that the "glare" above the cutoff is what is very yellow and is probably due to the bar-shaped piece inside the projector which redirects light upwards to illuminate road signs. I've read the Mazda 6 forum post about some people pulling this piece out but unless one pulls the housing out to check this is all speculation I can't imagine anyone with HIDs that doesn't have this glare; it's probably not as obvious with 5K and 6K kits since the yellow is not as prevalent (if at all). FYI when I say yellow, I don't mean yellow-ish. I mean, like ion-yellow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al-gorithm Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Just get these and call it a day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clash Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 http://forums.ircspy.com/images/smilies/wtf.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt_ltd Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 that may actually work! This Space For Rent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 many high end xenon projector setups also have a cutoff on top of the projector. realize that everything comes upside down when the light comes out. the top bar would creat a cutoff on the ground close to the car it would do nothing up the road. as would ripping ou the bottom cutoff sheild would give you high beams which is how bi-xenon work. they drop the shield down and BAM!!! tons of light no cutoff. by curving the cutoff sheild on the bottom you can effect cutoff color. AUDI DOES THIS which is why they seem more purple coming down the road on top of which they use osram bulbs. bmw uses phillips. i prefer philips they are slightly brighter and less yellow. but still yellow or not cutoff it should be razor sharp on the wall and light output should be superior by far. are you complaining about the color or output? also realize that up close they will look similar but stand 50ft from your car and they should look different from halogen. try puttin in one oem halogen and one xenon and maybe then you'll se the difference. MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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