ChasWG Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Yea I'm trying to go higher but for the price 12k is ok with me. It'll bring out my yellow fogs. And look a little "Boy-Racer"-ish too. The funny thing about the Kelvin scale for light color is that the higher you go (8000K to 12,000K), the less lumens are actually given out. That's why so many factory installed HID systems are in the 4500K to 6000K range. Not very blue but they put out a very high amount of lumens. 8000K is actually fine too and very blue. I have a set that I had installed in my old VW Passat with Euro spec, projector headlamps years ago. They worked great in those housings and looked cool too. Lots of light. I pulled them from the car before it went away and I still have the ballasts/ignitors, wires and bulbs all packed away. I just need to find a use for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cryo Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 In my experience anything over 6k is really not an upgrade over factory lighting. 8k is too blue on the light spectrum to have usable light output for daily driving even though they may appear bright, the light blends into the road surface,trees to much and doesnt bounce the image back. I will always suggest a person to go with something in the 4-6k range depending on driving styles. just my .02, Dave [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com facebook.com/cryotuneperformance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Dave, while I agree with most of what you're saying, I will say this. You never saw my car with it's light set up. Everything you described wasn't true with that situation. Even with the 8000K HIDs in the Euro spec headlamps that car lit up the road amazing well. Far exceeding the original halogen bulbs in the NA spec headlamps. The differece between 8000K and 6000K, as far as lumens is not that big of a difference. Yeah, they were pretty blue and yeah I'm sure I could have gotten a few more lumens onto the road with 6000K bulbs, but the way you are presenting your .02 sounds like you would never see anything with 8000K HIDs. That's simply an exageration on your part. BTW, I'll be buying a set of H7 HID bulbs here real soon to re-install my former kit into my Legacy here real soon. I'll be buying the 6000K bulbs this time. My boy racer days are behind me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cryo Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I am not doubting you and question if it may have been because of the "euro spec" headlights or something else at play. I have seen and installed 8k-12k lights on show cars and even heard from the owners that they would not work well for daily driving. I have also driven cars with them installed in the mountains and was terrified because the high beams had been disabled and I couldnt see anything other than the road right infront of me. I'm glad you had good experiences with yours but most people I have ran into have had opposite opinions. The other issue is how the human eye reacts and perceives the light. Depth perception becomes very limited above 6k and the eye actually becomes lazy and is less likly to be able to focus on an obstruction or object in its path as quickly. I am in no way saying you are wrong or I am right, just stating my experiences. Dave [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com facebook.com/cryotuneperformance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finse Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 The other issue is how the human eye reacts and perceives the light. Depth perception becomes very limited above 6k and the eye actually becomes lazy and is less likly to be able to focus on an obstruction or object in its path as quickly. this. Human eyes do best with yellow light (guess what kind of star our Sun is). Add this to the decreased lumans of higher temperature xenon bulbs (6000K+) and you have added bling and removed a whole lot of safety. I had a set of 5000K Xtec's (circa 2006), they produced fairly white light (on the street) but appeared purple. They have since been replaced by 4500K's. I'm planning on switching to OEM 4300Ks as they should produce the whitest light available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finse Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 unnecessary second post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I am not doubting you and question if it may have been because of the "euro spec" headlights or something else at play. I have seen and installed 8k-12k lights on show cars and even heard from the owners that they would not work well for daily driving. I have also driven cars with them installed in the mountains and was terrified because the high beams had been disabled and I couldnt see anything other than the road right infront of me. I'm glad you had good experiences with yours but most people I have ran into have had opposite opinions. The other issue is how the human eye reacts and perceives the light. Depth perception becomes very limited above 6k and the eye actually becomes lazy and is less likly to be able to focus on an obstruction or object in its path as quickly. I am in no way saying you are wrong or I am right, just stating my experiences. Dave Dave, I understand and appriciate what you're saying as well. That's why I have now gone to the 6000K HID bulbs. My former Audi A6 had 4300K HIDs in it from the factory. And maybe they were just getting old, maybe it was the projector housings, but they were less "bright" than the VW before it. I'm sure those Euro headlamp housings had a lot to do with what got lit up and what didn't. Probably one of the parts of that car that I loved the most. I now have my 35W, 6000K HIDs (same ballasts that were in my VW) installed in my 2011 Legacy and they are working very well, super bright and the road is ablaze! I'm a little concerned that the car's lights are aimed too high. I haven't touched them as the car is less than a month old with less than 1000 miles on the clock. I haven't been flashed back at all, it just seems that these lights are throwing light a very long way. New design maybe and I'm not used to it. Who knows. And yes, I get the whole yellow light is better for human vision at night. Well, to a point. Maybe I'll get a chance to meet you sometime here at a meet up and drive. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cryo Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Dave, I understand and appriciate what you're saying as well. That's why I have now gone to the 6000K HID bulbs. My former Audi A6 had 4300K HIDs in it from the factory. And maybe they were just getting old, maybe it was the projector housings, but they were less "bright" than the VW before it. I'm sure those Euro headlamp housings had a lot to do with what got lit up and what didn't. Probably one of the parts of that car that I loved the most. I now have my 35W, 6000K HIDs (same ballasts that were in my VW) installed in my 2011 Legacy and they are working very well, super bright and the road is ablaze! I'm a little concerned that the car's lights are aimed too high. I haven't touched them as the car is less than a month old with less than 1000 miles on the clock. I haven't been flashed back at all, it just seems that these lights are throwing light a very long way. New design maybe and I'm not used to it. Who knows. And yes, I get the whole yellow light is better for human vision at night. Well, to a point. Maybe I'll get a chance to meet you sometime here at a meet up and drive. Thanks! Check out the mountain west thread, there is a good size meet coming up that shouldn't be missed. Hope to run into you sometime. Dave [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com facebook.com/cryotuneperformance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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