HID Headlight Review.
09-24-2013, 09:01 AM
#31
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2013 fx4
I just bought a 2013 FX4 and I've been looking to see if I can match my headlights and fog lights. I don't really want projectors or HIDs. Are there any bulbs that I can get to match as close as I can to my headlights?
09-24-2013, 06:24 PM
#33
there is soooooo much fail in here i can't describe it.
simple fact. HID lights are used on almost every high end car in existence (they will be replaced by LEDs i'm sure) because they are better than halogen in almost every regard.
as a professional marketeer i'm loath on my industry for the shinnanigans that goes on with product packaging and the loose laws world-wide about product naming. HID bulbs that are bought in a blister pack at auto-mart or whatever are not HID bulbs. they are literally "HID" bulbs because some guy like me can argue that they are "HID in apperance". they are just halogen lights colored or filtered to produce a different hue or color. in almost every case, the light output of these are lower than naked halogen bulbs because they are coloured or filtered. they may appear brighter becuase they may be boosting the wattage or because certain colours "look brighter". I'm sure some of the manufactures even reflect or bounce the light beams upwards so some red-neck looking at them notices an uptilt in the light path and goes "wow, these are much brighter. worth the $29.89 at automart!"
there are some simple truths that need to be listed.
1. If you buy a car with HID lights they are awesome. the HID lights i had on my porsche were the best lights i have ever had. All of these lights have self levelling and anti-blinding technology. these are legal everywhere they are sold. they are the best current mass market lighting technology. super bright. super safe.
2. if you buy a car with halogen lights and change the bulbs because you want a different look, take the extra 10 minutes to correctly align them. they may throw a different pattern to the factory bulbs. I promise you though, watt for watt the factory bulbs (or normal phillips or real brand bulbs) will "outperform" the "cool" lights.
3. if you replace the headlight assembly with "cool" retro "projector-like" buckets (that use regular halogen bulbs) and mix these with the "hid-like" bulbs you 100% must realize you are double compromised. lower effective light outbput and most probably a lower performing housing.
4. if you do a HID retrofit into a standard housing you 100% have to ensure your alignment is ok. You can seriously screw other people up. one thing with HID lights though is that there is a severe "cutout" of light output. where a halogen will spread light out everywhere with HID there is a definitive line of "lit" and "not lit". there is always a compromise between near field bright, mid field, blinding oncoming traffic and people in front of you and over-head street signage. be smart. be safe.
just as an fyi. after saying all of this. I have 2 trucks. my f150 i have installed a set of recon "hid-like" lights with "hid-like" bulbs because they look kool. their light output is terrible. f%^&%%&^%ing terrible. let me just say it again. f^&%*&^%ing terrible. but they do look kool. i am augmenting this with a HID set of foglights (by tux) to fill in the near field with adequate light (focussed below the trunk line of cars in front of me). on my raptor i am going a full set of HID retrofit buckets that will be aimed correctly (i also have a 40inch rigid led light bar beind the grill if i encounter any blackholes of time and existence while i am driving).
i guess what i am trying to say is that there are different technologies. they all have strengths and weaknesses, but at the end of the day, most of it comes down to a simple fact. If you f%$^&%k around with your lights, make sure they are aligned correctly and before you commit, understand the compromises that you onboard when you move away from factory.
simple fact. HID lights are used on almost every high end car in existence (they will be replaced by LEDs i'm sure) because they are better than halogen in almost every regard.
as a professional marketeer i'm loath on my industry for the shinnanigans that goes on with product packaging and the loose laws world-wide about product naming. HID bulbs that are bought in a blister pack at auto-mart or whatever are not HID bulbs. they are literally "HID" bulbs because some guy like me can argue that they are "HID in apperance". they are just halogen lights colored or filtered to produce a different hue or color. in almost every case, the light output of these are lower than naked halogen bulbs because they are coloured or filtered. they may appear brighter becuase they may be boosting the wattage or because certain colours "look brighter". I'm sure some of the manufactures even reflect or bounce the light beams upwards so some red-neck looking at them notices an uptilt in the light path and goes "wow, these are much brighter. worth the $29.89 at automart!"
there are some simple truths that need to be listed.
1. If you buy a car with HID lights they are awesome. the HID lights i had on my porsche were the best lights i have ever had. All of these lights have self levelling and anti-blinding technology. these are legal everywhere they are sold. they are the best current mass market lighting technology. super bright. super safe.
2. if you buy a car with halogen lights and change the bulbs because you want a different look, take the extra 10 minutes to correctly align them. they may throw a different pattern to the factory bulbs. I promise you though, watt for watt the factory bulbs (or normal phillips or real brand bulbs) will "outperform" the "cool" lights.
3. if you replace the headlight assembly with "cool" retro "projector-like" buckets (that use regular halogen bulbs) and mix these with the "hid-like" bulbs you 100% must realize you are double compromised. lower effective light outbput and most probably a lower performing housing.
4. if you do a HID retrofit into a standard housing you 100% have to ensure your alignment is ok. You can seriously screw other people up. one thing with HID lights though is that there is a severe "cutout" of light output. where a halogen will spread light out everywhere with HID there is a definitive line of "lit" and "not lit". there is always a compromise between near field bright, mid field, blinding oncoming traffic and people in front of you and over-head street signage. be smart. be safe.
just as an fyi. after saying all of this. I have 2 trucks. my f150 i have installed a set of recon "hid-like" lights with "hid-like" bulbs because they look kool. their light output is terrible. f%^&%%&^%ing terrible. let me just say it again. f^&%*&^%ing terrible. but they do look kool. i am augmenting this with a HID set of foglights (by tux) to fill in the near field with adequate light (focussed below the trunk line of cars in front of me). on my raptor i am going a full set of HID retrofit buckets that will be aimed correctly (i also have a 40inch rigid led light bar beind the grill if i encounter any blackholes of time and existence while i am driving).
i guess what i am trying to say is that there are different technologies. they all have strengths and weaknesses, but at the end of the day, most of it comes down to a simple fact. If you f%$^&%k around with your lights, make sure they are aligned correctly and before you commit, understand the compromises that you onboard when you move away from factory.
