HID Lighting
04-03-2005, 04:10 AM
#4
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Originally Posted by bigphil76
So I guess my best bet is to go with SillverStars? How do they compare to HIDs?
04-03-2005, 05:26 AM
#5
Melting Slicks
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HID's and or Silverstars look great and all that, and they work pretty good too, BUT, only in clear, dry weather. The blue/white light has no penetrating power in harsh weather conditions ie: rain, fog, or snow. That's why true fog lights are amber. The old incandescent headlights actually worked better in foul weather than anything on the market today, because they had a "yellowish" hue to them. We've got HID's on our Navigator, and they aren't worth a pinch of s*** when the weather gets nasty. I hate em! 
To each their own, but maybe you should check out the GE Performance Series Headlights or the Sylvania XTRA Vision Headlights.
They have Xenon Gas filled bulbs, and they put out 80% more light over standard Halogen.
To each their own, but maybe you should check out the GE Performance Series Headlights or the Sylvania XTRA Vision Headlights.
They have Xenon Gas filled bulbs, and they put out 80% more light over standard Halogen.
04-03-2005, 05:42 AM
#6
Melting Slicks
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Originally Posted by CMYC4GO
HID's and or Silverstars look great and all that, and they work pretty good too, BUT, only in clear, dry weather. The blue/white light has no penetrating power in harsh weather conditions ie: rain, fog, or snow. That's why true fog lights are amber. The old incandescent headlights actually worked better in foul weather than anything on the market today, because they had a "yellowish" hue to them. We've got HID's on our Navigator, and they aren't worth a pinch of s*** when the weather gets nasty. I hate em!
To each their own, but maybe you should check out the GE Performance Series Headlights or the Sylvania XTRA Vision Headlights.
They have Xenon Gas filled bulbs, and they put out 80% more light over standard Halogen.
To each their own, but maybe you should check out the GE Performance Series Headlights or the Sylvania XTRA Vision Headlights.
They have Xenon Gas filled bulbs, and they put out 80% more light over standard Halogen.
BTW: for those that don't know what HID is, it stands for high intensity discharge, or xenon. Silverstars are just halogens with a blue/xtra white bulb.
With high quality HIDs in a car, you can get over 12,000K where as Halogens can probably get as high as 5,600k (regardless of wattage).
That's why it requires seperate transformers.
04-03-2005, 10:00 AM
#7
Race Director
You can also go to higher wattage (off-road use only) bulbs I believe you can safely go to to about 110 watts without re-wiring but anything over that needs relays and heavier guage wires. Hella makes housings abd sells either European or off road bulbs.
04-03-2005, 12:04 PM
#8
Team Owner
I use the Hella glass housings in my 92 and you can get a variety of H4 type bulbs to fit the housing. I have APC Xenon bulbs in there now and they have about 50% more wattage (and lumens) than a standard halogen bulb. The light temperature is 4000K (Kelvin) and that is much brighter and whiter than standard halogens. The SilverStar bulb is also 4000K but the wattage is slightly lower than the APC bulb.
One nice thing about the Hella lamp housing is that the glass lens is cut to provide a light pattern to the right of the car. It lights up the shoulder of the road where most stock housings do not.. On low beam, there is a definite flat top to the beam and that is a great help in rain, snow, or fog to cut down the glare. The high beam is more like a driving light, fairly narrow and the light is focused forward.
The Hella housing is somewhat heavy compared to the plastic assemblies, but after 3 years, I have not had any issues with the motors or gears. I think the Hella housing only weighs about 3 lbs.
One nice thing about the Hella lamp housing is that the glass lens is cut to provide a light pattern to the right of the car. It lights up the shoulder of the road where most stock housings do not.. On low beam, there is a definite flat top to the beam and that is a great help in rain, snow, or fog to cut down the glare. The high beam is more like a driving light, fairly narrow and the light is focused forward.
The Hella housing is somewhat heavy compared to the plastic assemblies, but after 3 years, I have not had any issues with the motors or gears. I think the Hella housing only weighs about 3 lbs.
