wow that looks awesome... I just got 4300k HIDs for my C5-R lights and I can only hope it looks like that!

 

Who are you asking? Me (black car)? Or StephenT (blue car)?

Mine are black housings.

 

Thanks! You got an awesome setup. Thanks for the tons of pics too.

 

Man, these lights sure are killer! I would love to drop the money on these, but I have it going other places.

I have seen the instructions that come with the "other" kit and it may as well be written in Chinese. These kits are the way to go!

 

those lights are sweet...i want some...but for like 500 :o

 

Someday, someone is bound to trade in their C5 and will put the HIDs back to stocks and maybe ... just MAAAAAYBE you'll get a used set for $500.

 

Where can I purchase a set? Are they a plug and play install?

Raz

 

I got mine from Forum member NOT-MEE. His website is http://www.vette-hid.com/

PM him directly if you have questions.

The install will take a few hours but is completely reversable if you ever want to go back to stock lights. Many forum members have done the install themselves.

 

I love the look. I haven't been a big fan of pop headlights (shocking huh?), but those look GREAT! I am going to add that mod to my long list!

 

I was a bit hesitant to drop the $ on these lights. But, after doing the change I am very glad I did.
This is a top notch product. One of the best quality products I've purchased for the vette since owning it and the light output is simply unbelievable compared to the OE crap. I can actually drive around without my PIAAs and I can still see everything on the road.

 

I think this pic pretty well backs up what I see in my Nissan Murano, and why I won't be getting HID's for my C5. And yes I do realize that it was probably not as dark as the pics show, but it is that dark a lot of the time. I have not driven anything else with HID's other than my Murano, so maybe they are not all the same. When I first got the Murano I loved how bright the headlights were. I spent a lot of time looking for conversions for my C5. Then I started to realize how much I could NOT see in the Murano. What is being lit, is very bright. But the cut-off is just that, there is no light outside of where the beam is. With the high beams on, it's like daylight everywhere you look. With low beams on though, you really can't see much, especially on unlit roads when there is little or no moon light to help. You get no light to the sides, you can't see ahead of you in turns (which is probably why BMW and Lexus and others have the adaptive headlights that move with steering input). you also can't see what's in front of you when going down into valleys. If your heading down a hill, you can't in any way shape or form see what's in the road going up the other side. If your cruisin down a country road where the land around the road is just two feet higher than the road surface, you ain't seeing what's getting ready to jump out, deer, dog, little kid, you can't see them. The only time you can see anything is if the car is on a straight level road, no hills, no valleys, no turns.

I hope that not all HID's have this problem and that it's just because of positioning and how high they are off the ground in the Murano that causes these things. But an HID is an HID, not a great deal of variance in them from what I've seen. The light position on the Murano is actually adjustable up and down. We keep ours at the highest setting, but it does not help. It is absolutely dangerous on twisting curvy country roads. The light coming from a standard C5 is pretty poor but at least you can see far in front of you, and what's next to you.

Just my opinion.

Cliff

 

even popped up they make the car look very modern.

 

Interesting thoughts, I'd like to hear what users say about your points.

 

Sounds like the lights in your 'Mo may not be adjusted correctly; we have an 04 Infiniti FX35 (not exactly the same vehicle but being a Nissan product, maybe some of the HID components are shared) and haven't experienced any of the issues that you describe.

I can't begin to tell you how many passengers I've had remark on just how phenomenal the HIDs in our FX35 work Matter of fact, the low beams are so good I have never used the high beams other than to test them just to make sure that they still work

I put the Vette-HIDs on par with our FX35 HIDs

Just waiting for Brian to market an HID solution for my DD, a 1994 Ford Probe GT where an HID setup will probably cost more than what the car is worth :o

 

Cliff, thanks for your opinion. I can say that with the Vette-HID's, I can understand much of what you're talking about. The HID's are seriously focused, and the line you see in the picture is dramatic, and it's that dramatic in real life as well. I noticed how dramatic when driving home from out in the country last night where there was no other ambient light. Going around corners was not a problem, there was plenty of light cast across the horizontal angle. However, the sharp line of the horizon was significant and it was pretty dark "above the line". But in those cases, I found that using the high beams filled the void above the line. Since it was my first time driving in such conditions (with these HIDs), I imagine it could have just been that I was not acclimated to this type of night driving condition. Driving around in town (which is where I live), there is enough ambient light from businesses, street lights, houses, and other vehicles, that this line of light and dark isn't ever an issue.

I noticed when driving home on the freeway tonight that the cut-off of the beam was pretty much right where it needed to be. It hits right below the back window of pretty much every vehicle I was following, at distances ranging from 1 car length to maybe 8 or 10 car lengths. I'm glad too, because these HID's are so bright and so tightly focused, that when kneeling in front of the car with your eyes at the level of the focused light, it's downright painful. If I were following someone and those beams were focused any higher, they'd be blinding in the rearview mirror of the guy in front of me.

I guess what I'm getting at is that when driving with other cars around (city or country), having the crisply focused line of the HIDs is not an issue to me. And when I'm driving on very dark streets, I'd be using my brights whenever there are no vehicles in front of me.

With regards to your comment about the stock Corvette lights and how far you can see.... You've got to see these VETTE-HIDs to believe them. I wish I take a picture that would really capture the range at which they're illuminating the road and the objects ahead. There is absolutely no comparison between stock Corvette headlights and these HIDs. I know you weren't making a comparison, just stating your satisfaction with the stock lights. I just wanted to point out that in addition to crispness as well as the field of view cast to both sides, these babies are throwing the light further than any car I've seen.

When I'm driving down the road and see lights hitting the reflective signs on the sides and above the roads at what I'd have to guess is two tenths of a mile, I know the light is coming from my headlights.

I need to find someone with a driving range (you know, for golf *****) and let me put my car on the zero feet marker and flip the lights on an off while recording it with a video camera. I'm curious myself how far this light is being projected.

Don't pass final judgment on the VETTE-HIDs until you get a chance to see them in action. That's what sold me. I got to take "the Pepsi challenge", and met forum member BAMF-AE in a dark high school parking lot. I had stock lights, he had VETTE-HIDs. I lit mine up first, and pretty much saw what I was used to. With mine on, and his car right beside mine, he flipped on the HIDs and WOW! was I floored! I'd say they easily cast light 5 times further than stock, and illuminated an equivalent field of view left to right. I was sold in the first 3 seconds of this side by side comparison.

I'd have to say that anyone on the fence, or even curious about how these VETTE-HIDs perform, should contact NOT-MEE. Tell him what city & state you live in and ask him if he's got any customers in the area that would be willing to demo their lights for you. I'm more than happy to do that with anyone in the DFW area.

 

I agree! I thought the same thing when I first got to see them in person. The housings and lenses really do update the look of the car, even when the beams are turned off.

 

Will anyone with the HIDs be attending the Bloomington Gold? Maybe a great place to show off your stuff? I'd really like to see them in action. I plan to make the road rally on Sat as well.

Raz

 

Cliff,

I'm not picking on you, I promise!!

I just wanted to bring your attention to two pictures I'd posted. These more accurately reflect the "driving experience" with these HIDs. The picture you cited was taken with the car about 1 car length from a white concrete wall. The two pictures below were taken with the low beams only, on a dark road (no street lights). If you look closely, you can see a few things that I think might show you a few differences in these HIDs and what you've experienced in your Murano.

First... Notice the width at which the light is spread. Turning into dark turns is not something I notice with these lights.


Second... I draw you attention to the brick mailboxes to show that height of the line between light and dark does gradually increase at distance, and that the light is not so focused that it's pitch black above the line.

Look at the two mailboxes on the right. I'm probably about 4 or 5 car lengths from the first mailbox. The mailbox is what, about 4 feet tall probably? The line hits it a little over half way up (maybe 2/3 up) and above it is dark, but definitely not completely black, there is some slight diffusion in the light. Next, take a look at the next furthest mailbox on the right. It's probably about the same height as the first one, but you can see (if you look closely) that nearly the entire height is being lit up.
Examine the two mailboxes on the left side of the street, and you see the same thing.

Anyway, I just noticed that these pictures were pretty decent examples of how the HIDs look on the road, and that I don't think it's as bad as the situation you experience with your Murano.

Cheers!

 

Beautiful Pics....

 

I miss having headlights that actually work