hardcore flashaholics add upgraded hid projectors if they have halogens. 8)
or if their car has stock hid’s they upgrade the projector lens and add hid high beams and foglamps.
I had a set of projectors ready to go in but I realized, the stock halogens are fine.
It costs $900 (used to be $1400) to upgrade the headlights in my car to HID. Only an OEM factory conversion will suit me and I’m waiting for the price to come down some more. I would not even consider using those cheap a$$, illegal almost everywhere, bluish, purplish, greenish $100 “conversion kits” that many are buying and getting tickets for because the bulbs are the wrong length for the reflector and the whole mess is out of alignment and out of focus. Not to mention the ballasts and wiring are usually a joke. I know of what I speak. I’ve seen hundreds of them. I did once see a 6000K HID conversion that turned out well at a car show. Wish I could remember what the manufacturers name was. They supplied the entire reflector assembly along with everything else ($450).
Gee, Officer. How did you know my blue/purple/green headlights didn’t meet DOT spec? 
Before I was a flashaholic of any sort, I had a set of 45 dollar HIDs from DDMtuning.com. They were great! Bright, white (4500K?) with no blue and just worked. They lasted for about three years before I let someone drive my car. When they brought my car back, I saw how annoying these things really were. I removed them that evening and installed a set of selective yellow H7s back in to the housing (yellow headlights are legal in NC, I’m a licensed inspector). I couldn’t believe it. I could see just fine. I don’t know what I was thinking before. The most surprising bit, I could see BETTER in the rain.
It’s been about a year. I still have the same selective yellow bulbs in there but I do have a set of Philips Xtreme power H7s ready to go in when one of the old bulbs finally go. I have decided that I don’t need HID lamps in my car. They are nice but halogens do just fine. I also feel better as a person knowing that I’m not one of those people blinding the hell out of everyone.
OEM conversion is the only DOT legal route.
The kits are technically illegal everywhere, as it is a federal statute.
After 3 deer/car collisions in the last 10 years, the last one resulting in over $6500 in repairs, Yeah, I’d say I probably use them a bit more than most. But, I am still very conscientious of other drivers. Not much more annoying than drivers who won’t dim their brights.
I’ve never seen a vehicle with stock HID’s without projectors.
I use HID’s in my high beam housings only. I love them. Only use them when no one else is in the path though. I wouldn’t mind low HID’s if there was a proper housing that won’t glare on the cheap.
99- Volvo P2 chassis (except for a select few in 07- with the active bending headlight option) used reflector type HID (called Gas Discharge Lighting by Volvo) in the S60/V70/XC70/S80/XC90 platforms. They used a D2R (Discharge lamp, non-integrated igniter, for Reflector applications) bulb.
I know that almost every manufacturer also used reflector type HIDs in their vehicles in the beginning.
That’s pretty interesting. I can’t stand when people put HID’s in incan housings. Well at least for low beams.
This thread sparked my interest in HIDs again. I think I’m going to pull the trigger on some projectors for a car I’m picking up tomorrow.
HID’s (with high/low beam) for my car (2005 Mustang GT) are not projectors. They look very much like standard halogen reflector style lights. There are some aftermarket projector style lights available but I don’t like the looks of them at all.
High beams used very frequently. I always dim them when approaching from either direction. (head-on or from behind ) I live in a rural area and you never know what’s lurking just ahead or around the corner. Been quite a few times I would have smashed into a fallen tree had they not been on.
Dim? Mine aren’t. Have 70W HIDs in my aux high beams (Biltema 9”) J)
Ticks me off when others don’t dim them when they should or drive with wall-eyed high beams so yes I don’t use them unless there isn’t oncoming or cars ahead. All alone the light it up. 8)
i stick my hand out the window with my newest light to light the way.
Most of my driving is urban, so even at night hi is rarely needed. But get away from town and hi is my norm. I like the way the English refer to the modes; “Main” and “Dipped” beams, which sort of tells you that you’re supposed to be on hi whenever you safely can. The idea being that you’re supposed to see all you can.
I learned to drive when all you had were tungsten sealed beams and some 6V cars were still on the road- not much light to be had with them so you learned to use your vision properly by looking past the main spot of the lights using the spill so that your pupils didn’t contract as much and then you could see a whole lot further down the road. Today’s cars have such a sharp top-edge cut-off that this no longer works and even though the light is brighter, you actually see less because there’s no spill beyond the hotspot; thus you have to look at the hotspot and your pupils contract reducing your vision when the opposite is what you really need. It’s not just about throw, it’s about seeing as much as you can in the dark and you need spill above and around the hotspot for that, especially on lo-beam.
One old truck I bought used had a spotlight mounted, when set correctly it was a sure-fire way to get oncoming cars to dim their lights when they didn’t respond to the usual quick hi-lo flash reminder. Blinding an oncoming driver may not be too smart though- I stopped doing that when after blinking twice with no dimming, my spotlight showed the big blue light atop the oncoming idiot’s car just as he finally dimmed his lights. No problem that time but I quit while I was ahead.
I live in the land of hills and curves and am regularly blinded by even the tightly focused low beams of today’s cars. There is a time and place for well-focused throw, but it’s not in car headlights for normal driving low beams where it is equally important that the oncoming driver be able to see too. And now the rednecks around here have discovered LED light-bars which they (illegally) leave on just to be a$$hats, blinding everyone ahead of them. It won’t be long before bullets start flying towards cars that have too much light going on; I know how some of the people are around here and I’m glad to have all the light I need in sealed-beam halogens which don’t blind anyone but still let me see safely at legal highway speeds. I just hope the shooters can aim well so they don’t hit me by mistake.
Phil
Before I had the cataract surgery — and while I still passed the driver’s license renewal eye exam — this is how high beams looked, to that eye, when oncoming:
And people with both eyes in that condition likely can still pass the driver’s eye exam.
Nighttime glare isn’t simulated, in those tests, anywhere I know.
That made me a more careful, defensive driver, when I realized for a lot of the drivers out on the road, I’m barely visible if at all.
This is also why I carry a bright blinkenlight as a pedestrian, all the time.