Headlight facts???
Headlight facts??? I am wondering if there any Techies with Facts? I have read way toooooo much about headlights, probebly enough to last the rest of my life and can't find a Real answer. I have buffed up my 1998 Z28 headlights and installed Sylvania Silverstar Ultra 9006 bulbs and things are good. I am thinking of going to CCFL headlights and want to know if I will see the road better or worse without going to HID. I was thinking that a newer designed headlight housing would project light Better,but i don't know for sure. I was searching the web to see if there were any comparison tests done but no luck. Do any of our Smart people here have an answer for me?? Thanx for any good comments.
It entirely depends on which housings you get.
Eagle Eyes -don't even bother. While they look cool (IMO, opinions vary), they use an H3 bulb in the projector and the light output without HID is abysmal. With HID, it isn't terrible, but the beam is narrow. I had a set, changed them later.
Sonar - H1 projector, much better than the Eagle Eyes. With HID was an upgrade from stock halogen, without HID, I'm not sure as I never bothered trying
Cutoff is pretty good. If you want bright halo rings however, these don't have them. They use LED rings which are not visible in the daylight at all.
There is a third brand running around, I forget who makes them, but they are the more recent appearance on the market. They have CCFL rings and also an "Audi style" LED strip. Some like, some hate, I'm not sure about it personally. I saw one guy who had blacked out the LED strip, it looked pretty decent actually. From what I understand, the cutoff on those is kinda wacky.
Hope that helps...
Eagle Eyes -don't even bother. While they look cool (IMO, opinions vary), they use an H3 bulb in the projector and the light output without HID is abysmal. With HID, it isn't terrible, but the beam is narrow. I had a set, changed them later.
Sonar - H1 projector, much better than the Eagle Eyes. With HID was an upgrade from stock halogen, without HID, I'm not sure as I never bothered trying
Cutoff is pretty good. If you want bright halo rings however, these don't have them. They use LED rings which are not visible in the daylight at all.There is a third brand running around, I forget who makes them, but they are the more recent appearance on the market. They have CCFL rings and also an "Audi style" LED strip. Some like, some hate, I'm not sure about it personally. I saw one guy who had blacked out the LED strip, it looked pretty decent actually. From what I understand, the cutoff on those is kinda wacky.
Hope that helps...
Yes Sparky that helps. I would hate to buy a piece of crap, I really would like better lighting but don't want to break any local laws with the HID and when i am around cars with the aftermarket stuff I just want to smack them because they are sooooooooo bad. The light is almost blinding, and I would not want to be one of those guy's.
HID in projectors isn't blinding (when aimed properly of course). That's how HID should be used. I had HIDs in my Sonar projectors and I could see well but it was actually less glare for other traffic because of the cutoff vs just a reflector bowl of the standard halogens. I've got a pic somewhere of my Camaro at night with them, standing in front of the vehicle and just to the side a bit, similar to an oncoming car. Very little glare.
Some people on here will tell you (some until they are as blue in the face as their 10000k HIDs lol) that HID in a reflector is fine just aim them down (which makes them pointless anyway?), regardless of how much evidence is shown against such a thing. Glad to see that you can see the issue with doing that
Some people on here will tell you (some until they are as blue in the face as their 10000k HIDs lol) that HID in a reflector is fine just aim them down (which makes them pointless anyway?), regardless of how much evidence is shown against such a thing. Glad to see that you can see the issue with doing that
Yes I would like to improve my visibility espescially the high beams. It seems whomever designed the high beam part of the assembly must have been looking for the cars that hide in the trees. lol
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Nice to see an intelligent discussion of the proper way to install HIDs. There are so many that buy those cheap upgrade kits and stick the bulbs into reflectors designed for halogen yet don't see anything wrong with that.
Yes it is difficult some times, that is why I am looking for maybe some facts. Maybe somewhere out there someone has done some actuall testing of all these products. Like I said I want an Improvement over my stock lighting. I kinda like the CCFL Halo but....... I don't want Junk.
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I have sonars and I'll show you how and what they look like...
The LED rings at night and the LED light strips... note, I have since disconnected these LED strips since I wired the LED rings to my parking lights.
The HID kit H1 6000K w/ sonar headlights about 5 ft away from the wall. I don't even use my high beams anymore w/ these HIDs.
Sonar headlights w/ just regular H1 bulb. My car was about 10 ft away from the wall and of course the headlights weren't adjusted correctly.
Like Sparky said, the rings can be hardly seen (which I like) during the day and dusk/dawn into the evening they are bright enough.
The LED rings at night and the LED light strips... note, I have since disconnected these LED strips since I wired the LED rings to my parking lights.
The HID kit H1 6000K w/ sonar headlights about 5 ft away from the wall. I don't even use my high beams anymore w/ these HIDs.
Sonar headlights w/ just regular H1 bulb. My car was about 10 ft away from the wall and of course the headlights weren't adjusted correctly.
Like Sparky said, the rings can be hardly seen (which I like) during the day and dusk/dawn into the evening they are bright enough.
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Verdad Gallardo I've been told that here in NC installing an aftermarket HID is Illegal. So if I had somthing that was put togother correctly evan though it was not OEM I don't believe that anyone would bother me. NC is still a free state where the police don't look at you as Income. lol unlike some other places i have lived.
Launching!
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 206
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From: Central Mississippi
i have the sonar head lamps like bene and as you can tell unless you have an HID kit, the light output is not very good. therefore i ordered a 5000k HID kit and it should be a little brighter than the pic bene put up but it will be more of a crystal white than the slightly blue color, that some like just for looks, but i live in the country and needed the more light output and i wanted my bulbs to match my halos as much as possible
