HIDs

[Ed Doe]

Right, I know where I stand with these legally. I'm not interested in a rant about them, I want to know what ones I need to get.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190517578570?s...1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280877667730?s...1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140686712431?s...1423.l2649

Of the 3 above, I was looking at the top one, but which should I go for?

I'm going for 6ks, but are the ones I need H3's or H7's??

Cheers all

[Niall]

Assuming your using them for your dipped beams, you want H7. You can also get h7r (think that's right) which are shielded to not give off as much glare and not to blind others as much








Still makes you a wanker though.

[4WayDiablo]

Agreed with niall. H7R are capped and don't dazzle as much
Fooby runs them iirc?

[Scott]

Ah dear, Fooby's are terrible to be driving in front of at night.

[4WayDiablo]

Well I might be wrong haha certainly thought he was running capped ones?

[Jonny81191]

Just get 100W main beams and fogs, then do the fogs on high beam mod. Your breaking the law either way, but HID's are more noticeable than "bright" full beams.

[Niall]

Just get 100W main beams and fogs, then do the fogs on high beam mod. Your breaking the law either way, but HID's are more noticeable than "bright" full beams.

Just remember you need to upgrade your wiring if you do this although it's not that difficult as the headlight relays are in the engine bay fuse box.

[Jonny81191]

well... in theory you do.

ran this setup on my old HDi for 12 months, no issues.

[cwspellowe]

Mr MOT told me that retrofits aren't illegal yet, and will be an MOT pass as long as they have washers. True story.

[Ed Doe]

Thanks for the info all. Any recommendations on what kit to buy of the 3 in the OP, or any others suggested?

Scott, I don't find Fooby's so bad, but then he never could keep up with me

[cwspellowe]

Bulbs are much of a muchness. Generally speaking though, the ballasts in ALL cheap kits are crap and flicker slightly. Mine have been ok so far but have a really slight flicker that if not anything else is just annoying.

[Fooby]

Yeah i run H7R's to reduce Glare, got them adjusted correctly as well and are pointing down to the floor

Thanks for the heads up about mine scott, i thought i had them adjusted correctly.

I'll go out later tonight when its dark with a screwdriver to make sure

[Dum-Dum]

Just beware these will actually limit the speed you can do on a counrty road at night cos at the end of the beam the switch from light to dark is sudden so you only see super bright and dark.

On fillament bulbs they fade into darkness so you can actually see further and thus go faster. Was about 60-80mph i found the limit to be.

[Fooby]

Just beware these will actually limit the speed you can do on a counrty road at night cos at the end of the beam the switch from light to dark is sudden so you only see super bright and dark.

On fillament bulbs they fade into darkness so you can actually see further and thus go faster. Was about 60-80mph i found the limit to be.

ORLY?

i got HID's so i could actually see further.. which is what i wanted to do. If your telling me they are worse i'll go back to standard high-end bulbs...

is there any online comparison/review somewhere with viewing distances?

[cwspellowe]

HID's give better clarity in the field of vision, my full beam H7's are 10x better for dark road driving though.

[Fooby]

ah so i need full beam hids too? never manned up enough to do that

[Dum-Dum]

ORLY?

i got HID's so i could actually see further.. which is what i wanted to do. If your telling me they are worse i'll go back to standard high-end bulbs...

is there any online comparison/review somewhere with viewing distances?

The viewing field is longer with HIDs definately brighter inside the field but ive got good eyesight, especially in the dark so it affects me. Your blind as a bat though so i doubt it affects you.

High beam HIDs could be the answer.

[n0v0s]

Hids give out much greater lumens. More lumens = more relected light.. So you see more detail, hence the clarity from hids. Depending on what temp you go, penetration (hah) is superior with hids, as long as beam pattern/reflection is optimised.. So, in theory, some of the above is just kak.

[Niall]

Tbh you may do better with some projector headlights and high end standard bulbs. It's all well and good having HIDs but if the light isn't being reflected in the correct place, it's about as useful as Eds brakes.
I can't stand HIDs in headlights that weren't designed for them. Even the capped ones just glare everywhere!

[Eeyore]

I run H7 lows and standard highs and its absolutely fine! The leveling device you already have as apparently the level adjustment on the 306 counts. For washers.... id just lob a couple of these in...

[Grant]

Its scientifically proven that HID's directly relate to an increase in engine tapping.

Still want HID's Ed?

[Ed Doe]

ok, thanks chaps. sorry but I disagree with those who say they are dazzling even when correctly adjusted; mine were fine in my old car, andi could see far better with them vs my oem bulbs.

looks like I'll be purchasing a set at some point soon. thanks for all the advice everyone




except you Grant, you massive bumder.

[Connor]

Oh FYI to everyone saying use HIDs for main beam, don't. HIDs are useless as a main beam bulb, because they require a "warm up" period and the on/off nature of main beam means that every time you flicked them off, then back on, it would take a few seconds to reach full brightness again. Which is no good to anyone

[Fooby]

Oh FYI to everyone saying use HIDs for main beam, don't. HIDs are useless as a main beam bulb, because they require a "warm up" period and the on/off nature of main beam means that every time you flicked them off, then back on, it would take a few seconds to reach full brightness again. Which is no good to anyone

Thanks Connor, correct.

Its the reason why i didnt fit main beam HID's

[InkedMuttley]

Just to add my two penneth when I had my Mondeo which I will say now had a f*cking shite lighting set up if your bulb went on a country lane how did you change the bulb that you keep in the back for emergencies...

Pull over - check
Open bonnet - check
Remove grille -
Remove headlight -
Remove headlight dust and water cover - f*ck it I'll drive blind!

In my experiences with that heap I went with a number of different things as the majority of my work is at night so I had to have decent(ish) lights...I tried everything right down to having 100w H7 Ring RallySports for dip and H1 130w Ring RallySports for high beam. Even on standard bulbs people would flash me even with my headlights adjusted properly...stuck a set of cheap HIDs in and voila instant cure for my headaches as I could see where the road was and I stopped getting flashed at so the fact it dazzles other drivers I think is a load of bollocks if anything the projectors are even worse as you get the dodding old lady garden in a Vag coming towards you forgetting to dip his beam and the projectors almost burn your f*cking retina.

Each to their own IMO HIDs win hands down! (as long as they aint above 6000k or below 4300k!)

[4WayDiablo]

You can't say that hid's don't dazzle.. near me there is a hill and if your coming up it and ANY car with hid's at the top will dazzle you
So chav in a fiesta with his not quite adjusted right is about the same

Also my mate tom has hid's in his pug and they were silly. Soo dazling so to say that hid's don't dazzle is bollocks

[Niall]

Sorry but they do dazzle. This is why they are trying to outlaw them in Germany (quite amusing seeing as it was mostly German car makers that started using them in the first place). Even cars that came fitted with them can very easily blind you (ever been followed by a range rover/x5/q7 closely?) not to mention the fact that one reason why they are trying to outlaw them in Germany is the fact that they can set off epileptic (sp?) fits in some people.
Personally I'd like to see IR LED technology be made legal. Gives no glare what so ever to other road users and gives off shit loads more light than any lights out there at the moment

Anyway, ed get h7r's and pay your local mot station a couple of quid to properly aim your headlights for you.

[samass]

it isnt only HIDs that dazzle tho, niall blinded me and Scrott a bit on the way back from fcs, on my route to work, which is a lot of ups and dows, i get blinded by pretty much every car, and then there's the wankers who manage to cross wires when putting bulbs in so they have one high beam on all the time, then the HIDs, which i find to not be *so* bad. i want some, i've brighter bulbs in mine, and the yellow tint drowns out the light a bit, so its like i've normal bulbs in. is clearer to see with the yellow tho, less relfection. anyway

[Ed Doe]

Precisely Sam, when going over crests and dips in the road, your line of sight will naturally enter into the region of the 'dipped beam' of other cars, which is actually jolly bright, but when travelling normally you wont notice it.

HID's get a bad rep because they are brighter than standard bulbs, and therefore pick up some of the other faces in the light cluster that do not usually throw the light out. My personal experience with 4.3k H7s was that this did not happen badly, and that the beam pattern was pretty regular. I don't doubt that in some lights, if badly adjusted they would be a nightmare, but I haven't found this. The advantages I have found are clear, therefore I will be getting another set.



Either way, I've had my questions answered, the discussion it's moved onto is subject to personal opinion, and therefore irrelevant to the OP.

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