HID Headlights

[Oren09]

Has anyone here installed HID headlights?

I am not happy with the weak low beam light of these cars and I am thinking about high intensity discharge headlights.

I have properly adjusted my lights but the low beam barely has and range or side to side spread. The high beams are pretty good- at least compared to the lows.


What kind of HID kits have y'all used? Where did you get them? eBay or retailer? Cost and difficulty of install? Have you noticed and negative effects and do the xenon bulbs work well in the Festiva headlight housing?

[NicholasJackson]

If you going to go for HID you're going to have to install projector lenses as the way the light is emitted is dispersed at many different angles and the optics of the lens directs that light. As the pic below illustrates.



I know there was someone on here that has put projector lenses in and if you want to go down that road i would suggest googleing HID projector retrofitting.

If you dont want to go down that road i would suggest superwhite superbright bulbs. They fit into the existing housing and you can find some on the 5.5k temp side so they can be nice and blue. And they make a BIG difference.

I mean you can put in hid bulbs to the existing housing, but it's really effing annoying when it's done wrong which it almost is done everytime. Especially when it refracts off the glass at night.

Hope i could help.

[crazyrog17]

I agree with everything above.

I've retrofitted HID projectors into my other car, a Grand Marquis. Next up is the Festiva.

www.theretrofitsource.com <-- anything you'll need for the project

www.hidplanet.com <-- forums, just like ff.com, to help you with the project. they're sponsored by the above website, TRS.

[NicholasJackson]

Yeah ive been trying to design a housing for the festiva but ive just been so busy with uni i havent had time to design it.

I plan to mass produce it. HID's FOR EVERYONE!

[Oren09]

Cool.
Thanks everyone.
HIDs are a down the road project when funds allow but I wanted to begin researching now so I know what all needs to be done or what I'll be getting in to.

[SiC sEnSe]

i got hid's on mine and it was plug and play no mods needed and it only cost me 35bucks with shipping
its my DD 93gl


here is how the look at night

[crazyrog17]

...

Not to sound like a dick, but have you ever imagined how blinding those are to oncoming traffic?

High intensity discharge bulbs and ballasts were designed to be used in projector housings to tame the wild beast that is blinding white light.

By installing the HID capsules into reflector housings, the light goes mad. For many reasons, but the main one being the (quote, unquote) 'H4 HID BULB' does not match where the stock H4 bulb emits light from. The focus is totally off and the light is potentially dangerous to traffic by ruining their night vision.

A projector holds all the light inside and is specifically designed to emit the light in a controlled beam with a step to keep it out of other driver's eyes.

Also, without a projector retrofit, you can't have high beams in your stock housing with HIDs. Bi-xenon projectors drop the shield inside of them and throw all the light they can above where the cutoff was.

Not to mention, the local PD has been cracking down on HID kits. They're pretty illegal with a hefty ticket.

Take a look at the above links. At TRS, they've spent years developing a bolt in projector specifically sized for H4 housings. You can even use legitimate, OEM HID bulbs and ballasts like Phillips and Sylvania. The only problem with the bolt in kit on the Festiva is the fluted glass lens on the front of the housing. I'm working on making a clear plexiglass lens (with a protective lamin-x layer on the front) and perhaps selling them here for others to retrofit with as well.

[NicholasJackson]

This is a photo of retrofit vs reflector housing.

[Safety Guy]

Zack and Nicholas: thanks for the explanations and diagrams of HID stuff.

Zack, I'd definitely be interested in a "plastic" retrofit Festiva headlight lens. However, wouldn't polycarbonate be a better choice than plexiglass? And are there any heat issues that need attention?

Karl

[FestYboy]

i've found that the housings on caety's aspire are much cooler now than when she had silverstars installed. she has bi-xenon 4300K bulbs and while bright, they aren't blinding.

[crazyrog17]

... wouldn't polycarbonate be a better choice than plexiglass? And are there any heat issues that need attention?

Plexiglass is cheaper and I've found using Lamin-X on top of it produces a good, fog and chip free headlight lens. I would like to try polycarbonate though.

The HIDs release most of their heat from the capsules, not the light. It stays inside the projector, so the plexiglass or polycarbonate would be safe from any high heat exposure. This also applies for FestYboy's quote below...

i've found that the housings on caety's aspire are much cooler now than when she had silverstars installed. she has bi-xenon 4300K bulbs and while bright, they aren't blinding.

... hence the housings being cooler to the touch.

Bi-xenon plug and play bulbs are either motorized or dual capsule. The thing about dual capsule bi-xenons is it takes up to a minute for your bulbs to warm up to full brightness. It also stresses the bulb and ballast every time you turn them on and off. Not ideal for high beams... at all.

Although 4300K is the color of natural daylight and OEM HIDs, it's still not safe to use them in housings designed for use with an incandescent bulb.

[GenevaDirt]

Plexiglass is cheaper and I've found using Lamin-X on top of it produces a good, fog and chip free headlight lens. I would like to try polycarbonate though.

The HIDs release most of their heat from the capsules, not the light. It stays inside the projector, so the plexiglass or polycarbonate would be safe from any high heat exposure. This also applies for FestYboy's quote below...



... hence the housings being cooler to the touch.

Bi-xenon plug and play bulbs are either motorized or dual capsule. The thing about dual capsule bi-xenons is it takes up to a minute for your bulbs to warm up to full brightness. It also stresses the bulb and ballast every time you turn them on and off. Not ideal for high beams... at all.

Although 4300K is the color of natural daylight and OEM HIDs, it's still not safe to use them in housings designed for use with an incandescent bulb.

All the hid replacements I have seen for sale on evilbay are hid low and then regular highs. I bought some used from someone on the site that wrecked their car and they are the opposite. I have shown them numerous times and no one seems to have seen them before. I love them....I know they are not ideal for the lighting but being that they are high beams....I do not have them on unless there is no one in front of me or coming towards me....so I do not blind anyone ( that is not trying to blind me by keeping their highs on). I know I hate the ones that a lot of people run that are hid lows and they have no option to turn them off....they are very blinding. The first time I turn them on it takes a couple seconds for them to turn on full power but if you are flipping them on and off pretty frequent there is really no power up time. I have been running them for a few years with no issues what so ever.

[crazyrog17]

Again, be careful about starting up those HID high beams. You might prematurely kill them if you ever do much of 'flash to pass' or turning them off for oncoming traffic and then back on.

[GenevaDirt]

Again, be careful about starting up those HID high beams. You might prematurely kill them if you ever do much of 'flash to pass' or turning them off for oncoming traffic and then back on.

been running them for about 4 or 5 years the more I think about it. No issues yet....