Jujutsuka

Just though I would post this because I saw all the post about 8000K and up HID's being worthless, making you a ricer, and blinding on-comers. So this is kind of a review and kind of a honest opinion/assessment.

Alright so I bought 12000K HID kit for my RSX from simplyhidkits.com. Maybe i'm not getting a full 12000K or something? But mine came out a very deep blue which can appear slightly blueish purple at times I guess. First thing I checked was this glare that people spoke of since it's a stock reflective headlight rather than a projector. So I turned them on and ran(well I walked) into the distance. I didn't see a glare or anything noticeably brighter than my previous halogens. So now that's out the way I went for a drive on public roads. So I'm guessing due to wavelength of the light aka color this light basically gets overridden by other wavelengths of light typically used for lighting on the streets. So it wasn't really a "can't see" issue because there was already lighting there; it just wasn't my HID lighting. Now on dark back roads my HID's illuminated extremely well. No other lights to combat with and I could see the full effect of my HID. Almost looked like 6000K. Perhaps the issue being commonly talked about is due to not adjusting the headlights.

So my lights don't look "ricey" in my opinion
They don't blind anyone.
And they illuminate great unless there's already light there for you.


Took me 30mins to install HID kit. Didn't have to remove bumper or headlights.

burnoutboy

iTrader: (22)

Jujutsuka

I will eventually in the future. Going back to working on performance mods. But right now I just wanted to let everyone know that the 12000K kit I got was safe with reflective headlights.

Caoboy

No it's not.

Blue (anything over 4500k is going to start looking 'blue' especially after it burns in) fatigues your eyes, it also gets washed out when it rains. It's absolutely horrible. And were you standing up looking at your car? Or were you sitting about driver seat height and looking directly into your beam from the oncoming traffic lane? Because it still blinds the **** out of people at night, no matter what you think.

Seriously retrofits are so cheap and practically plug n play now that I don't understand why they aren't done more often.

rollinmyda

iTrader: (19)

The only reason you're satisfied with those pnp 12k HIDs is that you've never driven a vehicle equipped with oem HIDs or a proper retrofit. If you had your opinion would surely be the opposite.

I think this is a case of "financial justification." Meaning you spent money on them and now you feel the need to justify the purchase even though you're admittedly unable to describe any benefit to them over the original bulbs. Instead this is more of a "they're not quite as bad as people say they are" type of post. You even admit that they're completely washed out by ambient light from street lights. I could turn my headlights off on a well lit street and drive without them. That doesn't mean reducing my headlights output isn't a terrible idea.

Do you seriously believe that you aren't creating more glare while simultaneously reducing useable output?

Caoboy

The first 'mod' I did to my Civic was remove the 10,000K Hi/Lo HID kit from it. Lo and behold, I had better light output from some regular Sylvania halogen bulbs.

rollinmyda

iTrader: (19)

My first "mod" to my integra was the exact same thing. Throw pnp kit in trash, install correct halogen bulbs, enjoy improved visibility.

burnoutboy

iTrader: (22)

Post a pic of your cutoff line. You'll see the glare.

Jujutsuka

I think your reponse is a case of "Assumptions"
And you know what they say about assumptions?
I've driven BMW with HID's before. I know how they look.

And to be honest if I wanted to I could easily go buy 6000K this next weekend if I wanted. I could also buy 8000K in the same day if I wanted?
So why would I be trying to financially justify them?

So there's TWO assumptions that just made you look like an *** for being wrong.


And the argument here is... Is there a glare that blinds oncoming traffic?
Well like I said I walked off in the distance and did not see any worse glare than halogen bulbs. And to the other guy that asked me to look at the cut off line. Of course it won't look as smooth as projection. It's a reflective headlight. Projection vs Reflection....

Now back to the original point.
Can I see perfectly fine with NO street lights versus how I would without having headlights turn on. Yes I can see the street and sides highly illuminated.





Second argument was does it glare oncoming traffic.
No, it doesn't. It didn't when I walked off in the distance and tested.

And I got my ultimate test friday night when I got off work. I was riding down a back road that's not lit by street lights only lights by the business on it. I was the only car at the time. A cop was sitting off in the median with his lights off. My Lights directly shined on him. Obviously he doesn't feel my glare is too much to pull me over and tell me either. Which LEO opinion matters most in my opinion over few guys who are "seemingly" getting mad for some reason. lol.



So 12000K HID bulbs are ok and don't really meet the bad hype they get from all the "anti-ricer" police out there. I gave an honest assessment of them. Yes they do get overwritten easy by other wavelengths of light. But it's not a problem honestly. I could deal with the halogen lighting tbh. I wanted the look the 12000k give. Obviously past 8000K looks are more a factor than effective lighting in front of you. My arguments are against those who say "YOU CAN'T SEE NOTHING AND YOU BLIND EVERYBODY ELSE" <---- This is simply not true. Exaggeration x1000
I will change over to projectors when I feel like it. Since I work on my own car I don't really feel like messing with my headlights again. I will go back to working on the performance of my car. Maybe when I'm satisfied I'll come back to retrofitting projectors in.

Caoboy

Cool story.


But you've never driven in a car with reflective hid.


Guess what? The cutoff is still there!

You have hot spots. Reflective HID bowls do not have hotspots like that.

You also have not posted an actual cutoff line. Go ahead, please post it.


And again, unless you are a midget standing up, your 'walked off in the distance' test is a moot point.

Eye level sitting down in a car is much lower than you standing up.

Lifted trucks blind the **** out of people with factory headlights.

You driving around with essentially high beams on is going to do the same thing.

You can try to argue this all you want, but until you've done a proper retrofit you will be incorrect.

I've gone from oem halogen to oem reflective bowls in my old Lexus GS300. Nothing different except for the bowls. Guess what? It was a night and day difference!! I could see WAY more. Cutoff was crisp, no hotspots, the throw was farther...and I could use OEM Phillips 81522 bulbs which were the proper Kelvin temp.

You're attempt at dispelling a myth has failed, because it isn't a myth, it is truth.

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

Your RSX headlights are not some magical one-off that just happen to to work well with an HID bulb in them. It's just not how things work, any high school physics teacher could show you why in five minutes.

They might not be as bad as some others, but they still aren't good. I can spot non-oem/non-retrofitted cars from a pretty good distance coming down the road (which is most of them, unfortunately) and they are all generally annoying. Using the fact that you didn't get pulled over as a metric for how good your lights are is pointless too. I think you'll find that most cops just don't care anyway. The fact that we have to put up with these stupid off road led bars now too is proof of that.

Jujutsuka

What is truth?

I guarantee you if I drove on that road that night with High Beams on... I would of been pulled over. So really the accuracy of your statement is null.
Not to mention I can go off into distance and tell high beams are on.
I have already stated that I know that it won't be as good as retrofit.

The point is that they don't blind oncoming traffic.
And I can still reasonably see.

This honest assessments are for those who want the look of 8000K+ but read how horrible they are(which I think a lot of people exaggerate). Your claim that "It's the same as running with your high beams on" is one of those exaggerations.

Jujutsuka

They are not magical.
The point is that the claims against 8000K bulbs are HIGHLY exaggerated.
Most cops do care about headlights blinding(Wasn't there a kid that just got killed over it not long ago? lol). That cop sits there a lot... but I really don't feel like risking a ticket to drive down the road with my high beams on to show you guys he will pull you over if you are blinding people with your headlights.

rollinmyda

iTrader: (19)

No they're not. The only exaggeration being made here is about the performance of your 12k pnp bulbs.

Go ahead and take a picture of your headlights' output against a wall. We'd love to see them.

Caoboy

Just saw an RSX with a pnp kit. Blinded me. Keep thinking you aren't.

Also saw a 2000 civic Si with a retrofit. Guess what? Didn't blind me!

Still waiting for the cutoff pic. Please make sure it is 25ft away from the wall. Since that is where all projectors and reflector headlights are aimed from to properly adjust the beam.

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

:thumb down:: thumbdown::thumbd own:

This is you right now:



This is a real HID setup:



"I didn't notice the glare" is about the dumbest thing you could have said. We would all love to see your cutoff lines parked about 20' away from a flat surface.

Oh shucks, I read some more comments and realize everyone, their grandmother, and the neighbor's dog beat me to it.

P.S. No ricer ever thinks their car is rice. That's the whole point. I'm waiting for another 10 years to go by so the hellaflush crowd can get in line with the Fast and Furious boys.

Jujutsuka

What exaggeration did I make?
That it's not blinding people?
That I can see the road in front of me clearly?

^ Those are my two arguments. I would like to know which one I exaggerated on.

Jujutsuka

Sure I'll do it when I have some time(since I am in the middle of a move)
Perhaps this weekend.

Like I said... my lights shined on a cop head on on a dark back road(which means he was getting to full effect)
No other cars on the road so it's not like he had nothing better to do. I would of been an easy ticket for him. And I know Carrollton, Tx police will gladly ticket you.

I don't doubt there's a glare. But the point is... It is not blinding anyone. The probability of me not being stopped by a LEO, whom just had my headlights in his face, is very low if he felt like they were 'blinding' or a risk factor.

That's why I made this whole assessment.
After reading the threads on 8000K+ HID's it almost makes you want to return them before getting them. So I was ready to replace them with something lower, but when I installed them and tested them out. I was satisfied and got the look I wanted.
I know it seems like you guys have an issue with running them in reflective headlights. I'm not here to argue HID's in reflective headlamps being as good or better. I'm just here to tell you that they aren't "blinding" anyone(unless you have some really sensitive eyes) and I can see clearly in front of me.

Jujutsuka

Oh I guess I should been more specific for you.

There's no "blinding" glare.
I guess the "glare" of light is there since it's reflected and not projected.

So if I am not blinding anyone... What is your beef?

Are you **** because it's not as crisp and clean cut off as a projector?

Caoboy

No, these are reflector based HID housings.

Look at the previous pics posted, how there are hot spots, flares, etc. Reflector HID housings don't have that. Halogens do because they are designed to bounce light certain ways and diffuse the light so there are not so many hot spots.

HID bulbs are SO much brighter AND the bulb position is not correct, and that is why you get the hotspots and flares that you do.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...l=1#post688500

The pics are from post #30. If your light output doesn't look like this, you're blinding people.

Jujutsuka

Ah ok I learned something

but I still don't think the glare is strong enough to be considered blinding. I'd say any light that's escaping the cut off is too weak to be that much of a concern. Anywho I'll just run another test using another vehicle and my g/f in my vehicle. If it's THAT bad i'll be more prone to retrofit faster.

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

The cutoff point doesn't mean there isn't glare. The glare is there and is suppose to be present. The glare illuminates road signs. However, the intensity of the glare is much higher when you increase the intensity of your light. The reason the cutoff is so intense with a HID projector is because it allows a similar amount of glare as a halogen housing; however, the lighting produced by the HID light is much more intense than the halogen light.

98civdx

That is absolutely terrible.

I can see their is glare all over in that picture. Pull up to a wall and post a picture.

HID's done correctly. yours is ****.