Hey guys,

I had an interesting discussion about a seller of McCullough HID lighting who brought up an interesting point about HID lighting kits.

- Everyone buys Phillips becuase Phillips is a good comany and because that what they other guy is using (I know that is how I picked).

- He had good things to say about the Phillips company pieces but mentioned their downfall as that Phillips does not actually make the kit them selves. He said that the Phillips ballast is made by phillips and various places make their own "rendition" of the 9006 kit. Meaning that there is variation in the wiring and bulbs. The bulbs vary in that they have to get different bases to work with their wiring setup.

- This variation in the base of the bulb can cause us (The Consumer) to unwittingly be using inccorect length bulbs. For instance (And I have not yet done any measureing so these numbers will be made up) our stock bulb is 20 mm from center of bulb to the base and the HID bulb we recieved is 25mm from center to base we now have more bulb protruding into the housing. Best I can deduce this will cause a WIDER beam pattern as the bulb projects light out the side of the housing using less of the projector housing. On the flip side is the HID bulb were to be 15mm then yuou woudl have a much more narrow beam pattern as the housing would be doing the work of the light tranmisson but you have less bulb length to use.

- This is not to say that ANY specific bulb is WRONG but that we may be buying a setup we do not prefer. I like my Phillips HID kit cause it seems to have a wider pattern than the stock bulbs so I cans see the sides of the road a little better while having great light transmission forwards as well. It is to \say that if we start to demand info we might be able to better suit our needs (Howver this may be harder than it sounds).

This make sense? Anyone have any thoughts or input to this? Thanks to AoiGSR for the motivation to check this out . . .

 

I think the manufacturers would pay attention if their HID is going into a car that is currently in production. (which DC2 is not anymore). Our HID kit is a "retro-kit" and we'll probably never have a real "retro-kit" directly from Phillips or whatever. All in all, Phillips kit is doing a great job so far... but the long-term results are yet to be determined.

 

Agreed but here is the point. Phillips doe NOT make the kits themselves and more than one model of car uses a 9006 bulb.

So say an Integra and (I don't know of one so I will make one up) a Celica both use 9006 bulbs. They will both use the 9006 aftermarket kit. THis being the case it is likely that they need different length bulbs to give a good beam pattern. So that means not all 9006 kits (Even of the same brand - Phillips) are created equal.

The guy I spoke to sold McCoullough HID kits and claimed they made kits specific to a certain model making what we woudl buy an Integra (DC2) 9006 kit. THis isn't to say we can't get a kit with the proper dimensions out of a phillips kit but it does mean the resellers wil need to know a little more about the its and bulb lengths

 

I agree with what you said... it's funny you mention model specific HID "retro-kits" though. Apparently Sylvania/Osram is working on a Low HID beam kit for F150 and Suburbans.

 

and that is why I didn't buy that kit. I'm glad you saved my the breath of saying all that.

 

If you wanted to change the depth of your HID bulb within the housing, all that's needed is to change the plastic "base", and of course the coax cable that's attached to it. Other than the stick-on velcro pads, that's probably the least expensive part of the kit.

And yes, I'd be interested in a base-mount kit that allowed different bulb depth, if it could be kept in the $15-20 range.