My apologies if there is already a thread like this, but I am looking into buying two HID kits for high and lows. I wanted to get those super violet lights, though in California, I ask if they are legal for the street. I have seen newer cars with them, but that doesn't always mean it is ok. Also, I have noticed everyone mentioning the super white lights to see better, which I can understand, but are these violet or super violet lights really going to hurt vision that bad? Because the people that have those lights have some very powerful beams and even alone, much better than my stock headlights. So I ask any of you who have them, or know for certain if in California they are legal, and if they really impair vision that badly. Someone recommended 4300K for lows on the street and 9004 for highs (at least I think it was 9004, something with a 4 in it).

4300K is what factory hid cars run with. Thats the best you will get visibility wise. Anything lower than 4300 you'll get a yellow look and anything a tad bit higher maybe 6000-8000 you'll have blue. Higher than that you have violet pink looking lights. Horrible for visibility, but looks cool. Unless your car came factory with hids its illegal. Because it will be glaring. Unless you do a retrofit with HID projectors it will look stock and won't attract the coppers.

This post has been edited by bccentaur3: Mar 2, 2008 - 2:58 PM

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But I mean it is just the bulbs that put out the color and such, correct? I can switch those out? Also, what if I get those JDM projectors? Do I still need to do work with those? I really appreciate your reply by the way.

i'm not sure what the laws in cali are about HIDs but i guess in utah they are illegal unless used with a projector lens. if you get the toyota projectors you will need to modify the beam cutoff because they are designed for RHD cars. if you do get jdm projectors most people won't know they are illegal because they are toyota parts. i want some but i can't afford projectors.

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the nice HIDs you see in S2Ks TSX etc, the colour of flicker is from the projectors. not the bulb. they used 4300K bulbs and the projector produces the colour only at the cutoff (so the light it shines is stil excellent for visibility yet what other people see is a flicker of purple)

JDM projectors are made for halogen and are not designed for HIDs. so if you want proper performance, u need HID proejctor retrofit. your best bet is to retrofit HID projectors from tsx/bmw/s2k/etc into ur stock housing and get those clear headlamp covers from whoever was selling them here a while back

so if u want good visibility go with 4300K and proper HIDs for the cool purple.

if you get those aftermarket hid kits w/ the high colour temperature, sure it may look bright, but the actual light output you put onto the ground is less than stock halogens (ie u see less)

if you look @ this picture:


on the bottom part, you see that there is a little bit of blue/purple at the cutoff. when you see cars with factory hids flicker purple/blue, that part is what you are seeing. not the entire light output is blue/purple like the top
and btw, that picture shows how our light output will be like if u use 8000K hid kit w/ reflector housing vs a 4300K oem w/ hid projectors

9004 i believe is the type of bulb, but not sure we use tho? thoguht we use 9005/9006.

also, it is not a good idea to have hids in lows and highs. you arne't supposed to drive with your highbeams on all the time anyway and usualyl they are used for flashing. flashing HIDs on and off like that is a great way to kill them real fast.

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Mar 2, 2008 - 6:51 PM

JDM Projectors w/8000k

Wow those purple lights are terrible. Thanks though! That is exactly what i was looking for. That sucks, I want JDMs but honestly don't want to hassle with the retrofit. *Sigh* What to do, what to do. The retrofit ones did (to me) look not as good as the JDMs though. They actually had that "homemade" look. I dunno. Well if you guys know anyone who does this well (makes those lights) or some way to get my hands on them, let me know. Unless the JDMs will suffice with the HID kits.

Thanks again guys, and thank you for that explanation. That was exactly what I needed to know.

here is a better pic of hids in jdm projectors

of member tangcla or sumthin like that

anyway, if u see that small bit of light that is up high.. it is unavoidable on our cars due to the design of the bumper and how resessed the lowbeam is in the circle area

www.customlightz.com has done a couple of 6gc retrofits. but it is expensive. u can email them 250 for labour about about 400 for parts and other random stuff if necessary (shroud/shipping/etc)

as for jdm projectors. they are not optimal, but as long as u r willing to flip the cutoff to lhd, then its better than in reflectors

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Mar 2, 2008 - 6:50 PM

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ARe you kidding me? The retro fitted one is exactly the look you want. Can you see how much clearer everything is with a true retro fit? The jdm projectors from the outside will look sick, but from the drivers point of view the visibility won't be half as clear as a retrofitted headlight will be.

If you put time and effort, you can make a retrofit look oem..or good, it just needs some time and dedication..and the cost would come less than JDM, but if you have the $$, JDM + retrofit and hid is the greatest thing