mdt115

decided to go with the group buy for the hid's that are plug and play for our jdm one pieces (h4h). just wondering if anyone out there has hid's in their one pieces (made to fit our headlights, not retro'd) and how does it perform?

i know i know, *real* hid's are projectors, but there are cars out there that come from the factory stock that aren't projectors (CL's/TL's) that are very decent..

can anyone comment?

let's do the gb peoples.. plug and play hid for our one pieces for 275 taxes in!!! just go to the vendors section under touge tuning and sign up!!!!

Stealth1

Aubrey thanks for the support, all you G2 guys should get in on this deal or atleast just check out the thread .

engsr

Reflector bowls for HIDs are designed to be used as HIDs reflectors. The reflector bowls are engineered to control the reflection of the HID to produce minimal glare. They still produce glare compared on an HID projector but the amount is a lot less than a non-HID reflector, like (for example) the G2 Integra.

HID kits in general are NOT designed to the application - all it is (in reality) is an HID bulb. The optics of HIDs lie within the HID projector or reflector bowl and a bulb that was designed for the application. Installing an HID kit for a halogen designed projector or reflector bowl is NOT the same premise. I've seen many HID kits in projectors and reflector bowls and they all produce glare, moreso with the reflector bowls.

Taken from experience, NOTHING beats OEM HIDs. Granted, a kit does produce more light, however, you're not utilizing the light properly. And what's the point of having all this light when it doesn't get projected to the road properly?

Stealth1

While I do agree HID's in headlights not specifically designed for them dont produce the "precise" pattern and cut-off of a car that comes factory equipped with them. There is no denying that they do increase road visibility. I think alot of people take the notion of non-projector HID installs having ridiculous glare a little too far. I have many friends with HID's in there cars and have yet to experience the horrible glare that many people describe. I have found its worse to have a pickup such as a Dodge Ram behind you then a civic with HID's. It always seems as though the Ram has there brights on when looking in the rearview but in reality your mirror is inline with the headlights and produces a glare effect.

Also there are adjustments on most headlights to adjust the height/direction that the bulb is pointing. If there isnt provisions for this you could always add a washer under the upper headlight mount to angle it slightly down, that is if the glare is really THAT horrible.

Anyways I dont want to continue rambling on but there are many options for people to choose out there and it is good for them to have info from every angle.

This is a good look

polak182

Save your money, don't buy PNP

If you ever go on TCC, you'll see the millions of complaints people have for HID PNP's. Those kits at optionjdm cost about $400-500 and some kits have 6000K+, which produces less lumens than your H4 or 9006 bulb. Aside from glare, you're only getting a different coloured bulb.

Also, OEM kits and projectors/reflectors are much cheaper than kits themselves. For my car, I bought E55 AMG projectors for $210CND, and the kit for $160US, Then I purchased a spare set of Integra headlights for $70 and used those to get my bezel. The results of the beam and the brightness of the light is amazing. I suggest checking in at HIDplanet.com and keep ur eyes posted for deals. They come up all the time. You can even get a reflector, and customly retrofit that.

Also, I noticed that for the DA tegs you can buy aftermarket "projector" headlights. It would be really easy if you coul just pick those up and retro the OEM projector into those since all the work's been done.

OR

You can use the covers of those lights and replace them with ur OEMs so that u have a clear lens, which is perfect for HID.

Stealth1

I honestly havent seen any complaints on TCC about the PnP kits, could you direct me to where these are?

As for your comparison it looks like you paid about $500CAD total for your setup and the time you had to spent retrofitting the projector housing into the headlights. I am sure your headlights look really nice but not everyone has the time or patience to do a retro. It's like some people will pay someone to build there engine or buy a pre-built engine whereas others will build it themselves in there kitchen/garage/living room/bedroom etc.

Big Hairy Gino

Weird, Ive had my Catz kit for like 4 years now and its still hasnt given me a problem (knock wood)

engsr

That picture still shows some glare around the lens. And it's not glare from cars behind - it's usually from cars coming the opposite direction. And 95% of the time, people with these kits don't take into consideration the glare that blinds other drivers and DON'T adjust their headlights (that means YOU GMAN :finger: ).

Put the two side by side and you will see the difference. Again, reflector bowls are the worst when it comes to HID kits - I've seen them and none of them compare to a retro-fit. And I've seen these first hand, trust me.

No one is saying that HIDs don't produce better light output as that is their design. But proper optics via an HID retro is the best solution than to be lazy and cheap with buying an HID kit.

-=GMAN=-

meh you just have a bad sight

nautica_t YO

my friend has h4h in his CB7. and they look awsome.
but i've never heard of techone kits so i'm not going to bash/promote them.

Stealth1

got any pics of your buddies CB7? TechONE has been sold a tonne on Honda-tech, if you check the Miscellaneous and Appearance section you will find atleast 2 30+ page threads of sales.

polak182

100% Agree. Poor oncoming drivers hate HID's for that reason alone. People always forget to aim their HID's after they install them. They take plug and play too literally.

I think if you actually retro-ed some sexy projectors into your car, it would be the sex. I have both Mercedes projectors and '01 teg projectors sitting in my room. If you ever took a look at them and compared, you'd see how much light you're loosing. The teg projectors are one of the worst to have since the lens is so blurry, you practically don't see the cutoff. I've fired up my HID's in both, and there is a huge difference. With the teg, oncoming traffic sees a blur of white, and with the e55, oncoming traffic sees a sexy flicker of blue/purple/red/white. Also, I never said they're faulty, but if you throw them into a headlights made for H4 bulbs...especially with 6000k+, the road doesn't look so bright anymore...Depending on the headlights, of course.

Well, yeah I piad just as much as a kit cost($465 in total), and I didn't have to but the teg headlights. I did because I wanted it to look nice. I'm not done yet, because yeah, it is a long and tedious process and requires some craft skills. I had a choice of paying only $395 and had them running just as fine. I'll have pics up as soon as I'm done, and since I know a bunch of EL owners with PNP's, I'm gonna put em up next to a wall and compare the cutoff and glare(If the lens will pick it up. Note: I am using the OEM spec 4600K bulbs, so don't expect purple tint. That's what the flicker is there for. OEM bulbs don't need to be hot to look sexy

Stealth1

Definitely would like to see pics of your retro when your done. I believe the flicker you see with oncoming BMW's etc is the shield on the bulb/lens moving from the bulbs in the road. How many hours do you have into your retro?

polak182

Yeah, I'll post em up. I'm actually working on it in my garage right now. The flicker you see if from the projector itself. The projector has a shield built into it, it can be found in the 94-01 tegs aswell, but since the lens is so blurry, you wont' notice a cutoff. I'm sure you noticed many people on HIDplanet constantly asking to post pics of the cutoff. The cutoff is so important because if you ever look at it, you'll see a streak of blue on the top portion. That blue is what makes the flicker, when your eyes are on that blue part, you notice that it's not just 1 colour. It like that because the projector lens is curved(also, it's made from glass), and if you ever seen a glass prism, you will notice that the reflection causes a 'rainbow effect'. Since HID bulbs are white, and due to the curvature and the way the glass piece of the projector gets hit, it creates that blue beam.
Also, when you mean BMW's etc, you mean HID Projectors. My uncle has a 03 TL and the mean is from a reflector. He has a cutoff produced by the headlights that's very sharp, but if you see one driving down the road, the car lacks the flicker. So you may look into getting a projector if you want the flicker.

Just some pics I decided would help you better understand what I was saying:

Cutoff on an HID projector:


The Glass Prism:



More info on different projectors:
http://forums.clubel.ca/showthread.php?t=22416

As for hours into my retro...It's hard to say since I personally haven't done it yet, but if you have a spare set of headlights, and everything you need, it may take about a day or two, depending on how fast you work. ABout 6 hours a day, so a total of 12 hours. It's mainly the aiming that takes long, as well as the baking the headlights and sealing them back up. Cutting out your refelctor isn't that hard if you have a dremmel, and mounting the projector in itself if pretty easy. It's just 3 screws per headlight. If you want it to like pretty, like 99% of the people doing a retro do...then you'll want bezels and shrouds to cover up the projector. 94-01 integra headlights can do the trick, you can probably pick some up at the junkyard. If you're inventive, you can smash the headlight and just take em out. Canadian tire also sells range covers, which are chrome bowls to do the trick. Depending on how much money you really feel like putting into this. Also do you want high and low beam or just low? If so, it will be cheaper since the bi-xenon projectors cost a bit more. Wiring on those isn't that trick though, so it won't take longer to do the setup if you're concerned about time.
Hope that helps...

engsr

There are no shields on the bulbs. The shield (or light cut-off shield) is a part of the projector and (without getting into the detailed physics of it) the flicker of colour is a result of the light passing over this shield.

EDIT - major delay in posting. I didn't see the above post before I posted this.