HID Headlights??

[gribly]

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html
http://isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/Shih.3.html

Just because it's a projector doesn't mean it's right, or even close to right. You hafta have a fancy projector with a moving lens, or else you dun goofed. And that is STILL federally illegal in the US, even though it's the "right way." Those "DOT" markings and marketing you see is not actual approval. You need NHTSA approval, and due to NHTSA FMVSS No. 108 there is no way to make any sort of "proper" non factory installed HID lighting legal. Unless I'm missing something, which I doubt. Please though, do you have any references?

Yeah, been poking around more, even the companies selling 'em admit there is no way for them to be street legal.

I hate to pick you apart more dude, but I also disagree on the washout thing, it's not all or nothing in my experience.

 

[ronclark]

I don't want the government to ban anything.
You know nothing is worse than that guy with HID and poorly aimed lights behind me shining in my mirrors and back windows with tons of glare. To me this is all unsafe for other drivers and its just selfish in my mind.
I have tinted my work van and truck windows to minimize the glare.

I can't see how HID are that great in bad weather its too blueish white. from what i have read yellow the longer wavelengths are better at not reflecting. the closer you get to blue the shorter the wavelengths get and more glare it will make.
I see it with all the rain here a lot even OEM HID lights seem to be reflecting off the rain/snow and fog.

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/BulbHelp.aspx#yellowstar

 

[--weezl--]

I don't want the government to ban anything.
You know nothing is worse than that guy with HID and poorly aimed lights behind me shining in my mirrors and back windows with tons of glare. To me this is all unsafe for other drivers and its just selfish in my mind.
I have tinted my work van and truck windows to minimize the glare.

I can't see how HID are that great in bad weather its too blueish white. from what i have read yellow the longer wavelengths are better at not reflecting. the closer you get to blue the shorter the wavelengths get and more glare it will make.
I see it with all the rain here a lot even OEM HID lights seem to be reflecting off the rain/snow and fog.

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/BulbHelp.aspx#yellowstar

HID does NOT mean blue! if you wanted, you could get a 1500k HID bulb, it's a very orangeish light, but people TYPICALLY want to upgrade to that "bmw look" which is pure white, now to make "pure white" as compared to the normal halogen lights that people have in their vehicle (which are actually a yellow tone) you have to counteract the yellow with a little bit of blue, this doesn't mean paint the bulb blue (like the xenon bulbs) even though that does give a more blue LOOK (by taking out yellow) no, i mean ADD blue, which results in a brighter more intense white, which is, by all definitions WHITE, however, when compared to a yellow light, commonly referred to AS white, the light looks blueR (yes, bluer!) now a lot of people over do this, and get BLUE lights, and then people get into the kelvin scale and think, "oh, 10,000k, that must be brighter than 5,000k!!!" when actually it's just a different wavelength, the lumens (or CP) could very well be identical, or even less

now i'll admit, as a kid, i used to go get the 6000k bulbs to toss in my car, and the really white light DID look brighter, though that might have been caused by a higher wattage bulb, i don't know, i never looked... but the BLUE aspect it's self doesn't make it brighter...

once you get into 5 digits of kelvin, it starts adding red to the blue mix, and making a purple color...

like these 30,000k bulbs which look RETARDED, they are probably only 35w ballasts, and STILL put out significantly less light than the exact same setup that has the FULL SPECTRUM of light, why i hadn't used that term earlier i do not know!

i very well could go into analogies, i've got a few lined up, but i think i've proven my point



oh, side note: my local laws, regarding colour, it is ILLEGAL, to project ANY color of light other than what is commonly referred to as white. which means if the headlight looks blue, or purple, or orange, or green, but when you hold a white piece of paper up infront of it, the white paper looks white, then it's fine, if the paper looks blue, or purple, or orange, or green (ect) then ILLEGAL, IMPOUND!

 

[Original_Ranger84]

You guys can go back and forth on it about legallity and and this is WAY worse then that no matter what you say "Pics and I still say it didn't happen"... But truth is some people think differently then others...

I have seen HID's (which put out alot more light) but if you get a good kit (with cut off points and what not that limit the light goign above a certain area and thus are exactly like Halogens and yes I have seen these in person and they work and I didn't know the difference until I was behind the wheel). but your opionion is your opionion there are millions of these everywhere and the evidence seems to be 50/50 both ways its just about how much you love your hate them.

I mean really.

 

[ronclark]

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html
http://isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/Shih.3.html

Just because it's a projector doesn't mean it's right, or even close to right. You hafta have a fancy projector with a moving lens, or else you dun goofed. And that is STILL federally illegal in the US, even though it's the "right way." Those "DOT" markings and marketing you see is not actual approval. You need NHTSA approval, and due to NHTSA FMVSS No. 108 there is no way to make any sort of "proper" non factory installed HID lighting legal. Unless I'm missing something, which I doubt. Please though, do you have any references?

Yeah, been poking around more, even the companies selling 'em admit there is no way for them to be street legal.

I hate to pick you apart more dude, but I also disagree on the washout thing, it's not all or nothing in my experience.

A link from WSP in which state i live in.
http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/pasfaqs.htm#lights
Unless i am reading it wrong WSP considers all HID conversion kits unless OEM illegal, thy also site NHTSA FMVSS 108 I am guess thy make the federal laws in the USA.

I would love to have the light output of HID in my truck, but i don't want to deal with the insurance co or state tell me i am at fault for a accident someday cus of my HID.
I am hearing it all the time if you have a accident, thy check everything, cell records to make you were not on the phone or texting. etc

I guess each to are own.

 

[gribly]

Actually man, if you would read the first link in my post you quoted, you'll see that it is FACT that HID kits, even in a projector housing - do not shine as far as stock headlights in almost every situation. They are brighter, and light up a wider area, yes, but they cannot go as far since it's almost impossible to get the arc to reflect properly in the housing due to how light works. If you do get more distance when doing a conversion, it's pretty much dumb shit luck that it happened that way. That, and most aftermarket HID kits move the arc for high/low beam, or have a halogen bulb strapped in there - which not a single OEM HID has a moving arc because it simply does not work properly - the light won't project out properly and your low beams will kill other people's retinas at night. OEM uses either a separate halogen bulb done properly on older HID equipped cars, and the newer ones have a moving lens.

And yes, FMVSS 108 clearly states that any headlight other than original swapped into a car must match the original almost exactly, so there is no physical way for any sort of HID to be legal in a car that did not originally have them, since they are so different. However, if you had HID's factory, you can put different HID's in it as long as they are very, very similar, right down to the arc location and length.