What makes one HID set up better than another?

Better yet, What makes for a good HID set up?

I'm under the impression that HIDs are supposed to put out far more light than a normal headlight. I have seen a lot of, and even owned some, that didn't look any different than normal headlights. Then again, I have seen some on cars, trucks, even sportbikes, that are so bright, they alter the migrational patterns of birds.
What are some brighter than another?
and I don't mean more glaring. I mean, they actually put out more light.

What is the difference between a 35w and a 55w system?

What is up with that youtube link that comes up on google for a 100w set up?

Is there a particular bulb style that is better than another?

What makes a good ballast?

Someone said that the light output of the bulb is limited to the ballast. is that true?

Is it possible to wire two ballasts to the same bulb? If you could, what would that accomplish?


There is a lot of information out there. Just most of it is geared towards the sales pitch for whatever bulbs or kits that site is selling. I know there can't be 2 dozen different "top of the line" "best ever" set ups all at the same time.
I also know the $40 dollar set ups off of Ebay shouldn't be able to perform anywhere near as well as the 2-300 hundred dollar set ups you find elsewhere.
So, whats the difference?

 

hell, then you have these, which claim to be 75watt systems that are even brighter than the 55watt set ups.

75w OFFROAD Series HID - DistantXtremes Lighting

 

The only thing I know is the most effective bulbs are 4300k because they seem to be the best for seeing things, but are not as fun as blue or yellow. I was just going to have some place in Clearwater install a set in my Evo. Didn't know there was that much variation in kits.

 

i know they blind the crap out of the other lane if you don't have them in the right housings...........

 

yeah, there are all kinds of variations with the kits.
Don't know what makes a "good" ballast, but there are ac ballasts, dc ballasts, slim, full size, waterproof, digital, analog, etc.

and the bulbs, they vary as much as normal headlight bulbs as far as output goes.

and apparently, the higher wattage, the more it washes out the color. (and the higher the the light output) So a 6000k bulb at 35w would look decently blue. But when you step up to 55w, it actually looks a lot more white, kind of like a 4300k would have looked. Looking at those 75w (off road only) set ups, they have 8000k that are as white as the 4300k would have looked.

My speculation is that ballasts are kind of like sub amps, They will all put out that power, but the better ones are able to sustain the power closer to the actual rated levels. Kind of like that sony xplod amp that is rated for 1,000, but only sustains 200. I don't know how to tell from looking at one. And most places won't tell you those specs (probably a good sign they are hiding something) I did find a few sites that had those specs listed. They would say something like 55w ballast, 42-48w continuous. I would be willing to get that is why a lot of those cheap(er) set ups don't put out much more light than the Silverstar bulbs we all used to get. They might be rated for 35w, but they probably only put out 10-15 continuous.
But then that brings up another pondering point. What is the difference in the bulbs themselves? What makes a bulb a 55w bulb and a 35w bulb. Side by side, they look the same. At least in the pictures. Is that just a sales gimmick? Call it a 55w bulb so you can charge more for it because it is "better"?
And what is the difference between a 25 dollar generic bulb and a 100 dollar PIAA bulb?
They say that this bulb has "the best light pattern" but isn't the light pattern dictated by the projector, not the bulb?

and what about the different bulb styles themselves? I get that they all do the same thing, but there has to be a better design over another. It was pretty obvious that there were better bulbs when you were dealing with regular headlights. Some cars just had brighter headlights. I would imagine that would carry over into HIDs too.

 

yeah, they are designed to go into a projector, but a lot of people don't take the time and money to retrofit a projector into their stock light housings so the added light from the HID bulb just gets reflected all over the place from a normal reflective style headlight housing.

Personally, I'm going to retro fit the projectors from a LS430 in my 300zx. It already has projectors, but I love the wide light pattern of the LS430.
Might move the stock projector over to the high beam spot when I put HIDs in for that. Only ever use the high beams when I need to light up the whole road, usually in poorly lit neighborhoods so I can see the loose dog or dumb kid before I run them over.

 

we have a few shops on here that could probably tell you more then most GCC posters, lol...

 

Any TRUE HID kit will put out more light than halogen bulbs. 35 watt is plenty for most applications, and 4300k is the temperature at which you get the most light. Anything more or less = less light output. I got a couple extra headlights I am going to retrofit with projectors here pretty soon. I had 35w 6,000k which was too blue IMO (don't understand why people feel the need to go with 8,000 or 10,000k setups) so I went with a 5,000k which is a nice blue/white mix. Couldn't tell ya the differences in ballasts or how to identify a good one from one that will fail early, but I got mine from ddmtuning.com over a year ago and they have held up great with no problems at all.

YouTube - Just a short cruise showing the HIDs those are my lights, made sure to aim the housings where it wouldnt blind oncoming traffic but also got a good cutoff. The lights arent as blue as the video leads you to believe, thats just the quality after youtube processed it. Not as effective as projector headlights, but the light output is much much better over stock. I feel blind driving at night without HIDs anymore lol

 

I'm not even going to read this thread, but answer like this...do a retrofit projector HID setup or don't do an HID setup at all. The process takes longer, is more effective and is more satisfying in the end knowing you aren't killing oncoming traffic.

 

I did an HID conversion for someone awhile back. Used Xenon bulb/projector from a BMW.
I Fitted/fabricated it into their stock headlight dimensions.

The bulb stayed lit when switching from high to low beam. It's my understanding that because of the heat,
cutting an HID bulb off and on shortens their life. BMW used a gate that snapped up or down for each beam.
That is the best I have seen.
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My standards......
I want a sharp cutoff and want it aimed low enough to light the road only....... just below the
oncoming car. I don't need to attract the cops. I also want the Kelvin.......way of
measuring heat/brightness.......... to be in the range of white light, but no colors.

I don't need attention from the cops or to show off something to buddies with blue
light. I don't need to blind anyone to show off that I have something.
I'm not 17 anymore.......LOL
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I suspect the lack of info............
on wattage of ballasts and bulbs is to keep people confused,
so as to over-price things. Lots of bulbs that I have looked at, that are claiming to be
HID, look like ordinary Halogen bulbs to me.....sometimes
they have been dipped in blue......makes me skeptical about what I hear/read.....
and why do I need a ballast for what appears to be a halogen bulb?....and If I don't
understand something, I'm not buying until I do.....

Most of the "driving lights" that I see in the autoparts stores appear to me to have a
halogen bulb....55w....they are overpriced......sometimes blue dipped....sometimes blue
lense.......I can buy 2 driving lights for $15-$20 and outfit them with higher wattage halogens
then put the extra money into a better alternator. and I'm testing with more than one bulb
in the same housing to see what wiring and alternator size I need to power them.

Anything is "better than stock", anything is "better than regular headlights"......
Testing two setups side by side is the only way to really see what is better.
If anyone has a good setup I'm open minded enough to look and learn.

If two people want to do a side-by-side comparison some night
with no driving involved (at least for the light test) I know some dark roads.-Bob