HID kits - My experience and recommendations

Hi there,

When I purchased my brand new LC100 in October last year I decided to try the HID kits available on ebay. I did a lot of online research but getting all the answers on choosing colour temp etc is not easy.

A word of warning, fitting a HID kit to the low beam is illegal. Having said that in my experience and testing the HID kits do work effectively on a LC100 low beam and they do not dazzle on coming drivers 99% of the time (I have never been high beamed by another driver). I can't speak for other vehicle's lights. The cut off on low beam is less pronounced then with the halogen globe but it is still there. The only time when there is a risk of dazzling an on coming vehicle is when driving over the crest of a steep hill. Generally a crest this pronounced only occurs in a suburban street and not on a highway or major road. This is cause simply by the brightness of the HID light and the light shining high as you crest the hill. The same effect does occur with the halogen light, but is less blinding due to less brightness.

On low beam the HID improves the spead of light to the sides, improves the distance of the light (limited by correct hieght adjustment) and of course it is brighter.

On high beam there is a big improvement on distance and spead, it is brighter and the light is very evenly distributed along and across the road (no hot spots). The only down side is when high beam is first selected is take a couple of seconds for the HID globe to warm up to achieve full bightness. Once full brightness is achieved the high beam can be dipped and reselected (so long as they are not left dipped for too long) without a delay in brightness. This is not a problem with low beam on a LC100 as once the low beam is on it stays on (seperate low & high beam bulbs).

The hardest decision to make when buying a kit is choosing the best colour temp. Most sellers recommend 6000k (daylight is 5500k). I followed this advise and found them to be noticably blue in colour. This takes a bit of getting use to. I have since changed to 5000k (after 6 months with 6000k)and find this a more natural colour that appears white. By comparision a halogen globe appears warm (orange/yellow at about 3700k - 4300k).

I am so happy with the results that I have now purchased a set of Lightforce XGT lights and am in the process of converting them to 5000k HID (H3 kit). This is a bit of a luxury as I don't really need spotties because the performance of the HID vehicle lights is very good. A 35 watt HID kit has 2.5 - 3 times the brightness of standard headlight halogen globes.

This is my experience with HID kits and I am only posting so others can benifit from my experience. Kits cost about $159 on ebay now (H4 with HID low & high are about $259). Just purchase with a reputable seller.

Cheers,
Topend.