HID driving lights

Doing the rounds this morning looking to see what's available in the range of HID driving lights and found limited range at prices ranging from $450-odd to $1200+.

Not hugely enamoured with spending huge dollars on lights, my eye was drawn to a set of Nite Stalkers about 6 or 7" dia for the $450 a pair. would have preferred a pencil beam/spread beam combo but these were both pencil beams.

I had a set of Nite Stalkers in the past that did the job and didn't fall to bits (until a kangaroo did the job) so have some experience with the brand.

Seems like good value to me - any experiences?
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Reply By: AlbyNSW - Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 18:59

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 18:59
I have upgraded my Narva 225 combo lights to HID and happy with the result.
If I was buying another set I would look for in combo or both spread but not both pencil.
Others have said and from personal experience tend to agree that with the amount of light they throw you don't need the pencil type distance so much but the peripheral vision they give from the spread lense is well worth having.

I find the HID light is much better to spot Roos on the side of he road with than the halogen light.
AnswerID: 478075

Reply By: Rockape - Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 19:22

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 19:22
Paul,
I have these lights and have had no problem and I am happy with their light output.

I bought them locally as Derek Bester gives good service and you will have no problems with warranty.

Here is the link to the HID lights. I have no affiliation with ABR Sidewinder Blah! Blah! Blah!
7" Hid's
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Reply By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 19:36

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 19:36
Paul I went from a penceil/ spread Cibie Super Oscars to Chinese HIDs spread beams. Vast improvement over Halogen, I wouldn't get a pencil beam.

More expensive HIDs may be better again, but the jump from one of the best Halogens made to cheaper HIDs is enormous.
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Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 20:10

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 20:10
Hi Paul, I got a pair of 4 inch 55W HID's from Delonix here
Medium spread. Great for roos at the road edge.
Very happy with them @ $169.96 ea.

Cheers
Allan

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AnswerID: 478084

Follow Up By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 10:59

Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 10:59
Thanks Allan. I note the review on the Delonix website refers to the lack of a fine adjustment up & down is a con. You didn't see that as a problem?
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 12:03

Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 12:03
Hi Paul, I cannot find the review you refer tp but can guess about it.

The mounting base incorporates matching curved toothed surfaces for tilt adjustment. The teeth prevent the lamp from slipping from the set position. When I saw these I was concerned that my desired position may fall between the incremental teeth positions however this was not the case. It may be a problem with a pencil beam but not here where the spread is greater. I notice that this mounting method is used on at least a couple of other lamps I have looked at.

I figured that if it was a problem then it could be overcome by inserting a shim under the front or rear of the mount, or fitting a rubber pad between the toothed faces. There was no reference in the documents to compensating for any incremental error in adjustment.

So no, it was not a problem for me. In fact I am pleased at the non-slip feature of the mount.

Incidentally, these lamps replaced my Cibie Super Oscars which were pencil beam. Their mass caused them to vibrate making the beam "dance" and reflective road signs became blinding. They provided no light to the road verges......I had reason to drive the Fraser Island beach one night and could only guess where the water's edge was. Also, at 220mm diameter, I felt that they were obstructing air flow to the radiator. Now they sit on the shelf, any takers?

Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: Member -Ted - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 16:39

Reply By: GimmeeIsolation - Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 21:11

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 21:11
Hi Paul,
I converted my IPF spotties to 55W HID to match the cars headlights and went both spread and am very happy with the result as they truly light up like day.
I live North W.A. where Cattle/Horses,and some Roos etc are the main problem.
No reason at all to have pencil beam with HID as the spread beams go over several hundred metres ahead anyway and seeing the side of the scrub where they dart out is the go for easy night driving.
Found that lighting the scrub they run off into the bush instead of onto the road. You will only need pencil HID if you travel at speeds way above the speed limit at night, only travel on straight roads and like sore eyes from the reflective signs !.
AnswerID: 478089

Follow Up By: 4X4Treker - Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 22:21

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 at 22:21
Paul
I have done the same as GimmeeIsolation and converted my IPF's to HID the only difference is that I have kept my pencil beams but my head lights are also HID so I have the long distance as well as the spread from the head lights all up my entire conversion for both my head lights which are still high low and spoties was less that $250 off of ebay, I also do a lot of bush driving at night and since fitting the HIDs the roos do seem to turn away

Cheers
Treker
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FollowupID: 753554

Reply By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 01:42

Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 01:42
Wow, thanks for all the responses guys. Sounds very encouraging.

Cheers
AnswerID: 478101

Follow Up By: Muntoo - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 03:11

Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 03:11
If they were the Nitestalker 170s then i think around $350 was RRP.

The 200s were around the $450 mark i think.

Well worth it. They arent the best lights available but are great value for money. The halogen 170s are probably the best value lights available under $300, with HID they become as good as any halogen light.

I had 4x Nitestalker 170s converted to 55w HID on my sportbars, with 2 Hella 4000 70w HID wide cornering beams and 1x Hella 4000 euro beam 70w HID on the bullbar.

It was a pleasure to drive at night. Animals didnt dare walk onto the road for fear of being permanently blinded.

Have gone a different way now, with a 26" 10w LED lightbar and thinking of 3x Hella 4000 70w HID spots.

I do long distances at night, through country littered with big roos, camels, emus, cattle, horses, goats and wicked vans. So i like to see whats around, plus with HID your eyes just never feel strained.
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Reply By: Les - PK Ranger - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 16:43

Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 16:43
Long as there aren't too many yellow road signs about !
HID reflections from those can ruin your vision for some time.

Have the LF Genisis 35w, have pencils, with 1 x combo lens.
The combo gives some good side lighting, as well as the distance too, while pencil is way out there.
Might get a second combo lens cover at the next show, the SA Caravan & Camping Show next weekend.

Thinking if I add any more lightling for close up, they'll be LED light bar type, just recess into the spot provision places in the bar, will only be looking for 2 x 4 or 6 led ones, aimed slightly outwards from centre.
AnswerID: 478146

Reply By: RobAck - Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 16:52

Sunday, Feb 19, 2012 at 16:52
You will have plenty of choice in the price range for sure. Check out several of the 4WD magazines who have done reviews over the last year or so. That will help to some degree. We have been using Hella Predators for around ten years now and whilst at the top of the heap you get what you pay for. I have been running a set of Britax XRay vision HID for evaluation and they are pretty good for the price and have performed quite well so far but I am putting a new set of Predators on to do some back to back comparisons

A few traps with HID. Sales people will talk about bigger being better and by that I mean power output. Actually not that relevant with HID it is the performance of the reflector and lens that is the key along with the colour temperature of the light. If you go too cold then they are terrible in fog and dust and really don't perform terribly well at all. As well the mounts have to be really robust with a nice flat base and easy X&Y adjustment. HID are quite difficult to get right as even tightening the mount up after adjustment can add or reduce penetration by several hundred metres.

Spot spread works really well but I have been experimenting with two spreads and the combination works very well.

If you have no experience with HID all I can say is there's no comparison to normal H4 globes regardless of how good they may be.

Regards

Rob
AnswerID: 478149

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