Rally Sport: Futuristic Headlights

[streetk14]

Steve,
What bulb would the low beam use? I'm assuming that it could be changed to HID with one of those retrofit kits on the market, correct? It looks like a true projector, which should produce a nice cut-off pattern for use with Xenon/HID systems.

Andy

[Steve Chryssos]

They are Halogen H9's The latest greatest filament bulb. HID conversions (gas discharge as opposed to filament) are illegal, so we won't be selling them. And no, you cannot mix gas discharge bulbs with halogen lamps. The beam patterns are completely different. So when you put a gas discharge (HID) in a (filament) Halogen lamp, you get severely scattered light. The jerks selling $1.98 HID bulb to Halogen lamp conversions on ebay are doing people a huge disservice. You install them, stand in front of the car and go "Wow...., so bright!" But from the driver's seat the beam patterns are a mess. Very short, and scattered. Oncoming traffic gets blinded.

So don't do it. Don't mix. Bulbs MUST be matched to lamps. As a comparison, 2100 lumens H9 halogen lamp assemblies run about $55 per lamp. Real HID's? about $600 per lamp. So for this kit, the distinction for proper HID (still illegal on the street, but proper function), $2400.

That's probably not what people want to hear, but we will not sell something that is illegal or non-functioning. 2100 lumens and the correct beam pattern is plenty of power.

[Steve Chryssos]

My apologies to Larry and the moderators. This thread was started as "Hey, look what I made". If you guys wanna get technical, let's move the thread to the appropriate section or start a new thread as a sticky. There is so much B.S. regarding headlights that a sticky thread on the subject will save people a ton of money and grief. I'll post up an accurate glossary of terms as well. (i.e. difference between a bulb and a lamp) Here's the top two rules of lighting upgrades:

1) Don't mix bulbs and lamps.
2) HID conversions are illegal.