xenon/HID headlights advice

basically i want new lights on my golf. im going to find a set of hella twins and then put an aftermarket HID set behind the projector lamp

i need help on the 4300K, 6000K, 8000K, 10000K part of all this

ive seen xenon sets before where the headlights are basically blue, and i think thats as cool as treading in dog poo.

any idea how many K is basically white? ideally from people who have sets etc


thanks

 

6000 is basically verging on the white then turning blue.

 

see, form what ive seen on charts, im looking to go 4500-5000... thats much closer to oem hid.

 

still looking at 5000k

 

i have the 8000k, there brilliant

 

6 or 8k are the best.

That is all...

 

wwhhhoooooooo right here goes:

5100K is white, and basically the same as daylight. the blue-er you get the easier the light is absorbed as the wave length becomes longer, so tarmac like the popular stone mastic that looks smooth and its very black doesnt reflect much and so you appear to have less light on the road.

BUT! heres the big thing, they are not road legal in any way shape or form, there are kts that claim to be E marked but this is *******s, they are not emarked for reg21 iirc, (ill double check the reg on our database)

you can kind of get away if they are running through a projector lenses (which is why OEMs usually use a projector as its easier) but you still need to be very very careful.

filament lamps are made to tight tollerances (normally cheap crap chieese ones are a problem but give it time...) and the lamp units are designed around the fact that the light is coming from a very accurate and controlled source, this is how the beam pattern is controlled and the wedge cut offs controleld. it also stops stray light causing a danger to other drivers by glairing them (light that goes outside of the proper areas normally up and to the side)

now HIDs have an arc in small gas chamber, because it is an arc it will move, the light point comes from within a wide rage when compared to a filament bulb. This causes the beam pattern to be less controlled and this is what gives the stray light that causes the danger.

also HIDs have to be self leveling,- normally controlled off the rear suspesnion - and they also have to be fitted with headlight washer jets. (the reg for gas dischage lamps is ECE RE98 and the LIght Sources for GD lamps is ECE Reg 99 btw if you want some light reading)

also one of the guys on the vwaudi forum has asked his insurance company if they are covered if they fit them, they have said they will have to speak to the underwriters, so there is a big mine field there too, esp if an accident occurs at night. (the basic view will be not approved so not legal, so no cover I would have thought)


The best thing to do would be to save some money and get some of these Philips X-Treme power bulbs, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PHILIPS-X-TRE...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318

the guys at work who specilise in lighting swear by them! Im fitting a set in a couple of weeks to see how they compare to my other bulbs...there has been a shed load of development work on these bulbs like reduced size of the glass chamber and increased gas pressure to increase the halogen cycle (google it or ill explaine if needs be) all to improve the output and life of the bulb.

(btw this is my job, I am a type approval engineer....so im one of the engineers who can grant the E approvals....)

 

I hate bad headlights. HIDs in cars/enclosures not designed for them are just such things.

Taxi!

 

ive got hella projectors and theyre ace, even with stock bulbs theyre still better than the normal hella reflector headlights with uprated bulbs.

Ive got osram nightbraker +90% bulbs in mine with uprated headlight looms and the lighting is epic, pretty much as good as HID's tbh, and you can get the osram bulbs for 12/pair on ebay.

The cutoff on the hellas is really sharp, you can aim the headlights higher (so more light further down the road) without fear of blinding on coming drivers.

 

just need to find a set of hella twins.

ive got osram something or others in my normal mk3 headlights. theyd be better if they were aligned.

im going for <5000k, above that just looks chav and stupid and it seems it emits less light anyway, for the sake of making your car look daft, id rather not.

.... anyone get a set of hella twins for sale?

 

check what you have and also before you go rushing off buying hids try some proper quality bulbs, trust me on this one...

 

it already has osram (silverstars?)

the alignment is terrible but i want to change, its going to be an xmas present from me to the car. the b road bashing i do is all at night, so better headlights will be such a bonus, plus you dont see mk3s on hids

 

I have/had 6000k in the mk2 and from in the car the light they emitted appeared to be completely white, the beam pattern was rubbish however so i felt a bit guilty about blinding people!
My friend has just fitted 8000k ones to his Bora and i was expecting them to be pretty much blue but they appear to be just as clear white as mine and other OEM ones, possible less blue than the OEM ones you see on BMW's etc. The cutoff on his were also really good, parked facing a wall you could clearly the top of the beam (although we adjusted them down slightly to be safe/not annoy people)
I would say after the suspension they were the best mod to the mk2 from a driving point of view, as like you i enjoy a good night-time blast round the twisties and it made it far more enjoyable being able to see!

 

silverstars are the old +50% ones, nightbrakers are the new +90% ones that are betterer

i think the hella seem to be better as theres less scattered light going everywhere so the light from the bulb is used more efficiently. sure ive seen some mk3 hellas for sale somewhere, mightve been ed38 tho

also, the headlight adjuster motors from newer caddys and other vw vans (pennies from a breakers) fit in the back of the hellas in place of the manual adjusters for a cool if slightly pointless mod hehe

 

philips is where its at, and Ill see if I can find on the net in the pubic domain some stuff which shows the extent of the scattered light,

also on the K ratings dont always believe them, ive seen ones sold at 12000K, now in real life this is purple! but they said it was a whiteish light.

You can have a good cut off, but still have lots of scatter, it just looks good as its sooo bright compared to the scatter.

 

ive got me some hella twins

i dont think ill be able to get phillips extreme, they dont do H1... i think the hellas want H1

with HID sets, they seem to quote 30w-50w.

i take it that 50w are the ones that blind everyone right?

 

pretty sure they were H1 in the dips and H3 in the mains when i did mine

they do osram nightbreakers in H1 tho.

if you google theres some good guides on modifying the cut off screen in them to suit HIDs better (therefore less chance of getting pulled over), looks pretty simple just need a little bit of thin sheet alloy and pop rivet it to the existing screen.

 

I have tried a direct comparison (same stretch of country road at night on the same night) with the Osram Nightbreakers, the Phillips Extreme and some Japanese "Maruta Technology" bulbs, and the Japanese bulbs were WAY better than the Osrams and Phillips. The beam pattern was wider spread, they projected further and were brighter. Had them in for months now and are still going strong. Best thing is, they're only 7 delivered on ebay

MATT I have a brand new pair of Night breakers in H1 if you're interested?

 

I too run the jap bulbs... the big problem is the "wider spread beam pattern" this is due to poor control of the filament in the bulb, its not in the correct place in relation to reflectors and this causes the dodgy beam, which dazzles on coming drivers. (ill put money on the bulbs having no approval number stamped on the base...)

 

I'll take a gander to see if there is an approval number. I run crystal clear headlamps and the beam seems very focused with these. I have never had a car flash me yet and I have an uprated loom too.