Xenon head/fog lights

Guni_GuGu · Post by **Guni_GuGu** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 6:34 am

One of the things that annoys me about my FTO is it's headlights.. I mean, the actual style is god damn hot! but the colour, of my lights are ohh.. so lame...

I would love to change them to like a purple tinge, if possible, all my low/hi beams and fog lights, but I have no idea, what to look for, what's a fair price, quality, and legal issues?

I know HID kits, cost the most, i've seen some that go for about $500 (used), are they all the same and fit the same? or do I need to look for a special kit?

Whats the difference between Xenon and HID? Is there one?

Why is this item so cheap for though?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 94614&rd=1

THanks for any help you guys can point me in...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 11:11 am

hey guni_gugu if you do a search you'll find a couple of threads which cover off all of your questions.

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 11:30 am

Can I just say this, you get what you pay for with light bulbs.

It is somewhat hard to achieve a blue tinge on our normal lights, as of their design, even if you do get those really blue covered bulbs, some ppl even got a green tinge from those blue bulbs.

Recently I blew one of my PIAA bulbs, and replaced them with Philips Blue Vision. I can definetly say that you notice the difference in a bad way.

Both bulbs are the same rating, 55W, but the PIAA ones shined a bit further, and provided a slightly more white light, Now compare the price, the Philip's ones are around $60, while the PIAA ones $100+

Guni_GuGu · Post by **Guni_GuGu** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 12:15 pm

I'm happy to spend a few hundred on them, what I'd really like though, is like a purple tinge..

Ya'll know, the FTO came with an option when purchased for projector headlights, I think it llike a purplish colour...

Those PIAA ones you bought Boris, we're they just low beams or what?

I think I'd try to replace all of them..

BTW Ruchii, I did do a search, and a lot of the questions I asked we're not answered. Haven't really been able to find a suitable thread, I guess I could've brought one back frm the dead, but rather then have everyone read a page or two of replies, I thought best, to start a nice clean simple fresh one.

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 12:23 pm

in terms of brightness, you also have to check the rating on the bulbs because obviously a 5000K bulb will not be as bright as a 10,000K bulb...

and i suppose the brighter it is, the more pronounced the 'blue-ish tinge' will be...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 1:24 pm

Guni_GuGu wrote:I would love to change them to like a purple tinge, if possible, all my low/hi beams and fog lights, but I have no idea, what to look for, what's a fair price, quality, and legal issues?

Guni_GuGu, if you are only concerned about colour and not performance then you do not need HIDs, you simply need a normal filament globe that has the right colour output that you want (purple will be around 8,000-10,000K).

A couple of things to consider:
1) Unless you are getting the same brand, colour and wattage the globes will all appear to be slightly different colours and will look a little silly (i.e. the purple from your normal lights will look different to the purple of your hi-beams and different again from the purple of the driving lights).
2) Different colours work best under different environmental conditions and by choosing a specific colour you may actually be decreasing the effectiveness of the lights.

In terms of cost, filament globes will be far cheaper (closer to $100) and you can do them yourself. If you go HID it will be big bucks (closer to $1K) and should be installed by a professional.

There should be no legal issues unless these new lights are dazzling other drivers.

Guni_GuGu wrote:I know HID kits, cost the most, i've seen some that go for about $500 (used), are they all the same and fit the same? or do I need to look for a special kit?

Short answer: no they are different. More info here: http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=1418

Guni_GuGu wrote:Whats the difference between Xenon and HID? Is there one?

Short answer: none. More info here: http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=1377

Guni_GuGu wrote:Ya'll know, the FTO came with an option when purchased for projector headlights, I think it llike a purplish colour...

The GPvR has HIDs but only for the standard lights not for the high beams or driving lights. The colour is white not purple.

GPXXX wrote:in terms of brightness, you also have to check the rating on the bulbs because obviously a 5000K bulb will not be as bright as a 10,000K bulb...

Mikey, 5000K and 10,000K relates to the "colour temperature" (in degrees Kelvin) of the globe and not the brightness. Brightness is generally rated in lumens or candle power. A 5000K globe and a 10,000K globe are simply different colours, not necessarily different brightnesses.

"Colour temperature" works the reverse way to how we normally perceive colour and heat. The hotter the colour temperature the cooler (bluer) the colour ouput will be and likewise the lower the colour temperature the warmer (oranger) the colour output will be. So a 10,000K globe will be bluer than what a 5,000K globe will be.

Guni_GuGu · Post by **Guni_GuGu** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 8:59 pm

Now thats a POST RUCHI!! yeah! Thats what i'm talking about!!

Now, I would be just content, in changing the colour, but I'm not going to say no to performance either, if the price is right..

I tried to do a bit of a search, and saw, and I have to ask, just to clarify it, if I was looking for a HID kit, for my FTO, I would have to look for a HB4? 9006 and 9005? What about the dog lights, can I do anything for them, as far as HID is concerened?

If I find thats too expensive, i'll just settle for a higher temp filament globe, I know, I might even reduce performance, but really, i'm rarely in a situation, where I've said "Man, I'm going to have an accident soon, because I can't get enough light".... Where do you think is a good place to find a whole lotta filament globes, so I can buy all my lights at once? What sizes are they all?

Thanks for any help again.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:12 pm

There's a lot more involved with HIDs than just changing globes you've also got to find room for all the electrical equipment that drives them. Aside from being incredibly expensive, replacing all the globes with HID's would also create a number of issues in terms of securely and properly mounting all the equipment.

Personally, I've never considered upgrading, so I've never looked around for places to buy them from, but speak to Kev (FTO338), aside from being a pretty good bloke, he knows a fair bit about HIDs too and has a better idea on where to get them and stuff like installation too.

Most people would normally only replace their main headlights with HIDs and if I remember correctly you have a pre-facelift FTO which means you'd use the HB4's.

Guni_GuGu · Post by **Guni_GuGu** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:10 am

ruchi wrote:There's a lot more involved with HIDs than just changing globes you've also got to find room for all the electrical equipment that drives them. Aside from being incredibly expensive, replacing all the globes with HID's would also create a number of issues in terms of securely and properly mounting all the equipment.

Personally, I've never considered upgrading, so I've never looked around for places to buy them from, but speak to Kev (FTO338), aside from being a pretty good bloke, he knows a fair bit about HIDs too and has a better idea on where to get them and stuff like installation too.

Most people would normally only replace their main headlights with HIDs and if I remember correctly you have a pre-facelift FTO which means you'd use the HB4's.

Thanks again, for the very informative post, your an asset to the board...

I think, I'll pass on the hid's, sounds like too much work and too much $$$, if I just wanted to change the filament globe to a different colour, do I just look for HB4, for everything? What about my driving lights, what size are they? Any suggestions on where's a good place I can find some globes in like the 8-10k range? I'll pass on the performance, and just go for looks

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:16 am

Guni_GuGu wrote:Any suggestions on where's a good place I can find some globes in like the 8-10k range? I'll pass on the performance, and just go for looks

I doubt that you will find normal filament globes that go up that high in Kelvin, the most that i have seen is like 6K. But most are either 4K or 5K.

Try some of the online shops, but mostly Autobarn should have an ok range, I think.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:43 am

colour temperature quite literally relates to the heat required to produce that coloured light. The bluer the light, the hotter the item producing the light needs to get. In the case of a filament based globe this means that they need to use different gases in the globe and heavier duty filaments so as to be able to get to such extreme temperatures without catching on fire

. Having said that, the higher the Kelvin rating the lower the life expectancy will be for the globe as the filament becomes more fragile the hotter it gets.

I haven't looked for a long time, but Boris could well be correct that you may only be able to get 6,000K filament globes. It would probably pay for you to do a search on the net. In that case you may have to go for the ones that have been "dipped" / coated with a colour.

Another option you could consider is to modify your globe housings by drilling a hole in them and adding a coloured LED. This would not change the output colour of your lights but what it would do is provide a coloured tinge for anyone looking at your headlights. i.e. for you looking straight ahead the lights would still be whitish-yellow, but for someone looking at your car they would see a tinge the colour of the LED (make sense?).

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 12:05 pm

Yeah, that's why most blue bulbs that you see have blue covered glass, because, scientifically to get a true blue light you need to be going well over the 7K mark with the temp of the bulbs. But i'm sure you all know that.

Blue Scatter Neon Lights:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 36845&rd=1

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:07 pm

all i will say is that the Phillips Bluevision bulbs are shyte... no matter what K rating you get. I paid $60 for a pair on mine and i can hardly see any blue tinges...

i'm resorting back to the PIAAs and they are about $200 a pair from overseas! :shock:

...but at least i know it will be worth it

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:20 pm

I concur Mikey

I recently blew one of my PIAA bulbs

Had to go to Blue Vision... due to financial situation...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:35 pm

Mikey & Boris are you refering to you as a driver or as someone looking at the car?

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:50 pm

I assume driver, cause i had PIAA installed in my other car, & then i change them to Philip Vision Plus, & same "out come" as mikey & boris.

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:10 pm

with the Phillips Bluevision bulbs, the lighting itself is not as bright as my old PIAAs either... so it looks yuck in color and it's not even bright enough, pfffft...

fto12345 · Post by **fto12345** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:07 pm

Ok, I'm a person that used to work in a place where they sell all these stuff...
If you want to go to one place and find them all, go to autojoy in sydney and they will have all of them.

If you are wanting to buy the bulbs, your low beam is 9006 and your high beam is 9005. And your fog light is same as your indicator bulbs.

Now, the HIDs come in two different types. The full complete set which are a full head light replacement. Or the bulb kit!

With the HID replacements if you don't have the water spray coolers installed along with it, it's illegal.

With the bulbs, if you want to get xenon bulbs, you have to really watchout what you get because you can pay a lot of money and still get a yellow light....it all depends on brands.

I use ones from autojoy and I can tell you that their bulbs are pretty good!
Btw, don't get me wrong, I don't work there any more or get any commission for this...I'm just saying it as I have experienced many different types and the ones from autojoy are quite good!

Drop in and ask them, they will tell you everything you need to know without trying to sell you any thing! Trust me!
And they open 7 days a week!

If I had more time I can sit here and type away but I'd rather not...
So good luck and give them a visit..

Cheers,

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:45 pm

hey fto12345
are you talking about the polarg bulbs?
are they actually bright? cos my headlights are crazy dim

i was considering getting polargs but wasnt sure if itd make much difference

simon

Guni_GuGu · Post by **Guni_GuGu** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:15 am

fto12345 wrote:Ok, I'm a person that used to work in a place where they sell all these stuff...
If you want to go to one place and find them all, go to autojoy in sydney and they will have all of them.

If you are wanting to buy the bulbs, your low beam is 9006 and your high beam is 9005. And your fog light is same as your indicator bulbs.

Now, the HIDs come in two different types. The full complete set which are a full head light replacement. Or the bulb kit!

With the HID replacements if you don't have the water spray coolers installed along with it, it's illegal.

With the bulbs, if you want to get xenon bulbs, you have to really watchout what you get because you can pay a lot of money and still get a yellow light....it all depends on brands.

I use ones from autojoy and I can tell you that their bulbs are pretty good!
Btw, don't get me wrong, I don't work there any more or get any commission for this...I'm just saying it as I have experienced many different types and the ones from autojoy are quite good!

Drop in and ask them, they will tell you everything you need to know without trying to sell you any thing! Trust me!
And they open 7 days a week!

If I had more time I can sit here and type away but I'd rather not...
So good luck and give them a visit..

Cheers,

Thanks for help, but I live in Melbourne

Know anyone in Melbourne who can help me out?

Is there a cheap way to get purple lights, without going hid? and what do you mean the fog lights are the same as the indicators? Is there a speicific model I can look for?

Thanks again...