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skorpioskorpio · 03-05-2013, 04:43 AM

What are you trying to achieve? First off HID is a low beam thing not a high beam thing. Vaporised metal does not come on instantly, it needs to warm up and when turned off it doesn't come back on until it cools off without a restart heater, usually a halogen bulb. Secondly the reason for HID lights is to reduce heat so you can reduce the packaging size of the lighting package for better aerodynamics or design aesthetics. 5 1/4 and 7 inch lamps do not have this issue so it really doesn't serve a point.

There are maybe a handful of manufactures that make good lenses and reflectors, and it's the reason why almost all manufactures farm this task out to one of them and why there is even fewer manufactures whose name you will ever see sponsoring lighting for night time racing. Pretty much if the reflector is made by a manufacture whose name you've never seen on a rally car, or a Le Mans car or a Baja car, it's probably junk. None of these reputable manufactures make 5 1/4 or 7 inch replacement reflectors for HID. Hella the only credible manufacture that does make aftermarket HID principle headlamp packages makes versions in 120mm and 90mm, roughly 4 3/4 and 3 1/2 inches, and the corresponding high beams are halogen.

Also the perceived bluish tint that HIDs have has to do with eye strain because it's actually a terrible color temperature to night drive by and this perceived blue is an over saturation of your blue color perception. You are producing a light wavelength that is almost the precises color that causes daytime eyestrain, and the reason why almost all sunglasses are designed to block that particular wavelength. It's what causes glare and all cars that are factory equipped with HID lamps have windshield with a tint to lessen the perceived blue. It also makes the transition from headlamps to dashboard at night very difficult and is stressful to oncoming drivers. The only real effective use of HID is in cars with E code type lamps which have a sharp cutoff below the horizon so that your forward vision is primarily adjusted to the dark.

Now if your goal is just to have annoying blue head lamps there are cheaper, easier ways.

03-05-2013, 04:43 AM	#2
skorpioskorpio Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,018	Re: HID help What are you trying to achieve? First off HID is a low beam thing not a high beam thing. Vaporised metal does not come on instantly, it needs to warm up and when turned off it doesn't come back on until it cools off without a restart heater, usually a halogen bulb. Secondly the reason for HID lights is to reduce heat so you can reduce the packaging size of the lighting package for better aerodynamics or design aesthetics. 5 1/4 and 7 inch lamps do not have this issue so it really doesn't serve a point. There are maybe a handful of manufactures that make good lenses and reflectors, and it's the reason why almost all manufactures farm this task out to one of them and why there is even fewer manufactures whose name you will ever see sponsoring lighting for night time racing. Pretty much if the reflector is made by a manufacture whose name you've never seen on a rally car, or a Le Mans car or a Baja car, it's probably junk. None of these reputable manufactures make 5 1/4 or 7 inch replacement reflectors for HID. Hella the only credible manufacture that does make aftermarket HID principle headlamp packages makes versions in 120mm and 90mm, roughly 4 3/4 and 3 1/2 inches, and the corresponding high beams are halogen. Also the perceived bluish tint that HIDs have has to do with eye strain because it's actually a terrible color temperature to night drive by and this perceived blue is an over saturation of your blue color perception. You are producing a light wavelength that is almost the precises color that causes daytime eyestrain, and the reason why almost all sunglasses are designed to block that particular wavelength. It's what causes glare and all cars that are factory equipped with HID lamps have windshield with a tint to lessen the perceived blue. It also makes the transition from headlamps to dashboard at night very difficult and is stressful to oncoming drivers. The only real effective use of HID is in cars with E code type lamps which have a sharp cutoff below the horizon so that your forward vision is primarily adjusted to the dark. Now if your goal is just to have annoying blue head lamps there are cheaper, easier ways.