J-Protege

Ahhh! Conficting data! Haha, so which lights would be better for HIDs, sedan or P5?

I have a set of both, so I can go with either. I just don't want killer glare, I'd go with whichever performs better.

JoshP5

^^ Fun stuff there! Great find, Chris.

I'm not saying that P5 headlights are bad, they're pretty good for US-code lights, as evidenced by the article. CR tested only 31 halogen-equipped vehicles in that test--I wonder if the Protege sedan was included? Who knows, maybe it could have hit the 700 foot marker glare free. I had Euro-code lighting on my GTI and the knife-edge cutoff and smooth beam distribution was awesome. It would be nice if the P5 had those qualities.

J, I heard the bi-xenon kits suck (unreliable, poor beam pattern)--can anyone confirm this? If you want to retain your high-beams, it's probably best to use P5 lights with HID lows. If you don't care about highs (a lot of people don't because HID lows are so effective), then I'd just get the low-only H4 HIDs for the sedan.

J-Protege

That's the thing, I don't want to buy an HID kit for the sedan, just to find out the high beam is not enough, or non existant.

If the HID light is enough to light up an unlit highway at night, I'd be fine with it. I do some driving on roads with zero lighting, so to find out at that point that regular HIDs are not enough doesn't work for me...

I rarely use Highs, but need the light at times.

JoshP5

I'd never give up my highs. They're useful on nighttime back road jaunts and for communicating with other drivers. They're just as effective as the horn.

JoshP5

Those Rally 4000s throw a beam 1.5 miles. Hells yeah.

J-Protege

Same, I'm pretty sure I need my highs as well.

Can't you get H4 bulbs with HID low, halogen highs?

macklum

I installed H4 hi/low HID's in my sedan . The low beams are a big differance from the regular halogen bulbs , the high beams are fantastic .they project at least 2 k down the road yet dont have any glare ,nice sharp cut off on both hi and low .
I have to agree about the P5 lights ,most people only install the low beam buld ,but it would make a killer set up if you put a HID kit in the high beam as well ,you would driving in daylight all night long

JoshP5

Since HIDs take a second to ignite, they're not a good high-beams source in a dual-beam system. If you flash to indicate your intention to pass or otherwise signal other drivers, you get nothing from HIDs, whereas halogens are there for you.

How does the bixenon H4 work? Is the bulb physically moved inside the headlight housing by a servo when the highs are engaged?

Liquid_Ag

thats why i have hid low/osram silverstar highs. the hi/low beams have a magnet that diverts the beam. they are cool to watch

_Kansei_

bixenon = moving parts = omg run away

JoshP5

Is the HID arc diverted by engaging an electromagnet (no moving parts), or is a permanent magnet physically moved into position?

The former would be sweet, allowing high speed switching between modes and more reliable performance.

_Kansei_

Video from hella on how bi-xenon works:
http://www.hella.com/produktion/Hell...I_Bi_Xenon.mpg

I haven't read about or seen bixenons that weren't just a shutter --but retrofit ones, I have no idea because I've never looked into bi-xenon since it wouldn't work for the P5

kargoboy

You sedan guys, you don't need the bi-xenons, that's just overkill IMO.
I've never even sold a bi-xenon kit because no one wants to pay the extra $100+

The HID low beams are bright enough that I don't even use my halogen highs except
to flash other drivers when necessary. And I drive on a lot of dark roads.

And no, it's not because of a faulty beam pattern. I have NEVER been flashed by an oncoming driver for as long as I've had them installed.

KrayzieFox

Dude is that a P5 with the Halogens?!

_Kansei_

I took pics of my cutoff and stuff last night.. plus a video that I still have to edit because it's 16 minutes of me randomly driving around :P

I'm uploading the pics right now

I forced the proper white balance so it actually shows what they look like IRL. It isn't hard to photograph HIDs, you just gotta keep the white balance under control. I sampled a white piece of paper with my camera for the white balance (love that feature)



I wasn't facing the garage door straight, and my driveway isn't level, hence it looks like the aim isn't adjusted properly.


As you can see they don't put much light in the 10 feet right in front of the car.. the fog lights fill in that bit, since that's as far as they project light when aimed properly.



Again this is an accurate representation of 6000K.. it's DEFINITELY not ideal. I took this pic to show the angle where you can totally just directly see the HID capsule.. this can be correctly with sleepy-time eyelids like on Rob's P5. I should have taken pics of the beam pattern with my eyelid on to show how much it is improved. I have a DG Motorsports eyelid, the one that isn't the full length of the headlight because it lines up with the hood edges.


don't mind the messy garage.. just trying to show light output. I think this was taken before I checked the white balance though.


I'll link to the video once I cut it down in size. It's 1.8GB right now.

I need to find a place so I can take a photo set up like that STi HID beam pattern and cutoff photo to compare better. As you can see I wasn't far from my garage so it appeared like it was just one big glob of light.