H.I.D. Headlight! [Archive] - The Subaru SVX World Network

SubaRyu

11-10-2006, 07:18 PM

Finally installed the HID headlight system last weekend. In order to maximize the function, I also installed the clear outer lens... My vision is getting worse and worse every year so night time I had hard time looking at street signs, etc.. Especially day is getting shorter now I really needed SVX headlights to be brighter.

Installing the clear lens was painfull since you have to basically cut the old lens out with hack saw and put new one. Cutting and smoothing took time. I took it slow so took 1 whole day. I actually gave up in the middle, so I went to buy a dremel tool:D It speed up your work like crazy..
Now I guess I need new grill or '97 body color grill!

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/SubaRyu/39797.JPG

Installing the HID system was easier, it only took about 2 hours or less.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/SubaRyu/39803.JPG
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/SubaRyu/39804.JPG

Sorry I didn't have chance to take photos of old halogen light to compare. But trust me, it feels like 5x brighter than before..consume less energy too.

Link to More Photos (http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/user.php?SubaRyu|39714)

I'm in love with the result.:p

SomethingElse

11-10-2006, 07:20 PM

Man!! that looks really good:cool:

nice rims too

NikFu S.

11-10-2006, 07:27 PM

Looks great!
I'm having second thoughts about the 97 grilles, though.

Hose92SVX

11-10-2006, 07:28 PM

That looks really good, if you don't mind me asking what did the len's and new lights cost you?

SomethingElse

11-10-2006, 07:35 PM

i saw them on ebay a while ago for about 250

SubaRyu

11-10-2006, 07:49 PM

That looks really good, if you don't mind me asking what did the len's and new lights cost you?

Thanks:)

The Clear lens set is like $155
The set comes with both lens, and silicone adhesive sealant. To be honest, this seems overpriced, but I'm really happy with the result.. One downside of the clear lens is... the high beam and fog light beams don't spread well. But after installed the HID, I don't need to use fog light anymore! :D

The HID kit is like $395
But I guess you can find less expensive ones on ebay. I wasn't sure if they are good enough so I got this one from Dayle.(does anyone know what happened to his website motorsports warehouse?) My buddy got his HID kit for $150 for his truck and told me it worked pretty good too.

Although the price of the HID kit is going down every year, it's still $$. But you're gonna love the HID!!

SubaRyu

11-10-2006, 07:52 PM

One thing I had to let all of you know...
I have tried those inexpensive "HID look" imitation type bulbs before, but ones I had were distaster. The clear blue coat on the bulb surface got dried up in the light housing, and flaked off...:eek: Made mess inside..:mad: I had to clean up, but still it's not cleaned enough. Don't waste $$ on those!

SubaRyu

11-10-2006, 07:53 PM

Man!! that looks really good:cool:

nice rims too

Thanks! It works very good too!

Hop

11-10-2006, 08:09 PM

That looks AWEsome! I gotta admit, I am getting tired of holding a flashlight out of the window when it gets dark. :)

SomethingElse

11-10-2006, 08:21 PM

what color did you end up getting? Are those white or blue ones?

SubaRyu

11-10-2006, 10:20 PM

what color did you end up getting? Are those white or blue ones?

It's 6000K (color temp), it's bit blue-ish white. Kinda nice with yellow fog light and orange corners..IMO.:D

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/SubaRyu/39806.JPG

poweredx2

11-11-2006, 10:12 AM

Your lights look great I just completed a similar mod using lexan,only I installed the lexan inside if the housing close to the lights, look real agressive.

Dessertrunner

11-11-2006, 01:12 PM

Sorry for asking dumb question but what part came with the HID units and when you cut the lights apart did you have to distroy one part to do it.
Tony

Crazy_pilot

11-11-2006, 07:03 PM

Awesome mod. I agree, it looks great with the fog lights and corners. It just needs some clear corners to match during the day.

SubaRyu

11-11-2006, 07:11 PM

Sorry for asking dumb question but what part came with the HID units and when you cut the lights apart did you have to distroy one part to do it.
Tony

No question is dumb..:D Those are actually good questions.

My HID kit came with 2 Burners(bulb) and 2 ballasts with all connectors and cables needed. Also came with steel plates to attach ballasts in the engine bay. Since you need to secure these plates in the engine bay, you need to drill holes for screws. Req. power drill,etc.

Now for the clear lens.. yes, you have to cut out and trash the old lens. But keep the houseings and the rest.
Here's the link to installation of the clear lense in detail..
Clear Lens Installation (http://www.smallcar.com/svx/hlkinstructions.htm)

Dessertrunner

11-11-2006, 08:44 PM

Okay thanks for that the Australian SVX have glass lenses standard so I guess I only need to buy the HID kit.
Tony

SubaRyu

11-12-2006, 12:14 AM

Your lights look great I just completed a similar mod using lexan,only I installed the lexan inside if the housing close to the lights, look real agressive.

I think I got what you're saying. Let me know when you have pics! :p

SubaRyu

11-12-2006, 12:15 AM

Okay thanks for that the Australian SVX have glass lenses standard so I guess I only need to buy the HID kit.
Tony

I wish I had those glass lenses!

Hose92SVX

11-13-2006, 05:02 PM

Thanks Subaryu for the info on where you bought them and sorry for the late, thanks. I couldn't find where I had read the topic.

SubaRyu

11-13-2006, 08:15 PM

Thanks Subaryu for the info on where you bought them and sorry for the late, thanks. I couldn't find where I had read the topic.

Yeah I noticed that this thread was moved to the MOD mania section too! :)
No problem, let me know if you have more questions of what I have done!

SVXcellent

11-13-2006, 08:56 PM

SubaRyu

11-14-2006, 12:05 AM

Those pics look really nice! I'm always interested in HID as well, but the strict California laws and following threads kinda have me worried:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31215
http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30290

What's your take on them? Also, what brand and how much were your yellow foglights? They look great!

Wow I've never heard of any restriction on the headlights in CA. I was worried about headlight aiming bit high on mine now. I guess I should adjust bit lower. Not in this thread but I was talking about adjusting the headlight leveling. When I put everything back to the car, The lo beam was aiming really low so I had to adjusted. I guess that was designed that way. I will adjust it later back to lower. I installed the HID for my safety as well. I can't see it without it. The original is too dim and not working for me with my bad vision. If I get caught for the headlights, I have to adimit that'd be my unlucky day. As far as I know the beam isn't that high now since I didn't want get flashed by oncoming traffic.

SubaRyu

11-14-2006, 12:08 AM

dynomatt

11-15-2006, 01:05 AM

Out of interest, do you guys fit HID's to all lights, or just low/high beam etc?

Also, with the clear lens kit, what do the fog lights end up like? Are they like another set of spot lights?

Could you in theory get HID kits in all 3 lights? What would that be like on high beam?

Matt

dynomatt

11-15-2006, 01:13 AM

OK...and now I've read the two linked threads. Seems that Ebay HID kits aren't technically what they say they are.

Out of interest, if I want more light out of the front, will the HID do that? Mohrds is probably technically correct, but physics tells me more light has to come out if more light is put in?

Or maybe not?

Matt

mohrds

11-15-2006, 10:36 AM

Out of interest, if I want more light out of the front, will the HID do that? Mohrds is probably technically correct, but physics tells me more light has to come out if more light is put in?

Or maybe not?

Matt

More light in does more light out. It just doesn't mean it is in the right place :)

Look at the image of the garage wall at the top of this thread. See how blurry the cutoff is and how the cutoff line curves up in the middle? These particular capsules are aligned well in the base, but not perfect. The cutoff line should be sharp and horizontally straight, then go up at about 30 degrees to the left. The lights in the image have a very small rise to the left and are overall aimed too high when compared to the car in the next stall. They will blind an oncoming driver if they are more than about 50' away.

The HID mount provides a small 'notch' cutout in the base where the HID capsule conveniently places the "return wire". This is the wire that extends from the tip of the bulb back to the base, alongside the bulb itself. It is insulated by a thin tube of ceramic to prohibit a premature arc of electricity outside the bulb.

As this wire is not transparent or thin, it casts a shadow on the light projecting from the bulb. In a normal mount, this wire is on the "top" side of the bulb, creating a pie-wedge shaped shadow of light upward. The projector housing uses a shutter to cut off the bottom half of the light from the reflector, and a single lens to focus it. A halogen designed projector does not compensate for the return wire and does not have a properly designed shutter. On top of that, the retrofit capsuls don't always have the return wire on the top. Some times it just ends up where it ends up.

Here are some pitures of an HID designed car next to a halogen designed car. See how the patterns match except that the HID is cutoff lower? Now look up to the image at the top of the post and see how blurry and undefined the pattern is.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/mohrds/39854.jpg
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/mohrds/39855.jpg

Doug

sicksubie

11-15-2006, 07:02 PM

I have a friend who had some McCullough HID's in his Subaru and he is selling them for 200$. They are 9007's though. Can I still make them work?

mohrds

11-16-2006, 08:51 AM

I have a friend who had some McCullough HID's in his Subaru and he is selling them for 200$. They are 9007's though. Can I still make them work?

I've heard the ballasts McCullough uses are lower quality and have a shorter life. But for the price, it would be hard to pass up if it was a 9006 kit.

As for the 9007, you will have to modify the hell out of it to fit in a 9006 holder. I'd avoid that.

sicksubie

11-16-2006, 08:59 AM

I've heard the ballasts McCullough uses are lower quality and have a shorter life. But for the price, it would be hard to pass up if it was a 9006 kit.

As for the 9007, you will have to modify the hell out of it to fit in a 9006 holder. I'd avoid that.
Thanks for the tip... Any brands that are known for quality?

mohrds

11-16-2006, 09:46 AM

Thanks for the tip... Any brands that are known for quality?

Bosch ballasts are excellent as are Phillips/Osram. Other than that, I don't know.

I'd reccomend doing it all out and getting a used BMW Z3 HID kit with projectors from Ebay and following Green1995SVX's How to on replacing the stock SVX projectors with the BMW units.

This the package I got from Ebay and it works great!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8056668786

I just noticed there is an identical set on Ebay right now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audi-TT-Xenon-HID-KIT-Projectors-Ballasts-D2S-Bulbs-BMW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ36476QQihZ014QQitem Z330050621588QQrdZ1

SSSVX

11-16-2006, 11:47 PM

hm I am not really to go H.I.Ds' but wow just learn more things about them...

one thing I noticed on the roads is some cars(like cadillac and lincoln SUVs)with H.I.Ds will blind me so bad at nights but some cars(most german cars like mercedes-benz, bmw, audi even its SUVs) they won't blind me so badly at all :rolleyes: Acura H.I.Ds are so bright but they don't blind people that bad IMO.

Motorsport-SVX

11-23-2006, 12:51 AM

GreenMarine

11-23-2006, 01:48 AM

Bosch ballasts are excellent as are Phillips/Osram. Other than that, I don't know.

I'd reccomend doing it all out and getting a used BMW Z3 HID kit with projectors from Ebay and following Green1995SVX's How to on replacing the stock SVX projectors with the BMW units.

This the package I got from Ebay and it works great!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8056668786

I just noticed there is an identical set on Ebay right now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audi-TT-Xenon-HID-KIT-Projectors-Ballasts-D2S-Bulbs-BMW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ36476QQihZ014QQitem Z330050621588QQrdZ1

Those are the exact same parts that I used :D:D

SubaRyu

11-23-2006, 02:33 AM

and got it installed..
you forgot my site already ? haha

www.planetsvx.com

car looks great, but I knew you would like the
results..
I have the same HID in my other car, its been in there for
3 yrs, with no problems :)

Hey There! Yeah I later found the correct link to your planetsvx site.. somehow the bookmark I had before suddenly stop working.

Yup that's the one I got from ya! I love the result. Just recently south bay area was covered with intense fog at night time, and I had drive back from downtown. I could not thank more these HID. It helped me a lot to see. I even drove bit faster since I could see..... No need to use fog any more!
I sound like sales guy, but I'm just being honest telling how I feel.:)

Hey Dayle, is your email working? I emailed several times.. but bounced back to me.