Is HID lighting worth the $?

[adkrover]

I would like to increase my lighting and was wondering if anyone had experience with HID lighting versus modern halogen free form lighting? I'm ordering a set of the Hella Vision replacements for the standard buckets but would still like bumper mounted lights for fog and extra driving lights. I need to keep size down and the most powerful compact fog and driving lights are all HID but for as much as four times the cash compared to high quality halogens. I understand HID bulbs last a lot longer, have no filament to break under extreme duty and burn nearly half the watts so maybe that's worth some extra upfront cash. How much better is the light from HID and is it worth it?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Mercedesrover]

They're pretty nice but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. I run Hella H4 bulbs in my truck and they're pretty good. I'd give them a try before I took the trouble of doing a HID system.

[TSR53]

I too was sceptical about the HID's as I'm a tried and true rallye light nut. Back in the day it was a combo of chucking more watts and clear european leaded glass with solid 12+ volts and nice Hella, PIAA or Cibie lights.

The big kicker that changed my mind, was the first night I drove my new 2006 MINI Cooper S with the HID xenon lights. That was one of the best ordering decisions I've ever made on a car, hands down the best. I'm the founding member of the Old Fart Motoring Club and I'll tell ya, I'm not getting any younger and my eyes don't work like they did when I was in my twenties. Especially at night in the rain when regular "yellow halogen" light get swallowed up by the wet pavement, the HIDs work and they are bright!

One item to look out for... ALL HIDs from the new factory cars are self-adjusting/leveling. My new MINI Cooper S actually self-levels the HID lights as the car bonnet attitude goes up and down. Ok, it can only do so much leveling, but you get the idea. It's law because of how bright they are to on coming traffic. If you install Hella HIDs they will be for off-road use only.

Which brings me to the point that you can't really use HID's unless they are factory installed lights WITH self-levelers. What to do... ??

A solution...
I recently installed on our campmobile Westfalia, a set of good ol' fashioned halogen PIAA 80XT Pro rallye racing lights we had on the shelf here at RN. OMG, these are good. H4 lights with low AND high beam in each light. So imagine having an extra set of really nice Japanese made intense low beam european cut-off look _____/ _____/ for each light AND high beams too. The price was too good to pass up. I am happy with the light output.







I cheated and sacrificed some Hella 3000 stone covers to go over the PIAA covers.

[KevinNY]

When I swapped to the Hella Vision plus there was a noticeable improvement. Rewiring with relays will help too. Check www.rallylights.com for lots of good info on rewiring with relays.

[yorker]

X2 for Susquehanna MotorSports, they are a great vendor!

[jp-]

It's law because of how bright they are to on coming traffic.

This is something that I have mixed feelings on. I understand the desire to see farther ahead, but my god the lights on modern cars have gotten bright. I have somewhat of a sensitivity to bright light and these things are like old high beam headlights even when they are on low. It has gotten so bad, that I sometimes have to drive at night with sunglasses (Blues Brothers...). A few years back I came across a NHTSA article on bright light related accidents (blinded drivers), but didn't save a copy. I find that I can see just fine on my regular sealed beams. The point is, where will it all end? Right now the light manufacturers are in a pissing contest over how bright each others lights are. I don't think there should be any restriction for highbeams, but for low beams yes. And don't kid yourself, those self-leveling things don't work as fast as they lead you to believe (when cresting a hill, etc...)

[jac04]

ALL HIDs from the new factory cars are self-adjusting/leveling. It's law because of how bright they are to on coming traffic.

Not all factory HID lights are self-leveling. For example, the lighting system for the 2004 Subaru WRX STi utilizes a manual level adjustment switch. This means that you must realize that your lights are aimed too high (due to rear seat passengers or luggage in the trunk) and adjust the beam pattern down to compensate. With HIDs, it is very important to properly aim the lights to avoid causing glare for oncoming traffic.

Back to the original question: How much better is the light from HID and is it worth it?

Better is hard to define. Under normal driving conditions, I find my factory Subaru WRX STi HID headlights provide much better illumination than their halogen counterparts. However, this is simply because the HID bulbs produce more light (lumens) and the headlights are designed to provide an appropriate beam pattern. The 'whiter' light that the HIDs put out is better and worse at the same time. In clear or even rainy conditions I find the whiter HID light to be much better for visibility. In fog, heavy mist, or snow, the HIDs will tend to cause more glare back at the driver. For this reason, HID lights are not really the best for use as fog lights.

I would say that for driving light duties, the HID may what you are looking for. For fog lights, I would go for a set of quality halogens.