HID Kits

[jgoldin1]

Hello,
I've been reading about HID kits since my headlight blew again. I've noticed that a lot of P5 owners like the Helios kit. It sounds like a nice plug-and-play system. any regrets from anyone? What is the warranty on this system? I found the website for xenon shop. I clicked on english, but some of it is still in spanish (i think). where are they located?

I also found xenon expert's site. they have several kits from a couple different vendors. The Katsuro kid is more the price range that i was looking for, but the Apexcone systems have the lifetime warranty. some people in a different forum said the kits look almost identical (but the vendor says there is a difference). Anyone have any experience with either one of these kits?

 

[jgoldin1]

anyone?

is HID even the way to go? it is pretty expensive (comparatively). i could buy more than 10 silverstars for the price of the HID.

 

[JoshP5]

Cost and installation concerns aside, here are the pros and cons:

Pros: HIDs are way brighter, more efficient, and more reliable than Halogen bulbs. And they look cool.

Con: the arc produced in an HID bulb has different dimensions than the filament in a halogen bulb. Since your headlights were designed for a specific-size source, you'll get a lot of beam scatter using HIDs, which can inhibit visability in inclement weather, annoy/distract other drivers, and attract the attention of law enforcers.

If you're hesitant about going to HID but tired of blowing Sylvania bulbs, you may want to try the better, euro version Osrams, available here.

 

[Protege2886]

Cost and installation concerns aside, here are the pros and cons:

Pros: HIDs are way brighter, more efficient, and more reliable than Halogen bulbs. And they look cool.

Con: the arc produced in an HID bulb has different dimensions than the filament in a halogen bulb. Since your headlights were designed for a specific-size source, you'll get a lot of beam scatter using HIDs, which can inhibit visability in inclement weather, annoy/distract other drivers, and attract the attention of law enforcers.

If you're hesitant about going to HID but tired of blowing Sylvania bulbs, you may want to try the better, euro version Osrams, available here.

Nailed it right on the head. If you do decide to buy a kit make sure you angle your headlight beam down a bit so as to not blind on coming drivers.

I got my kit in the summer (from a group buy I organized) and I am in love with it.

 

[Black_Protege_5]

You are right that the headlights were made for Halogen. But in Japan all of the proteges come with the P5 headlights not the sedan and the Break version P5 come with HID's. The P5 headlights are not the best but they are very well suited for HID's over the sedan headlights.

I got the techone kit from protephile and it was the best purchase I made for the car. Suprisingly I had almost no light scatter what so ever and it lit everything without blinding everyone. I really recomment HID's to everyone over the bad halogen bulbs.

 

[jgoldin1]

thanks guys. i think i've decided to give the european silverstars a chance...for now. if they blow like normal (4-6 months), i'm definetly going with an HID kit.