hid's in mk2

[jettabrendan]

Okay so I went ahead and bought myself a set of 8000k bi xenon hid's for my Emmkay2 and I have a few questions. If I aim the stock housings right, will it minimize glare? I'm looking at projectors but for now am using the stock ones. I was also considering the aero ecodes. Do I need a different rad support and grille for these? Or can I just pop them in and be done with it. I really want the round cross hair ecodes but idk where to get the whole conversion kit, and if they are available in 9004 bulb size. All I see is h4.I allready bought 2 pairs of 9004 and don't want to buy a different bulb. The cut off on the stock reflector housings seems okay with my silverstar ultra's. I don't really like year look of projectors on the mk2.

[Turbinepowered]

If you want to run HIDs, you must run HID projectors. Anything else is doing a half-arsed job of it and not giving you the light you need.

E-codes and the like are fine for halogen lights, but not for arc-discharge lights. You'll end up thinking you can see better because you have a crapton of light right in front of you on the road, but your distance illumination will be poorer and in more dangerous areas for other drivers (both in front of you and oncoming).

Why do you want HIDs?

[jettabrendan]

I live down a bush road and do a lot of country driving and the lights just don't cut it, thers far too much wildlife here and I have allready hit my fair share of animals. The colour appeals to me and I like being behind hid's in the winter especially. I will end up getting projectors but I can't find any in 9004 so I can use the bi xenon type. All I see is h7 and h4.

[Turbinepowered]

Sticking the HIDs into halogen reflectors isn't going to help you avoid animals any better than good halogen bulbs will. A little worse, too, with that distance issue I mentioned.

[jettabrendan]

Idk, buddy of mine has it and its the same car as me and there is no issues with glare... He just aimed his lights after installing the hid's and it looks fine oncoming.

[Turbinepowered]

Idk, buddy of mine has it and its the same car as me and there is no issues with glare... He just aimed his lights after installing the hid's and it looks fine oncoming.

Really really bright right in front of the car? Aimed low? I didn't say anything about glare, I mentioned that reflectors don't put the light where it's supposed to go further out from the car.

It looks like it does because the more intense light "lights up" edges and reflective surfaces like brights do, but your overall light level out there is pretty crappy.

Having been on the receiving end of "properly adjusted" HIDs-in-reflectors, and being someone who drives at night for a living, you cannot "adjust out" the crappiness and in-your-face aspect of running those lamps in reflectors.

[jettabrendan]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I know that running them in housings they weenet designed for isn't good. I'm just using them untill I figure out what projectors I can get. So far I don't like any of the ones I seen and I haven't found any that take 9004-3 hid's.

[Turbinepowered]

Rather than going with the sub-par illusion of good lighting from HIDs in halogen housings, why not just run some good halogens in the same housings until you find what you're looking for? Safer, more legal, and less irritating for everyone involved.

[8v-of-fury]

I don't know about you Brendan, but I'm up north in Ontario with a good set of Sylvania Silverstars sealed halogens.. they light up the road like "Chernobyl" I live in Moose and Bear country.. and have never hit one yet with 45,000kms behind these lights and this mk1 lol. GET SOME GOOD HALOGENS... Don't be one of those tuner dicks with reallllllly bright lights that aren't that bright lol

[Rabbit on Roids]

H4 halogens FTW!
i had normal halogen sealed beam lights in my 4Runner before, and they were pretty good and bright. but then i got a set of hella H4 conversion units and stuck some 55w/85w H4 sylvanias in there and relay'd my lights. WAY WAY BRIGHTER! its amazing what just relaying them will do with stock lights.

[Op-Ivy]

Get Ecodes or projectors. Anything else is just dangerous.

[Turbinepowered]

H4 halogens FTW!
i had normal halogen sealed beam lights in my 4Runner before, and they were pretty good and bright. but then i got a set of hella H4 conversion units and stuck some 55w/85w H4 sylvanias in there and relay'd my lights. WAY WAY BRIGHTER! its amazing what just relaying them will do with stock lights.

xeleventy-thousand. My Quantum and the bus I drive at work use the same exact replacement sealed beam bulbs, 12v, dual filament outers and single filament inner high beams. The bus lights are relayed with a short run from the forward mounted battery packs, the Quantum lights were not... and the difference between the two was night and day.

The Quantum is relayed now, and the one leaky light replaced, and I have plenty of light to see as I drive home. Next upgrade is going to ecodes on the dual filament outer lamps.

[jettabrendan]

Okay so this is what I did.. I installed them last night.. And I got a friend to hop in the jetta and drive in the other lane with the lows on, and drive at me normally.. Don't flame me but I didn't find them to be irritating to the eyes. I then did the opposite and got him and my dad in the other vehicle and drove at them.. They said that they didn't bother them but they were obviously brighter than the silverstars that were in there. I'm not saying others won't find them annoying but they said that they are aimed right and bearable. It was at about 11 PM that we tested it. I also had no flashes. I will try and post a pic right in front of the car on lows cause highs are halogen.8v, where in the north are you located. It gets dark at 330 here in winter.

[Turbinepowered]

Okay so this is what I did.. I installed them last night.. And I got a friend to hop in the jetta and drive in the other lane with the lows on, and drive at me normally.. Don't flame me but I didn't find them to be irritating to the eyes. I then did the opposite and got him and my dad in the other vehicle and drove at them.. They said that they didn't bother them but they were obviously brighter than the silverstars that were in there. I'm not saying others won't find them annoying but they said that they are aimed right and bearable. It was at about 11 PM that we tested it. I also had no flashes. I will try and post a pic right in front of the car on lows cause highs are halogen.8v, where in the north are you located. It gets dark at 330 here in winter.

Still doesn't make it legal, and I've noticed that hardly anyone ever flashes anymore. I've driven down the road with my high beams on, gotten no flashes at all, and finally noticed the glowing indicator on the dash when I pulled up to a light. Easily passed thirty or forty cars between when I turned them on and when I turned them off, but no flashes.

You are not getting as good of visibility as you think you're getting.

[zukgod1]

Ignore all the haters on here. 

Just get  some projectors as soon as you can you will like the light they produce much more.

Another option is a good set of Hella reflectors (E Code). They will have the good cut off that you need to get good lighting not as good as projectors but better than the non E Code lights..

HID's rock!!