ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

The bulbs in my car are over nine years old now and the colour temp has definetely increased over the past year (i.e they are more blue-white) and consequentially they aren't as bright as they once were. So yeah, my HIDs have worn out.

So, going to let the moths out the wallet and replace them. Good quality D2S bulbs aren't cheap, so if I'm forking out I may as well use uprated bulbs.

Question is...which one? So far I've found:

"Osram Xenarc Nightbreaker Unlimited" and
"Philips Xenon X-treme Vision"

Both have big claims on % output. I've used both brands for uprated halogens, but never HID so if anyone has tried either or any other uprated D2S bulb, I'd like to know.

PS: Not interested in blue-white HIDs (6000K, 7000K etc), the higher the K the worse the output and object rendering (fact).

The Pink Ninja

iTrader: (23)

The best ones I ever had were the OEM ones in the JDM Bug lights, I can't remember who made them but they were awesome, pretty sure they were 4.3k ones,

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I'd go with standard Philips, or Hella 4300K.

Why pay more from upgrading?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

On the grand scale of things its not that much difference in price from a branded D2S (considering their lifespan). They were never the best projectors in the world, as there isn't enough kick-up to the left (not adjustable), so I want as much light output as I can muster without modding/messing.

Having had Philips X-treme vision plus ( halogens) in H7 and 9005/9006 before in other cars, they were much much better than brand new standard Osram bulbs (as well as the standard Narva's I stock).

So my thinking the same logic should apply to their HIDs

Scooby-Mark

I changed mine in December (as I thought they had failed, turned out to be a faulty ballast).


I went with these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271715709443


£60 for the pair, they are 5500K so gave a slightly different colour from the OEM ones but I wanted that, they also stocked the standard 4300K slightly cheaper if I remember.


Mark.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

ALWAYS go for the lower colour temperature, 4300K is daylight, hence why the manufacturers spec that colour.

Anything above 5000K is getting too blue.

And as Ali dsays, quite rightly, the LIGHT OUTPUT is inverse to the colour temperature...as the colour temp rises, light output falls.

6000K is about equal to a decent halogen. Anything higher is worse than halogen...so why?

The light output from 4300K compared to even 5000K is quite a lot better.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

Halogen is more like 3000/3500K.

Agree from experience that 4300K is the best light output but personally I like 5000K. Very good light output and a nicer, whiter light. Not blue like the 6000K eBay kits.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

No, you misunderstand.

When I said, "6000Kis about equal to a decent halogen", I wasn't referring to the colour temperature, which isn't really important so long as you stay near daylight, but to the light output.

Using a proper HID burner, 4300K is about as close to daylight as you can get, hence car manufacturers speccing it.
It also happens to give the highest light intensity.

As you increase colour temperature the light intensity falls, until around 6000K it's about the same as a decent halogen. Certainly not the same colour, as you said.

And the human eye doesn't respond as well to the blue end of the spectrum as it does the red, which is one of the reasons why danger signals are always red, (the other being that red bends the least of any colour, so is more likely to be seen from a distance, in fog or rain or falling snow).

HTH

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

Ah right, I get ya