flat-spot

Just purchased some HID's for my 05 WRX PPP but was wondering are HID's and Xenon's the same thing or is there a difference, and which one is brighter?

Haven't looked at the installation instructions yet but are these easy to fit yourself or do they require professional/Subaru garage install?

Any advice?

Apple

www.autolamps-online.com

should sort out most questions, as for fitting, it's a reasonable job if you can follow the instructions and wiring diagrams...

Chelspeed

HID = high intensity discharge. The discharge bit means gas discharge, ie the light is produced by an arc within gas and the gas is xenon. So they're the same thing.

There are a lot of "xenon" look conventional blubs which claim to be brighter than normal but they're are marginal, if any, improvement on normal halogen bulbs (is xenon a halogen, think it is)? Not a shadow of genuine HID's.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

HID, or High Intensity Discharge lamps have no filament but produce light by exciting a gas, Xenon, with a very high voltage.

Xenon isn't a halogen (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and radioactive astatine are the halogens), but is actually an inert gas, also known as one of the noble gases or rare gases.

Ther thing about HID is that it produces light without the need for massive current to heat a wire (the filament in standard bulbs) which is wasted (the heat).

A normal HID lamp draws 35W and produces the same light output as a 300W halogen lamp would.

Don't be confused by so called Xenon bulbs: they use a small amount of Xenon to give a white or bluish tint to the light. An HID...........well, you'd need to be sat down when told the price:

Alcazar

jpar196

hey guys, sort of off topic but, I have a version 7 sti with HID lamps but it doesnt seem to be white/blue as the ones on evo7s ? is there any thing I may change on the HIDS to change the white/blueeness? mines kind of lemon . NOT WHITE! and the funny thing is, the instant I turn it on, it is dead blue but after 1 min its lemon lol any HID experts out there ?

AlanG

That'll be the heat of the lamp then..

Colour is all down to lamp rating 4300k being rated as the whitest brightest possible raising through 6000k (slight blue), 8000k (more of a blue), 10000K and 12000k (purple)

My auxiliary lamps are 4300k which when first switched on are very slightly bluish, but heat up quickly and turn to bright white after about a second.
So much so that under certain circumstances if you switch them on in front of *new* road signs (highly reflective ones), you can get caught out in that you are blinded by the reflection and can't read the sign (this only last for about a second)
The higher rated bulbs (6 and 8000k) are supposed to be better for your eyes so i'm told. i.e. nicer to drive with rather than the possible harsh contrast of the 4300's.

If you want more blue similar to the likes of BMW or Mercedes etc but not too bling bling, change the bulbs to 8000k's.