Review: ACME SpeedyStart 35w HID Ballasts

[maui86]

"Real Performance at the Right Price" - An apt description printed across the box of the "new" line of lighting products from The Retrofit Source / Morimoto. Marketed as a "performance on a budget" alternative to established industry standard HID ballast options from Morimoto, Hylux, etc., the ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts do deliver on their promise of performance lighting at a lower price point, with just a few small compromises.

ACME SpeedyStart 35w Ballasts


Specifications

Rated for 35w output via AMP connectors; pretty standard stuff. Two additional specs stand out on these, for better or for worse: "Stable Time" (how long it takes for the ACME SpeedyStart ballast to power a bulb to full brightness) is listed by TRS at a quicker than average 3.5 seconds, while Lifespan is rated at a slightly less than average 2000 hours / 3-5 years of use by TRS' estimates. Performance with a price, to keep prices down . . .


Pricing / Packaging / Presentation

At just $60.00 per pair, you aren't likely to find any high quality alternatives in this price range. Your next best choices: Hylux 35w at $90/pair, Morimoto XB at $110/pair, and used OEM (Denso) ballasts converted to AMP and starting at $200/pair (All prices based off of current pricing on TRS' website at the time of writing.)



Despite the budget pricing, each ACME SpeedyStart ballast comes packaged in a bubble wrap sleeve, packed inside a thoughtfully designed, ACME branded, corrugated cardboard box; with included 3M double sided tape pad to aid in mounting. In addition, the ballasts themselves have a nice looking "ACME SPEEDY START" label on their back to help differentiate the ACME's from other generic looking offerings.

Build Quality

Once you pull the ACME SpeedyStart ballast from it's nice packaging, you begin to get a better idea of where corners where cut to get these ballasts pricing into the "budget" category:

1. Plastic Everywhere! - The very first thing you notice upon pulling these ballasts out is that the casings for both ballast and igniter are made of plastic instead of the typical metal casings found with many other quality ballasts. While this should have no impact on performance, the "metal look" plastic and the light weight feeling they contribute to may come as a surprise for those used to hefty metal casings. Signal and AMP connectors are made of the standard black plastic found on virtually every other ballast of this type on the market - no surprises there!

2. Nice Wires - While the plastic casings give the ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts a budget feel, the wiring attached to them is a different story. In place of the standard, boring, black rubber insulation used for many other brands ballast wiring, the ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts make use of an attractive black and white braided sleeving to keep wires in place and insulated from the elements. An interesting choice for a budget brand, and one which has a few uses beyond simple under hood aesthetics (i.e. it's quite a bit easier to tell the ACME SpeedyStart wires apart from other wires which you may bundle with them to keep your engine bay as uncluttered as possible. )

Overall, the ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts still have a solid, quality feel to them, helped along by the choice of braided sleeving, despite the less than stellar choice of plastic for ballast and igniter casings.


Performance

As the name states, ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts really are "speedy," ramping up to full brightness quicker than other ballasts. While the warm up time still lags behind OEM offerings, for an aftermarket ballast, and a "budget" one at that, the ACME SpeedyStarts definitely deliver in the speed department:

Top Left: ACME SpeedyStart 35w powering OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense bulbs
Top Right: Hylux 35w powering OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense bulbs
Bottom: Hylux 35w powering 4300k CNLight bulbs

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K7HDBT3mxE"]ACME SpeedyStart 35w AMP Ballasts - CBI vs Hylux 35w AMP - CnLight 2 - YouTube[/ame]

As you can see, warm up time for the ACME SpeedyStart starts at a higher intensity, and reaches full brightness quicker than the Hylux ballast (which itself warms up at a faster rate than many others out there. )

Another view; this time with:

Top: ACME SpeedyStart 35w powering OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense bulbs
Bottom: Hylux 35w powering 4300k CNLight bulbs

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf7J6EX08_U"]ACME SpeedyStart 35w AMP Ballasts - CBI vs Hylux 35w AMP - CNLight - YouTube[/ame]

The only question that remains is whether or not the ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts live up to their slightly lower than average 2000 hour lifespan rating. As the tested install is still rather new (between 30-40 hours of run time at the time of filming) it will be some time before we find out how well they fare towards the end of their rated lifespan.


Final Thoughts

If you are in the market for a new pair of ballasts, need AMP ballasts that fire quicker than most other aftermarket options, or are looking for ballasts on a budget, it's hard to go wrong with the ACME SpeedyStart 35w ballasts.

[86Boyz]

Here is a good if not better alternative for those interested in HID kits:

http://www.opt-7.com/bolt-ac-series-55w-hid-kit/

[ryoma]

Originally Posted by 86Boyz

Here is a good if not better alternative for those interested in HID kits:

http://www.opt-7.com/bolt-ac-series-55w-hid-kit/

I would be weary of 55w HID kits. although they are brighter due to the extra wattage, you might burn out your projector bowl in the long run. I haven't heard of that happening in the twins yet, but it is a possibility (especially for the FRS since it wasn't made for HID's). if you're swapping in an HID kit for the BRZ... then please sell your car lol.

I personally trust The Retrofit Source or Diode Dynamics for anything lighting related. I have never heard of Opt7 though.

[86Boyz]

Originally Posted by ryoma

I would be weary of 55w HID kits. although they are brighter due to the extra wattage, you might burn out your projector bowl in the long run. I haven't heard of that happening in the twins yet, but it is a possibility (especially for the FRS since it wasn't made for HID's). if you're swapping in an HID kit for the BRZ... then please sell your car lol.

I personally trust The Retrofit Source or Diode Dynamics for anything lighting related. I have never heard of Opt7 though.

They have 35W kits too. I used their 35W kit for my fog lights and 55W for the low beams before I went to their LED kits. Didn't have any issues with them and their customer service is great.

[maui86]

Originally Posted by ryoma

I would be weary of 55w HID kits. although they are brighter due to the extra wattage, you might burn out your projector bowl in the long run. I haven't heard of that happening in the twins yet, but it is a possibility (especially for the FRS since it wasn't made for HID's). if you're swapping in an HID kit for the BRZ... then please sell your car lol.

I personally trust The Retrofit Source or Diode Dynamics for anything lighting related. I have never heard of Opt7 though.

Agreed with going with Diode Dynamics or TRS for any and all lighting needs - The majority of what you see in this review comes from or is available from either company.

Quick list of products used here:

Diode Dynamics: 35w Hylux ballasts (2015 and 2016,) CNLight bulbs, foglight/accessory relay harness, HID Relay Harness.

TRS: ACME 35w SpeedyStart Ballasts, Mini D2S 3.0 Projectors.

Available from TRS but sourced elsewhere: OSRAM D2S Cool Blue Intense (CBI) bulbs.

Customer service from both Diode and TRS has always been spot on; pre and post order!

OPT7 - I personally have never tried their stuff. Typically I hear not so great things about them; hopefully they are listening to the criticism and making improvements where necessary.


55w Kits - Agreed with ryoma on this if you are running a HID kit in stock FRS (non 10, RS, Monogram series) projectors - In addition to what has been mentioned, a 55w kit would likely lead to too much unfocused light in our stock projectors. The exception to this would be if you are running 10, RS, or Monogram series (or BRZ ) head lamps which, of course, have HID projectors with proper optics as stock.

However, as mentioned, the only reason to run an aftermarket HID ballast in those head lamps would be if you bought them from a forum member/friend/junkyard/ebay/etc. and they didn't come with the already more than capable stock Denso D4S ballasts. If you do have the Denso's, either stock with your car or obtained elsewhere, you would be much better off simply upgrading your bulbs to Osram NightBreaker, CBI, or CBH.

On a side note, ACME offers a 75w ballast called the Arsenal - I don't see any reason to be running these in the twins unless it's as auxillary lighting used only on long stretches of road with no oncoming traffic.