Ahh.. pulled over for having HID..

[Poodles]

Originally Posted by cdo221

FACT: ALL retrofits are illegal, at least California. Doesn't matter what kind of projectors you are using, FXR, Retroquik H1 Minis, TSX, S2k, etc. California law does not allow ANY modification with the headlight units. HID kits are of course, also illegal.

It's very much a grey area. A proper/clean retrofit usually can get past inspections because it looks either OEM or an expensive DOT approved aftermarket.

Originally Posted by cdo221

FACT: A retrofit is going to be better in terms of cut off and beam pattern no matter how you look at it.

Yep.

Originally Posted by cdo221

FACT: HID PnP kits inside a FR-S with squirrel finders bent + 35 watt kit produces LESS glare above the cutoff line than many OEM halogens in OEM halogen reflectors.

Maybe, I haven't been able to measure it myself.

Originally Posted by cdo221

Use a light meter, or just your eyes. The amount of light projected above the OEM FR-S projector is minimal and is clearly less than many factory halogen setups - 2013 Ford Focus, 2005 Corolla, just a few examples of factory halogen setups that has tons of light reflected/projected into the face of pedestrians and other drivers. The FR-S with squirrel finders bent reflects less light than these two examples, and I'm sure less than many other DOT approved cars on the road.

Yeah, halogen regs are pretty crap.

Originally Posted by cdo221

FACT: I'm blinded and can't see shit when a TSX or G37 is coming up a hill and my face happens to be below their cutoff. It doesn't matter that the real HID projectors are producing an even beam pattern without any hot spots - I'm blinded anyway.

Yep, nothing you can do about this until we go to full adaptive headlights (which the DOT has killed cause they don't fit in our rules)

Originally Posted by cdo221

My personal opinion is that the hotspots/dark spots/uneven beam from a HID kit doesn't really matter that much. What matters is the amount of light spilled above the cutoff - the FR-S OEM projectors is not so bad in this case.

Not always.

Originally Posted by cdo221

If I really wanted to be a jackass, perhaps I would argue that it's actually safer with the FR-S projectors. If you're below the FR-S cutoff, at least there's a chance you're in the dark spot and wont' be blinded... with the TSX you're always gonna be blinded since there's no dark spot... ??? haha just kidding...

Halogen projectors have to focus the lower amounts of light. This means that yes, you'll have dark spots if you throw an HID bulb in them, but they'll also have crazy bright spots. If by some crazy luck you get a perfect alignment on the bulb, because of the focusing of a halogen projector, you're brighter than you should be under the cutoff (usually in the foreground which is actually quite bad)

Originally Posted by cdo221

Also my personal opinion, the FR-S with squirrel finders bent does not cause unsafe glare to other drivers. Situations that would blind other drivers, well TSX's will also blind other drivers in the exact same situation.

My last opinion - it's a hell of a lot easier to get a fix-it ticket written off with an HID kit than a retrofit. But, retrofits are better than HID kits in terms of functionality, for sure.

True, as it's usually easier to remove the kit. One could also argue that with a proper retrofit you're not going to be pulled over in the first place. Plus, it's smart to not retrofit the only headlights you own for the car (to reduce downtime, etc)

[Scenic Driver]

Originally Posted by frslee

to be honest, wouldn't you use at least 35w hid if you had to buy fr-s?

To be honest no I wouldn't. My last car (2010 Golf TDI) didn't have HIDs and the light output of the halogens sucked. I didn't put HID bulbs in those halogen housings and I wouldn't do it to any other car.

[umpadupa]

Just lower your car... the glare will just look like any other normal headlight

jokes aside, get a set of retofit hid projectors or bend the tab like everyone else!

[quasi86]

Well im glad I went with the 35 watt set then. I dont see this as a saftey issue. I would imagine that manufacturers like toyota would assume this type of "reckless abandon" by "tuners" and make the projectors capable of handling this upgrade.

The only bright spot with my lights is when you are looking directly at them at the level of the light itself. Im pretty sure regular headlights are exactly the same way. So I dont feel im putting anyone in danger.

PS california just seems to have way too many anal laws that completely trounce on individual freedom and the only reason to live there is the weather. Everything else I gather just seems to suck. The Redwoods are cool too.

thank you for reading. sent using Tapatalk! (wouldn't want to forget that)

[woode]

I wish more cops would pull people over with HIDs in halogen projectors or housings. It is extremely annoying, inconsiderate, and unsafe. The few cars that I have had that weren't OEM HID - I converted with the correct projector housings for HID bulbs.

I don't think people realize, it isn't that the housings can't handle the light.. it's that the reflection point of a halogen bulb is different than that of a xenon bulb. Halogen housings/projectors are designed for halogen bulbs.

Set aside the benefits for other drivers of doing it correctly, the driver will also notice increased USEABLE light. Throwing a HID bulb in a halogen housing usually doesn't do a whole lot.. a lot of the time you even lose light quality because it is just scattered.

[Poodles]

Originally Posted by quasi86

Well im glad I went with the 35 watt set then. I dont see this as a saftey issue. I would imagine that manufacturers like toyota would assume this type of "reckless abandon" by "tuners" and make the projectors capable of handling this upgrade.

No, as the 2 light sources are very different and the specs they have to meet are different as well. While it MIGHT be possible to meet the requirements of both, it's going to be a HUGE compromise and the output would suck with both bulbs.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Poodles

No, as the 2 light sources are very different and the specs they have to meet are different as well. While it MIGHT be possible to meet the requirements of both, it's going to be a HUGE compromise and the output would suck with both bulbs.

i've been told that in the past, auto makers have asked lighting manufacturers to come up with such a design because of how drastically it would cut production costs, and it simply can't be done..

halogen bulbs have a single point of light, where hid has 2 hotspots at the ends of the arcs. you can easily line up one of the hotspots up with where the halogen bulb had been, but the problem has always been what to do with the second hotspot....

[Andrew025]

As an example, take a look at the 04-05 WRX headlamps. The STi comes with factory D2R HIDs. You can see that the STi reflectors have completely different points to reflect the light than the WRX headlamp even though the rest of the housing is identical looking.
You would think if they could make it "good enough" this would have been a prime candidate.

[Gixxersixxerman]

Here is some info to help educate people

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

One great piece of info

Now, what about those "retrofit" jobs in which the beam cutoff still appears sharp? Don't be fooled; it's an error to judge a beam pattern solely by its cutoff. In many lamps, especially the projector types, the cutoff will remain the same regardless of what light source is behind it. Halogen bulb, HID capsule, cigarette lighter, firefly, hold it up to the sun—whatever. That's because of the way a projector lamp works. The cutoff is simply the projected image of a piece of metal running side-to-side behind the lens. Where the optics come in is in distributing the light under the cutoff. And, as with all other automotive lamps (and, in fact, all optical instruments), the optics are calculated based not just on where the light source is within the lamp (focal length) but also the specific photometric characteristics of the light source...which parts of it are brighter, which parts of it are darker, where the boundaries of the light source are, whether the boundaries are sharp or fuzzy, the shape of the light source, and so forth.

As if the optical mismatch weren't reason enough to drop the idea of "retrofitting" an HID bulb where a halogen one belongs—and it is!—there are even more reasons why not to do it. Here are some of them:

The only available arc capsules have a longitudinal arc (arc path runs front to back) on the axis of the bulb, but many popular halogen headlamp bulbs, such as 9004, 9007, H3 and H12, use a filament that is transverse (side-to-side) and/or offset (not on the axis of the bulb) central axis of the headlamp reflector). In this case, it is impossible even to roughly approximate the position and orientation of the filament with a "retrofit" HID capsule. Just because your headlamp might use an axial-filament bulb, though, doesn't mean you've jumped the hurdles—the laws of optical physics don't bend even for the cleverest marketing department, nor for the catchiest HID "retrofit" kit box.


Also a retrofit is better then the stock projector

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...-frs-2012.html

Easy to do.. You can use your existing kit and just get H1 bulb.. Or upgrade to even better OEM projectors

Ere is my stock FRS projector cut off.. It seems to be a bit different then others I seen, but this was when I first got the car


My first retrofit Mini H1 5.0



My second retrofit in my car Mini H1 6.0



My current set up is the same Mini H1 6.0 but tuned and modded


And coming soon is G37's modded and tuned running denso ballast with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs

[SirBrass]

I talked with a custom shop today about some serious work (including gauge cluster backlighting changes and powder coating the brake calipers), and they're perfectly willing to do a projector retrofit on my current HIDs.

Thinking of going with the D2S Mini 3.0 with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs over the OEM D4S. I'm going to be getting demon eyes done anyway, so they'll have to be opening up the headlights... might as well go better with 5k bulbs with higher lumen output and better lenses.

[Gixxersixxerman]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

I talked with a custom shop today about some serious work (including gauge cluster backlighting changes and powder coating the brake calipers), and they're perfectly willing to do a projector retrofit on my current HIDs.

Thinking of going with the D2S Mini 3.0 with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs over the OEM D4S. I'm going to be getting demon eyes done anyway, so they'll have to be opening up the headlights... might as well go better with 5k bulbs with higher lumen output and better lenses.

Playing around with both.. I'd say the OEM projector with a clear lens, tuned and new ballast with the 2240's would be on par with the 3.0's.. A good shop can put the D2S bulbs in place where D4S bulbs go.. Just need new ballast.. I'd run the 3.0 IF I didn't already have the OEM projector.. But clear lens and tuned will be on par.. Maybe even better. And I'm not a fan of the rx350..

But you'll basically be building this

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.Uuypb3-9KK0

[SirBrass]

The shop can source from TRS

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

I talked with a custom shop today about some serious work (including gauge cluster backlighting changes and powder coating the brake calipers), and they're perfectly willing to do a projector retrofit on my current HIDs.

Thinking of going with the D2S Mini 3.0 with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs over the OEM D4S. I'm going to be getting demon eyes done anyway, so they'll have to be opening up the headlights... might as well go better with 5k bulbs with higher lumen output and better lenses.

being that you have the brz, you might be better off with a larger format projector like the fx-r. they might run into fitment issues with the smaller size of the md2s..

[Poodles]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

I talked with a custom shop today about some serious work (including gauge cluster backlighting changes and powder coating the brake calipers), and they're perfectly willing to do a projector retrofit on my current HIDs.

Thinking of going with the D2S Mini 3.0 with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs over the OEM D4S. I'm going to be getting demon eyes done anyway, so they'll have to be opening up the headlights... might as well go better with 5k bulbs with higher lumen output and better lenses.

No reason to change the projector, just notch the D2S bulb and run a D2S ballast.


BRZ projector is essentially an RX350 projector, which most consider one of the best out there...