You will never get a good match out of normal headlights. HID lights have a spectrum of light which changes colour. Mine are very blue if viewed from above, white straight on, and purple at the bottom.
Philips Blue Vision bulbs give the best look-a-like when driving (they are very white), but look like normal headlights to other cars.
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I believe I am right in saying that HID/Xenon lights have to be self-levelling (they are when fitted as OEM) and aftermarket kits don't allow for this. You could get the car failed at MOT time if the tester does his job properly.
Upgrading bulbs is much cheaper, but won't match the lighting ability of good OEM HID/Xenon set-up.
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Philips now have a new bulb claimed to be 80% brighter than standard halogen, called "X-Treme Power". I've not tried them myself but I might get some soon, the bulbs I've currently got were bought in an emergency and are not very good.
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A halogen bulb's spectrum gives very little light at the blue/violet end of the spectrum, which is why the light appears amber. So you consequently have to filter by way of a blue coating large amounts of red/yellow parts of the spectrum to balance it out to white, consequently the light output would be drastically reduced, and the bulb would get very hot by absorbing the said light.
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Can I respectfully ask (!) why you want to annoy the living daylights out of everyone else on the road by installing headlights that always look as if they're on main beam and wobble up and down in THE most annoying way on earth???
I HATE XENON HEADLIGHTS. Can you tell?
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Thank goodness!! I thought it was only me who hated driving in front of cars fittied with these damned things. Talk about blinding everyone! I will be glad when the morning and evening commute to work and back is in daylight so my retinas can recover from the excessive light overload generated by these stupid things.
I agree it is nice to see where you are going but not at the expense of other road users surely.
Rant over!
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They are not blinding imo. If they were they wouldn't be allowed on the road. I do get a few people flash me, but I just flash them back and let them know what full beam, actually looks like.
I have never had a problem with oncoming HID lights, and driving with them is excellent. Every car I've driven without them since having them, is like driving with two little candles on the front of the car.
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imo they are blinding - not so much oncoming traffic. More the traffic coming from behind on the motorway. I almost always change lane so the offending vehicle behind me isn't in my direct line of vision.
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I do get a few people flash me, but I just flash them back and let them know what full beam, actually looks like.
Perhaps an alignment check might be in order then, rather than dazzling other road users yet more?
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Can I respectfully ask (!) why you want to annoy the living daylights out of everyone else on the road by installing headlights that always look as if they're on main beam and wobble up and down in THE most annoying way on earth??? I HATE XENON HEADLIGHTS. Can you tell?
(with respect) so I can see where I am driving at night. You might be fortunate enough to have a car that had headlights that worked as well as having good eye sight. Fortunately I have the latter but my headlights were so weak and changing halogen bulbs made little difference, I felt it necessary to get a set of HIDs.
Fair enough you hate Xenons but don't let your eyes be drawn to the bulbs.
(again with respect) I am more interested in seeing where I am going to than annoying on coming drivers. Sorry (but honest)
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Aftermarket HID lights are a pain in the backside, as they aren't auto levelling. Also, HID's should really be fitted in projector type headlights.
www.autoexpress.co.uk/videos/featuresvideos/204742...l
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">I am more interested in seeing where I am going to than annoying on coming drivers.<"
The problem is when the blinded oncoming driver swerves across the road! It's possible to drive with minimal lighting, but good night vision is quickly destroyed by bright headlights. It's people with better night vision who are most affected by bright lights (source: RN personnel)
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AND you should also get W5W sidelights
www.carbulbs-direct.co.uk/index.asp?function=DISPL...3
These, in use, do not look blue but are much brighter WHITE and look so much better than the standard bulbs that look orangy agains the Osrams.
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Isn't it daft that the law hasn't kept up with technology. Xenons are legal because of their power consumption yet the law prevents more powerful filaments simply due to their wattage and nothing to do with their lumen output. Who cares about power consumption, it was an old fashioned measure that was easy to legislate. Xenons prove that size isn't everything yet we're stuck with 1940's legislation.
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