I was wondering what type of HIDs i should buy. I want brighter lights, i cant see **** on the road and i gotta highbeam alotta times on the road at night. Just wanted some opinions from people who have them on their subbys. I gotta 07 wrx and i would like to hear some input!! thank you!!!


Gene.

Well, before spending money on HIDs, have you tried buying brighter halogen bulbs? Or maybe your lights need to be re-aimed?

Hmm - yea, i thought about halogens, but i always liked how the HIDs lookd from inside and outside the car. My lights need to be reaimed also...but **** it imma just get HIDs hahah. Any suggestions? =)

well... 4800K is stock sti... ive heard 6500k is the brightest u can get before u start to lose light over color...

hope that helps..

+1 For brighter Halogens. Try out the Osram Nightbreaker +90's. Supposed to be the brightest (see legal) halogens out.

My biggest suggestion, is if you're going to do this, do it right. I hate people who think getting an HID kit and putting it into their stock housings are fine. It blinds everyone because the light goes off in all directions blinding not only the people coming towards you, but anyone going the same direction in front of you. Make sure you get HID projector housings, or if the STi headlights are direct swap, that's another option.

As for temps, I prefer 5000k vs something in the 4000ks. I like the slightly blueish tinge to it. My HID kit that I have with my EDM HIDs were from Kalex. The distributor is in North Milpitas, so pretty close if you live in Fremont.

623 Arbor Way Milpitas, CA 95035 USA.

kevin@kalex.us
Tel: (408) 661-2668
Fax : (408) 268-6410

I've had them for over 3 years, and the only problem I've had is a bulb went out after a guy tried to break into my car and thought ripping my headlights out would stop my alarm (so, basically not the company's fault). I'm not sure if they've updated their kit, but I had to rig my own relay system with a Radio Shack relay which can be slightly confusing, but pretty easy once you see how the relay works.

putting HIDs into a bugeye headlight will not make it go everywhere, and will get better lighting if done right, the lighting will go into the same direction as would with a normal bulb(non hids) the only thing different will be the light out put..

+1 For brighter Halogens. Try out the Osram Nightbreaker +90's. Supposed to be the brightest (see legal) halogens out.

+1 for the osram nightbreakers.

i got mine a few months ago and love how bright they are.

putting HIDs into a bugeye headlight will not make it go everywhere, and will get better lighting if done right, the lighting will go into the same direction as would with a normal bulb(non hids) the only thing different will be the light out put..

http://autotips.plentycar.com/convert-your-car-to-hid/

HID lighting on vehicles other than those that come to stock is now illegal in the USA. The reason is improper use of HID lighting systems and their unintentional blinding of drivers. A lot of inexperienced drivers put HID into halogen headlights, obviously not designed for such a system. Most halogen headlights use reflector type housing. Light from a halogen bulb is directed out to the reflective pieces of the headlight housing and than reflected onto the road, whereas the lighting from an HID bulb is focused directly onto the road. If the HID bulbs are put into a reflective type housing the light will be directed incorrectly and the focus of the HID bulbs are misdirected as well. In this case the light is being directed elsewhere and actually being directed onto other motorists.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

Halogen headlamps and HID headlamps require very different optics to produce a safe and effective—not to mention legal—beam pattern. How come? Because of the very different characteristics of the two kinds of light source.

A halogen bulb has a cylindrical light source: the glowing filament. The space immediately surrounding the cylinder of light is completely dark, and so the sharpest contrast between bright and dark is along the edges of the cylinder of light. The ends of the filament cylinder fade from bright to dark. An HID bulb, on the other hand, has a crescent-shaped light source -- the arc. It's crescent-shaped because as it passes through the space between the two electrodes, its heat causes it to try to rise. The space immediately surrounding the crescent of light glows in layers...the closer to the crescent of light, the brighter the glow. The ends of the arc crescent are the brightest points, and immediately beyond these points is completely dark, so the sharpest contrast between bright and dark is at the ends of the crescent of light.

I beg to differ. If you look at correctly installed HID lights, they cut off in a very distinct line, while normal halogens fade. There is a HUGE difference. It's people who think like that which cause me to be blinded at night.

+1 for the osram nightbreakers.

i got mine a few months ago and love how bright they are.

could you post a pic? i would like to see em. i have PIAA ones.

6000k would be perfect. 8000k would be start going on blue. but still look good. anything over 8000k is too much.

So - Sti-owns-evo - what kind of housing should i get then? what would you recommend i do? seeing you being all pro at this =D

Here's pics of my headlights when I got my HID kit. The ones on the right were PIAA 4300k halogen bulbs (slightly brighter than stock ones), and the ones on the right are 8000k HIDs.

http://i26.tinypic.com/2jea59x.jpg

http://i25.tinypic.com/2s67qf8.jpg

Hope this helps your search in some way :)

So - Sti-owns-evo - what kind of housing should i get then? what would you recommend i do? seeing you being all pro at this =D

Try finding a stock STi housing or something.

Even though 06-07 WRXs come with "projectors" they're made for halogen systems.

Try finding a stock STi housing or something.

Even though 06-07 WRXs come with "projectors" they're made for halogen systems.

if the projectors in the 06-07 wrx's are anything like what i got on my legacy, then you'll probably have to open up your headlamp housings, and fill in the gap in the projector shield to eliminate that "flare" / "glare offset" you see from khizzles photograph of his hid's. The stock non-hid headlamps weren't really designed for it, so by running hid's w/o modifying that cut-off shield causes you to blind others on the road.

so in addition to filling in the cut-off shield, (still assuming your headlamps are similar enough to mines), you may need to aim your headlamps a tad bit lower (esp. on the drivers side), even w/ the shield plugged in, if your lamps are aimed high enough regardless, you're gonna blind someone on the road.


as far as hid's, there's a lot of great vendors on here and other carclubs selling off their hid kits. i'd recommend a kit somewhere in between 4000K - 6000K at highest... anything higher is just simply for looks and loses functionality.

btw.. pm'd you too.

Are the Osram Nightbreaker +90's just a direct swap? And would this work with an '03 WRX for a direct swap?

So - Sti-owns-evo - what kind of housing should i get then? what would you recommend i do? seeing you being all pro at this =D

I'm no expert, I just wanted to you to be correctly informed and do this the correct way.

Try finding a stock STi housing or something.

Even though 06-07 WRXs come with "projectors" they're made for halogen systems.

This is what I'd reccomend as well. While it may be more expensive that buying some HID projector housings and modifying your stock headlights with those, I think it'll be much nicer having the STi ones that were already built for HIDs.

here are pics from the other forum
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21340929&postcount=71
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21403892&postcount=76


a user review http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1401577

H1 bulbs are for 2004-2005 Imprezas. 2006-2007 Imprezas use H7 bulbs.
http://store.candlepower.com/bconibr90ulh1.html
http://store.candlepower.com/bconibr90ulh4.html

I ordered my H7's from candlepower and LOVE them. They are much nicer and brighter than the stock bulbs. Only takes a few minutes to install them.
I thought about upgrading to HID's when I was originally researching new lights, but the Osram Nightbreakers work great for a lot less.


The Ultimate Bulb Lighting Thread: All You Ever Need to Know About Bulbs
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954736

HID FAQ
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664361

Try finding a stock STi housing or something.

Even though 06-07 WRXs come with "projectors" they're made for halogen systems.

I have some TSX HID projectors for sale that can be retrofitted to your original housings. :)

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184456

i got 6000K HID's on mine with PIAA Fog Lamps. But can't turn both on at the same time ... basically low beams are HID's and high beams are my fog lights :D btw 6000K is the best light output and that blueish contrast if u like the blue color. hope it helps.

I also have a MY07 WRX and wanted HIDs. I did some research on the forum and found a company called mobile hid http://www.mobilehid.com/ At the time they had a discount for i-club members, in addition I saw the videos posted on their website and was pretty impressed with the construction (the guy takes a hammer to the ballast and beats the hell out of it and also operates the assembly under water!) and the range of temperature options.

Installation was easy with plug and play harnesses, the only problem was trying to get the headlights out (I recommend taking off the front bumper first). I installed the ballasts in the gap below the headlights; trial and error took me about 2.5-3 hours (because I didn't take off the bumper :doh: ).

I've been running them for the past year with no problems.
Be sure to also complete the DRL delete or you'll have problems with the HIDs. Good luck

I also have a MY07 WRX and wanted HIDs. I did some research on the forum and found a company called mobile hid http://www.mobilehid.com/ At the time they had a discount for i-club members, in addition I saw the videos posted on their website and was pretty impressed with the construction (the guy takes a hammer to the ballast and beats the hell out of it and also operates the assembly under water!) and the range of temperature options.

Installation was easy with plug and play harnesses, the only problem was trying to get the headlights out (I recommend taking off the front bumper first). I installed the ballasts in the gap below the headlights; trial and error took me about 2.5-3 hours (because I didn't take off the bumper :doh: ).

I've been running them for the past year with no problems.
Be sure to also complete the DRL delete or you'll have problems with the HIDs. Good luck

did you use the stock projector? is the projector in the 2.5i the same as the WRX? :)

Yeah. I used the stock headlights and projector. I'm not sure if the 2.5i is the same as the WRX, but I assume that if it has a projector, it will work (too expensive for subaru to develop two different set). But just to be sure either contact mobile hid or subaru to see if the headlights are the same.

You guys are the best haha, thx for all the info. I have decided to get the Osrams Sylvania Ultras due to simplicity and $$$ of course hahaha. These are only slightly dimmer than Nightbreakers right? And now...to install them =)

where can you buy some Osram Nightbreakers?

online - just google search them - or they sell the Silverstars at any Kragen.

where can you buy some Osram Nightbreakers?

Check out this site.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

This guy is 100% legit, but you will have to email him in order to order some bulbs.

As for the Silverstars at Kragen, those are the "cheap" ones. Sure they are originally made by Osram, but the better quality ones are straight from Europe. You can also get the Osram Silverstar +50 from Daniel Stern.

In fact, the easy way you can tell is the slight blue coating on the Sylvania USDM ones, and the lack of coating on the Osram European ones.

(Take note that even the Nightbreakers have blue coating. This is normal.)

where can you buy some Osram Nightbreakers?

H1 bulbs are for 2004-2005 Imprezas. 2006-2007 Imprezas use H7 bulbs.
http://store.candlepower.com/bconibr90ulh1.html
http://store.candlepower.com/bconibr90ulh4.html

I bought mine from there :)