New bulbs or HID's...what do you have?

[ElDiablo Viper]

New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Just like Corvette the lights ****. Which bulbs do you use and are there HID lights with the balancers?

 

[Ron]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Sean Roe has HID's but no balancers. The lights make a big improvement in night vision. Not cheap though.....

 

[farrbar]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

I have the Sean Roe Kit - not too bad. It was about $550, that is less than Xenon option on BMW, but does not have balancer. Also, checkout HIDS4LESS.com - I have not bought from them, but they claim to have a big selection.

-Farrbar
2001 RT/10
1994 RT/10

 

[ElDiablo Viper]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by farrbar:
I have the Sean Roe Kit - not too bad. It was about $550, that is less than Xenon option on BMW, but does not have balancer. Also, checkout HIDS4LESS.com - I have not bought from them, but they claim to have a big selection.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Where can I get Sean Roe Kit?

 

[Sean Roe]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Our HID kit can be found at Roe Racing HID website .
I looked at the HID4Less website and am not sure that what they have will fit into the stock headlamp housing without drilling a hole through the back cover to pass the wires thorough. The kit we make fits inside without modification. Their website is also wrong about 2001 Vipers using 9006 bulbs on the low beam.

Sean

 

[Viperoctane]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Go with the Roe Xenon kit, very very nice and easy to install. Worth every penny !!

 

[Wolf]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

I installed the Roe HID lights, one of my first modifications and have been very happy with the improvement of night vision, I highly recommend it.

 

[Steve Miehe]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Has anyone ever tried buying some of those "high output" bulbs - like the ones some vendors sell in the back of Autoweek magazine? Any better than the factory bulbs? Have to be alot less expensive.......comments anyone?

 

[Qualitywires.com]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

be careful with those high wattage bulbs...they can burst when they get hot and causes a mess inside the headlamp. It happened to me on my older viper and it was a pain in the butt to get it out. Also, I think it can burn your wires up if you are not careful.

If you use the whiter bulbs, I would use the PIAA super whites.
I plan on getting the Sean Roe set up down the road.

 

[Todd Richmond]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Using higher wattage bulbs is a little risky. I went w/ standard wattage PIAA and the lights are definitely whiter, but not much brighter. I'm not sure that the PIAA models are worth the higher price - $70. Some sites sell DOT approved superwhite bulbs for around $25 that may actually be a little whiter and defintely cheaper. You can also find deals on a 9005/9006 set and use one for the Viper and the other for your other car(Vipers use the same low bulb that most other manufacturers use for high beams)
Todd

 

[jcaspar1]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

I went with higher wattage bulbs in my fog lights (80/120 watt) and noticed no difference in brightness but they are much whiter and nicely match the Roe HID's I have.

 

[Sean Roe]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mayasa:
Sean- Whats the diff in a 9007 and 9005 they look the same but the 9007 is for my truck, and is the balancer like the auto level in the bmw?

I tried to call but got home to late when you ran the special the other day want two sets
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The 9007 has a larger base (completely different) and the distance from the mounting surface to the filament (or Xenon gas capsule in the case of HID's) is longer (44.5mm vs 31.5mm).

Yes, I believe he is referring to automatic leveling like the bimmer.

Regarding the special I put up the other day, we'll try to give more notice next time in case anyone wants something other than a Viper kit. I wouldn't want to stock them, but we can get H1, H4 low, H7, 9004, 9006 and 9007 also. We can tag them on with our next order. They would be somewhere between $529 and $539.


Sean

 

[Bad02ViperGTS]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

I have HID headlights and higher watt fog light bulbs and it works very well..........

 

[Steve Miehe]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Thanks for all the comments guys. As with most anything else, you get what you pay for, but, am having some trouble understanding why a headlight bulb kit is $500(+)....oh well.

 

[Vip-RT10]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

I have Sean Roe's HID kit and love it. Too bad he doesn't make it for the Prowlers...

 

[2tall]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

I peeked into my owner's manual today and it said 9006 (pretty sure) for low beams and 9011s for high. The place I was at said that xenons aren't made in the 9011 size...

Anyone know different? How do people get bulbs that fit?

 

[mit]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Can someone explain to me what a balancer is? Is it a headlight leveler? If so, how does it work(or not work) with the factory leveler?

Amit

 

[rgifford]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

In an effort to improve my lighting I wanted to replace my bulbs with a little higher waqttage and whiter bulbs. I went to advance, and they sell a bulb called the silverstar made by sylvania. They claim the temp is 4100K, HID is 4300, and the wattage is 65 vs 55 for stock. They are better but still not HID. One thing that I did notice is the 2001 manual calls for 9006 in the low beams but I can tell you the bulbs are 9005!!! Another thing that was wierd was the high beams, were 9011s. I have never seen this type of bulb before. I am ready to call sean and spend the money, but would like to see some up close pics of the parts. BTW, what special did you run Sean?? If there was a slution for HID H3s you would sell a tin of them.

Does anyone know about the 6000k hids vs the 4300k?? Looks interesting??


Robert

 

[Sean Roe]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

The 9011 has a coating on it and *may* (I've forgotten) be a slightly higher wattage. Other than that, it's the same as a 9005.
The HID system we have uses the Philips control box and is the 4300K system.
The filament style bulbs with the Xenon gas and 5 more watts than stock are cheap enough, but they're no where near a true HID lamp operating at 20,000 watts in regard to quality of light output.
If you get the filament style (standard) bulb with Xenon gas, just make sure you don't go too high on the wattage. The bulbs will burn out fast. A stock bulb has an expected life of 650 hours, where a bulb that has the wattage bumped up can quickly drop to 250 hours depending on the increase. Because a true HID system has no filament to burn out, their life is rated at 20,000 hours.
Hope that helps answer some question.

Sean

 

[Tom and Vipers]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

..Yes, I too am a ***** and do not know what a balancer is... what is it?

Also, I have a 98 Z28 and the headlight assembly looks very much like a Viper, but... it's headlights are wonderful! Very acceptable!

My 2000 GTS has OK headlights - maybe as good as the Z28.

However, Bad Viper, 1996, lights are glow worms. I'm talking yellow here.

Perhaps I should check to see if there is a voltage drop...

I would think that there shouldn't be too much difference between a 1996 and 2000 GTS.

Tom

 

[Ron]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Given the additional brightness of true Xenon HID's, the FED's demand that any system have an automatic balancer so the changes in ride height (passenger loading, fuel burn, trunk load, etc) do not blind oncoming traffic.

Given that, most aftermarket HID installations aren't truly legal, but then again, neither is driving 100+ mph is it?

Your "glow worm" lighting is most likely due to aged bulbs or weak electrical connections resulting in insufficient bulb current.

Step up to Sean's kit and see the light!</FONT f>

 

[Qualitywires.com]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

Sean are the HID lights on your system forever? No need to change out the bulb? Forgive my ignorance! heh!

 

[Tom and Vipers]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

An AUTOMATIC BALANCER (?)

I'm an engineer and that sure sounds like a challenge.

Let me think out loud:

How to balance?
Normal to gravity down?
But what about driving accelerations?
But what about slope of road? (Gravity balance bad here...
CONCLUSION: Can't use gravity or pendulum.

How about:
Manually set balance, then mechanism employed to adjust
balance based on axle ride height variations.

With automatic load leveling systems, this information is avail.
All that is needed now is the actuators.
Electronically controlled mini servo motors w/electronic position detection?
Coaxial "choke" cables with fore/aft jacking wedges at bulb? (haha 50's techno...

I would be very interested to hear how this is done. 1/2 degree is a bid deal! I don't see a clever/simple/cheap way to do this. When in doubt and electronic solution will work. Could be why it is so expensive...

Maybe with the advent of DOT balancing systems, we may get the "archaic" yaw system that follows the front tire directions.

 

[Ron]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Plagiarized... It appears the auto leveling is done via linkages of some type though I have no idea how......

HIDs produce 70% more light than halogen headlights while at the same time using less power (35 watts). HIDs produce less heat and use the European spec beam pattern. This type of light is more often referred to as "xenon" lighting because the highest percentage of gas contained within the lighting capsule is xenon. The lighting "bulb" is called a capsule, in this case, because an arc of electricity is generated between two electrodes to produce light, instead of using a physical metallic filament.

A certain car manufacturer's motto for their HID option is that they "turn night into day", and nothing could be more true. Sunlight emits a color temperature of 5250 Kelvin, HIDs emit a color temperature of 4150 Kelvin or higher. The type of light that a HID headlight emits has the ability to make the reflective material (phosphorus) more visible. Phosphorus is contained in everything from the lines painted on streets, to the text used on road signs.

In order for HIDs to be street legal on a car in the United States they must be an option on the particular vehicle in the United States. While the DOT does not require this, the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) requires that cars equipped with HIDs must also be equipped with an automatic beam leveling system and a headlight cleaning system. This seems to be logical since the leveling system eliminates glare as the vehicle changes in height due to load and terrain variations, and the cleaning system removes glare causing foreign matter from the headlight lens. It is the fact that these systems are often not installed in HID equipped cars that is the source of the bad press for xenon lighting. In reality, HIDs represent one of the most significant lighting achievements in automotive history when installed with the proper parts.

</FONT f>

 

[Ron]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">a bit more data:

HID headlamps are still expensive to replace. A halogen headlight module may typically cost around $60 for each lamp whereas a HID lamp can cost over $500. One of the reasons for the price hike is the fact that most of HID units incorporate an expensive motor and controller for the automatic leveling system.
</FONT f>

 

[V10 MOJO]

Re: New bulbs or HID\'s...what do you have?

My experience with the HID Xenon. I purchased the cheaper sets for low beams and fog. I now must replace both fog lamps (not bulbs, Lamp lenses!) due to the cheap bulbs cracking them from the heat. Stick with Sean Roe's, it cost more but you get what you pay for. I listened to some poeple who say " no problem with the cheap version" and it bit me on th *ss!