2005 STi HIDs vs. 2003 EDM Projector HIDs photo comparison (4300k/5000k/6000k)

[TROLL]

All three photos were taken from the same distance, on the same night, with the same exposure and the daylight white balance setting was used in my camera which is 5200k (which means that a light with temperature of 5200k should be pure white). No post processing of the photos have been performed, so what you see is what you get. These photos should be an accurate way to compare and contrast light intensity, focus, and color.
FYI I just swapped the Brightstar kit for the McCulloch kit on my EDM projectors so thats what I was originally check out, and yes I know they arent levelled properly, its a ***** to do in 20 degree weather!
bryan
edit: i should get a wrx with stock halogens in there to give it a 'baseline' huh?

http://www.bryantroll.com/other/hidcomparisonweb.jpg

[xEJ20x]

edit: i should get a wrx with stock halogens in there to give it a 'baseline' huh?

Ask Ash for some shots. She has HIDs on stock WRX headlamps.

[95nracer]

Yeah I want to see what the stock headlights would compare to those. I was thinking of getting a 4300k hi/lo kit for my car, but I'm worried about the light pattern it would project.

[Smokescreen]

I could pop my OEM lights in for some pics. Got a heated garage? :mrgreen:

[S4toSTI]

Mine are the sti ones and they are not aimed right as you can see but yeah they stink and i am sad.

[TROLL]

ha no heated garage, but yes i would like to get photos of stock halogens and also stock lights with HIDs, now i'm curious.
this was in northeast philly so ideally i'd need to do the photos from the same exact spot, otherwise i'd need to measure the distance and find another dark lot with a light gray wall to use. and of course replicate my cameras settings again to standardize everything.
bryan

[GC8drifter86]

wow i REALLY need an HID kit for my EDM headlights

[fastjim]

i got a stock wrx 05 but i got 8500k hids in it really bright...much better over stock yellowish color ones...

[Smokescreen]

ha no heated garage, but yes i would like to get photos of stock halogens and also stock lights with HIDs, now i'm curious.
I'll throw them in if that is what you need.


this was in northeast philly so ideally i'd need to do the photos from the same exact spot, otherwise i'd need to measure the distance and find another dark lot with a light gray wall to use. and of course replicate my cameras settings again to standardize everything.
I'm on "vacation" all week so anyday is good. Let me know.

[subwrxkid]

Nice, lets get a pic of my hid's on there lol. Mine are super bright.

[TROLL]

what are they?

[subwrxkid]

lol, Im not even sure lol. They are just really bright and purple. O yea, and they 6500k.

[EatmyDust83]

fastjims are really bright and he doesnt even have the hid headlamps hes got 8500k bulbs though and they have a sweet blueish tint to them

[2slowMX5]

I think 8500k bulbs are a waste. For one, they arent much brighter than halogen bulbs and they are too blue. Every car that comes stock with xenons run 4100k bulbs. I have that temp bulbs in my car and the illumination is plenty bright and I have the "cool blue" cutoff that everyone likes.

See its not the bulb per se that makes that nice color, its the optics used. Generally the E-code lights have the most colorfull cutoff. Not only that but in europe their standards for lighting in general are much stricter than in the usa, so the equipment (optics, lenses, hardware..ect) are made to higher tolerances.

One question. How come in the pics above the "horizontal" part of the light shining on the wall is uneven. Its tilted slightly, the left side is lower than the right. Mine are the same way. On my projectors, there arent any adjustments for turning the housing to level that part off. You can adjust the overall height and I think the distance (left to right) horizontally.

[2slowMX5]

Edit: Sorry I thought you were talking about 8500k xenons. Still xenon or not, 8500 is too high.

[TROLL]

well they kind of have a slight arch... if the photo was wider you'd see it starts to curve downwards the farther left you go. i can adjust up and down and left and right, but cant rotate mine clockwise or counterclockwise either.
as far as the _/- _/- cutoff if thats what you were asking about, its e-code which is in europe and it designed that way to illuminate the side of the road well for street signs or pedestrians, but its lower to the left to not blind traffic. jdm lights are the opposite and when used here generally blind traffic and do not illuminate the side of the road at all because they are shaped like -\_ -\_ instead.
oh and another thing, tinted halogen bulbs so they 'look' like HIDs blow... they look cheap and they cause extra glare because of the tint on them and they blind oncoming traffic

[fastjim]

no i got hid halogens cuz they dont make projectors for my car yet so until i get projectors ill stick with the 8500s i got them in both of my cars and i love them...

[fastjim]

mine arent tinted either i got high quality ones

[TROLL]

i'm not trying to hate on you, but any halogen bulb advertising any color temperature above 4000K is tinted, no question about it.
halogen bulbs burn an amber-yellow-almostwhite color... thats just the color that the gas burns inside the bulb. xenon bulbs burn at a white-blue color, depends on the mixture of gases in there. the goal of a headlight is to put as much useable light on the road... any halogen bulb advertising its 'ultra white' or 'blue' color is achieving that by tinting the outside of the bulb... thats a bad thing because it decreases the amount of light the bulb would be putting out if it wasnt tinted, and it also disperses the light more which causes a less focused pattern and more glare for those driving in front of you or oncoming traffic.

[2slowMX5]

well they kind of have a slight arch... if the photo was wider you'd see it starts to curve downwards the farther left you go. i can adjust up and down and left and right, but cant rotate mine clockwise or counterclockwise either.
as far as the _/- _/- cutoff if thats what you were asking about, its e-code which is in europe and it designed that way to illuminate the side of the road well for street signs or pedestrians, but its lower to the left to not blind traffic. jdm lights are the opposite and when used here generally blind traffic and do not illuminate the side of the road at all because they are shaped like -\_ -\_ instead.
oh and another thing, tinted halogen bulbs so they 'look' like HIDs blow... they look cheap and they cause extra glare because of the tint on them and they blind oncoming traffic

Na I wasnt talking about the cutoff. Look at the 2nd pic down. Look at the perfectly level "lines" on the wall, where the cinderblocks are stacked on top of each other. Ok, those "lines" are perfectly straight, now look at the light at the bottom and top of the cutoff. Comparing it to the wall its crooked. Mine is the same way. Just wondering why this is.

[WhiteXFire]

Na I wasnt talking about the cutoff. Look at the 2nd pic down. Look at the perfectly level "lines" on the wall, where the cinderblocks are stacked on top of each other. Ok, those "lines" are perfectly straight, now look at the light at the bottom and top of the cutoff. Comparing it to the wall its crooked. Mine is the same way. Just wondering why this is.
Maybe it's just how the car is sitting? :confused:
I'll have to take a picture of mine, they're the same European design, but they are level where you're talking about.

[WRXD]

I am currently in the process of getting a quote to do this:

[TROLL]

marc- unless your headlights were intended to be used in europe, they are not the same e-code beam pattern. i know they have little mini slants but its not the same... they are made to abide by the DOT codes set forth for the US. my lights have a great pattern, but are technially not legal in the US because they were made for the eurupean market. just wanted to clarify that...
and i'm really not sure about the slant... maybe they figure the lowest point is about where oncoming traffic lies and farther to the left is more off to the side of the road so it gradually raises to illuminate a bit more over there. just a guess, i have no idea...
bryan
p.s. my mommy has a Lexus ES330 and it has some awesome projector HIDs... they are perfectly flat all the way across... its interesting to compare mine to hers. I should take photos comparing the pattern and brightness of hers and mine but it might be a little upsetting for me though

[WhiteXFire]

marc- unless your headlights were intended to be used in europe, they are not the same e-code beam pattern. i know they have little mini slants but its not the same... they are made to abide by the DOT codes set forth for the US. my lights have a great pattern, but are technially not legal in the US because they were made for the eurupean market. just wanted to clarify that...
and i'm really not sure about the slant... maybe they figure the lowest point is about where oncoming traffic lies and farther to the left is more off to the side of the road so it gradually raises to illuminate a bit more over there. just a guess, i have no idea...
bryan
p.s. my mommy has a Lexus ES330 and it has some awesome projector HIDs... they are perfectly flat all the way across... its interesting to compare mine to hers. I should take photos comparing the pattern and brightness of hers and mine but it might be a little upsetting for me though
Yeah, I simply meant that they have the same __/¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ design. It may be slightly less exaggerated, but it's pretty close.

[TROLL]

yeah your slant is about 2 inches tall and mine is about 3 feet... yup.

[WhiteXFire]

yeah your slant is about 2 inches tall and mine is about 3 feet... yup.
Heh, just for that, I'm taking a picture later today and posting it. :-p

[TehWagon]

i'll volunteer my whorish light spray in a pic if you want, maybe we can do it thursday if i come to the meet. :wiggle:

[2slowMX5]

marc- unless your headlights were intended to be used in europe, they are not the same e-code beam pattern. i know they have little mini slants but its not the same... they are made to abide by the DOT codes set forth for the US. my lights have a great pattern, but are technially not legal in the US because they were made for the eurupean market. just wanted to clarify that...
and i'm really not sure about the slant... maybe they figure the lowest point is about where oncoming traffic lies and farther to the left is more off to the side of the road so it gradually raises to illuminate a bit more over there. just a guess, i have no idea...
bryan
p.s. my mommy has a Lexus ES330 and it has some awesome projector HIDs... they are perfectly flat all the way across... its interesting to compare mine to hers. I should take photos comparing the pattern and brightness of hers and mine but it might be a little upsetting for me though


And they will NOT pass inspection due to 3 little letters D O T ....not being etched into the headlight housing.


ask me how i know :furious:

[S4toSTI]

Thats if u go for a legit inspection.

[TehWagon]

cool, note to self to take them out before i go!

[WRX27]

I have the stock HID's from an STI - What brand/temp bulb should i go with if i want to upgrade a little and is it worth it? Also any recomendations on a high beam/fog light bulb so they are not so crappy compared to my low beams?

[Timbo101]

I just ordered some EDM Headlights and I want to put HID's in them. Do you know the size of the low-beam light, so that I can order my HID's and have them in around the same time?

Tim

[i like rice]

p.s. my mommy has a Lexus ES330 and it has some awesome projector HIDs... they are perfectly flat all the way across... its interesting to compare mine to hers. I should take photos comparing the pattern and brightness of hers and mine but it might be a little upsetting for me though

Like this? Here's the beam pattern on my 04 MSM (6000k bulbs)
http://asianguywithacamera.com/msm_pics/misc/msm_hid_0.jpg

[TROLL]

yeah i wish i had a white wall to do this on, would be better for the color, but those bricks were like a light tan color. and yeah that light cutoff is pretty sick.

and tomboy... the lights are H1s... i think wkderf might have a set for sale cheap if you're interested, otherwise i guess its up in the air on the brand and the shop you go with.

[subwrxkid]

yeah i wish i had a white wall to do this on, would be better for the color, but those bricks were like a light tan color. and yeah that light cutoff is pretty sick.

and tomboy... the lights are H1s... i think wkderf might have a set for sale cheap if you're interested, otherwise i guess its up in the air on the brand and the shop you go with.

Wait, is he selling the hid's I gave him for free? :eek:

[WKderF]

no, they are going into my foglights.

[subwrxkid]

Ok, that's what I originally thought, reason being why I gave them to you for free. It's all good, carry on.

[MuddyREX]

no, they are going into my foglights.

atta boy

[WKderF]

:mrgreen:

[fastjim]

edit: i got HIDs now in my stock housing with 10000k bulbs.. give off the best lighting i have ever seen and all the signs on the road glow its pretty cool.. and they are pretty much aimed to the ground cuz if they are at level hight everyone high beams me its cool tho.. let me know if yous are still gonna compare still

[TROLL]

eh if everyone highbeams you its really not cool. thats dangerous to other drivers.