by "mazda616" (mazda616)
Published 02/02/2017 at 11:58
by "mazda616" (mazda616)
Published 02/02/2017 at 11:58
Tags: Headlights
STARS: 2
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I can see both sides. I had HIDs installed in my former car, a Mazda3. And, they were aimed correctly, were 5000k (white with a tiny hint of blue), and my high beams were still stock halogens.
But, I also get followed a lot by rednecks in jacked up F-250s with bright ass blue HIDs that glare off mirrors badly enough to make you physically wince. My 6's auto-dimming rear view mirror has become one of my favorite features.
Oppopinions?
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/02/2017 at 12:03, STARS: 2
I think practically speaking, if you have tweaked headlights that aren’t noticeably offensive and appear as if they could’ve come from the factory, you’re unlikely to have problems. I doubt most cops would be like “the first gen Mazda 3 only had HIDs available on the 3s Grand Touring trim and that’s a 3i Sport!”
"facw" (facw)
02/02/2017 at 12:07, STARS: 4
Color doesn’t seem like such a big deal. I’d much prefer they go after lifted trucks that haven’t reaimed/lowered their lights.
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
02/02/2017 at 12:16, STARS: 0
If I remember correctly, some new cars come with dynamic lights. Basically when it’s too dark out, the car will automatically turn on high beams or do some magic and increase amount of light
Problem of course is that when system encounters another driver with lights on, it doesn’t always adjust and lower the amount of light. This blinds the oncoming driver.
My guess is that because the increase in light is gradual - cars approach one another gradually, system doesn’t recognize oncoming car. Maybe thinking sun is rising and ambient light is increasing. But that too should decrease amount of light it’s emitting
"jimz" (jimz)
02/02/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 3
YES. if you put HIDs into housings which weren’t designed for them you are a terrible person. it’s not just the color temperature; it’s that the HID arc is a different shape and in a different place than the correct halogen filament. when the light source is not in the intended focal point of the reflector, it diffracts the beam and contributes to annoying glare.
Don’t put HID capsules into housings meant for halogen bulbs. EVER.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
02/02/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 0
The final wording needs to be specific so that it doesn’t unnecessarily outlaw tame mods. They should pick a lumen output range, a color temp range, and a beam target area that we can work with.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
02/02/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 0
for cars yes.
for bikes..I let it slide. simply because we are already hard enough to see, and as i do a LOT of my riding at night, anything to make me more visible is a plus.
"jimz" (jimz)
02/02/2017 at 12:47, STARS: 0
ideally the better option is to replace the assembly with a projector (LED ones are getting really good) but those can be spendy.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
02/02/2017 at 12:48, STARS: 0
in an ideal world yes.
again, I let bikes slide because of visibility thing. if you cant afford the full projector, but still want better light, I cant really blame you if you are on 2.
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
02/02/2017 at 12:50, STARS: 0
Do they have vehicle inspections there? The aim is tested here, every year, and you can only pass inspection when they’re properly aimed.
"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
02/02/2017 at 13:00, STARS: 1
I agree with this. When I had my ‘11 Mazda 3 I installed HIDs because I had the projector. I loved those lights, they were fantastic. I’ve owned 2 cars since then though and haven’t put in HID’s, because they don’t do a damn thing in a normal housing but cause glare everywhere.
I’d also like to see a ban on people putting on asinine color temperatures as well. No, your 15k HIDs don’t look cool, and now you’ve made it so you can’t see shit. Good job.
"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
02/02/2017 at 13:04, STARS: 0
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been followed by an SUV or Truck with poorly aimed lights (or lights in incorrect housings). I’m all for there being some type of legislation, provided that the language in the bill doesn’t make it easy for legislators to then go after people who do mods the correct way.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/02/2017 at 13:15, STARS: 0
In my experience, adding HID or LED lighting to halogen projector housings with a good beam cutoff is generally not that bad. In that case, the only real negative is HID & LED headlamps are required by US DOT regulations to have self-leveling systems that are tied in to suspension movement to keep them from glaring too much as the car goes over bumps, which isn’t present in the modified halogen projector setup.
With halogen reflector housings, rather than projectors, it comes down to how well-designed of a beam cutoff they have. I’ve thought about putting LED bulbs in the low beams on my wife’s ’16 Subaru Impreza, but it has reflectors and I’m not sure what kind of glare that would produce. It’s a lease so I can’t modify the housings.
I’m going to park it in the garage and take a look at the beam pattern on the wall before deciding if it looks like it will be reasonably ok for other drivers.
"jimz" (jimz)
02/02/2017 at 13:26, STARS: 0
see, this right here is the problem. there’s far more to it than “cutoff.” There’s also things like beam uniformity, fringe diffraction, and so on.
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html
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.
the whole notion that “cutoff” is all that matters is a prime example of people gaining a little bit of knowledge and then assuming they know all they need to know.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/02/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 0
I know talking only about beam cutoff is over-simplifying, but it’s an easy way to judge if it’s even worth considering. To rephrase, in the example of my wife’s car, I’m very skeptical of throwing LED bulbs in the halogen reflector housings, because of the potential for too much glare/dazzle/etc. Step 1 is to at least check the shape of the beam on a wall because that’s easy to do. But I don’t mean that decent-looking beam cutoff means hey, let’s slap whatever bright-ass bulb we want in here.
"RyanFrew" (ryanfrew)
02/02/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 1
Kentucky resident here. I don’t have a problem with this. Also have auto-dimming mirrors and agree that they are a Godsend
"NojustNo" (front24200)
02/02/2017 at 15:03, STARS: 1
Toothless law since kemtucky doesn’t inspect cars or functionality or even emissions..ever ( except when registering an out of state car).
So rather than catching lots of people during inspection they will leave it to random enforcement by the police. And even when caught its just a fine.
So nobody will be forced to change any equipment, just pAy the fine.
Nobody will be safer.The only winner is the state from the ticket revenue.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
02/02/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 0
Exactly. Haha. My 3 was an S Touring and the S Grand Touring had HIDs available. The same headlight housings, just HID bulbs instead of halogens.
But if your rusty Cavalier Z24 has Chinese eBay HID bulb specials crammed into its misaligned headlights, that’s a problem. Haha.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
02/02/2017 at 16:10, STARS: 0
LOL.
No. Kentucky gives no shits as far as safety or emissions testing.
My S10, with its old valve seals and its rusty exhaust, would 700% fail emissions testing.