...Gettin' mah duct tape boy.

 

heres stock headlights with HID pattern:



heres 2nd gen cutoff:

 

While I agree that pic you took of the 2nd Gens (with the worst possible alignment EVAR) is bad, you'll notice it flares up in the center of the road, not in the eyes of oncoming traffic. Yours however, are very bright and blotchy on the top left hand side- where oncoming traffic is. Nothing terrible, but you have to remember that my comments are more directed to the people who know nothing of lighting... and it's potential hazards.

You will not win this argument. It's a bad idea.
Sure it's not like a spotlight in my eyes with proper aiming- but it's still stupid and it's cutting corners. Do it right, or don't do it at all.

 

if i bought say a eBay projector kit that comes in a shroud how hard would it be to aim them?

supposedly they just clip into the stock bulb spot.

 

The projectors made for the cobalt are halogen projectors, not made for HIDs. And they suck and look hideously cheap and tacky. The build quality is sub par, and the price is faaaar too high. Either get a retrofit or stick with the stock housings and a 35W ballast to lower the light intensity. 3Bspec makes an amazing product, I would definitely recommend them.

Reflector housings, regardless of the type of bulb, ALWAYS produce glare. I am constantly blinded by people with normal bulbs in reflector housings. Its in their nature to glare, they REFLECT the light, not PROJECT the light.

Its a mental thing to think that HIDs produce more glare than halogens. In reality, its the same glare just a brighter light creating the glare. If you dont believe me, shine a yellowish light and a white light into a mirror, measure the glare, its the same. But the white light will APPEAR to be making more glare as it is a brighter color. If you still dont believe me, put one HID in and compare the glare quality to the stock bulb. Same amount of glare, different brightness. Thus, a 35W ballast being used to lower the light intensity (brightness). It doesnt reduce glare, simply lessens the intensity of the light.

 

I guess the fact that questions about hid's are asked in the appearance section should explain it all - they don't give a **** about proper lighting, just want to look cool.

You want lights that actually help you see at night without blinding other traffic? Retrofit bixenons.
You want to look "cool" without spending any money? Paint your bulbs blue, you won't be able to see **** but hey, you don't care anyways.

I give up, all you people with "non glaring" hid's in stock housings are right, the people who design lights for a living are wrong.

 

let me see your projector housing do this

Yes i know drivers side is lower, and this is how I want it to be, however there is an angle to the drivers side cutoff that I do not like but it is not a big enough problem for me to crack them open.

oh and one more thing, notice how the light looks on the forground even and well distributed not spotty like your reflector housings.

 

i wanna put hids in my fogs wicked bad some shitty roads around here with potholes and what not i dont think fog lights with hids would blind people that bad

 

First, you're an idiot if you beleive the difference between an HID and a halogen is the ******* color of the bulb. That test is ******* pointless.
Second, a lower intensity will not reduce glare, it will reduce the ******* intensity, it will still bounce around the reflector (glare) and shine into oncoming traffic and disruput their vision.
Last, glare is glare- Halogen or Xenon. People with improper setups will cause glare. You can run the wrong Halogen bulb and still cause glare- it's because of the housing not the light output. If your housing is not good, your light output is not good either.

Either:
A) Leave your lights alone.
B) Retrofit a real set of projectors and run REAL HID (no ebay crap)
C) Buy a car with OEM HIDs (usually D2S Bulbs, ~4300k)

Like I posted earlier- have some taste, do it right or don't do it at all. Cutting corners is obvious and does not make you look 'cool'.

 

Go RETRO or go HOME!

Even a crapy retro job will have a decent cut off!

 

Actually 3bspec's 3rd gens have a good cut off on them.



Matter of fact their cut off looks better than yours. Maybe it should be go 3rd gen or go home.

 

I disagree, I put HID's in my stock housings and they are just fine. They are bright but they don't blind anyone.

 

If I went 3rd gens I would just bring my car home because I wouldn't want people to see me driving in it.

 

3rd gens look a lot better than 1g or 2g. Honestly I will probably buy them but I wont have the LED's or any of that hooked up.

 

They may look the best but they're still aftermarket projectors which I don't like at all. But if you like em, hey that's you. I've never owned any gen of aftermarket headlights so I can't be the judge of performance between them but I like my retrofits so I'm gonna stick with em.

 

Theres a member on here with 3g's on a black tc and it looks pretty sharp. I think black cars can pull it off more easily.

 

Uh, you literally said the exact same thing I said except with a stick up your ass. The intensity of the light is what makes the glare seem worse. You ******* moron. Before you get on your ******* high horse try to understand the words I typed.

"Reflector housings, regardless of the type of bulb, ALWAYS produce glare. I am constantly blinded by people with normal bulbs in reflector housings. Its in their nature to glare, they REFLECT the light, not PROJECT the light."

"Thus, a 35W ballast being used to lower the light intensity (brightness). It doesnt reduce glare, simply lessens the intensity of the light. "

You ******* moronic, *******, douchebag. Before you make a fool of yourself again, re-read.

 

i have HIDs on stock housing... granted they are high and low beam... but i dont blind anyone... even the cops think they are factory installed... ive asked a couple...

 

i have 8k HIDs in my stock housings.
no one ever flashes their lights at me or anything.
mine are pointed all the way down though.
it all depends on how you angle them IMO

 

You all fail. *sighs*

2nd gen, painted gloss black, with corrected cutoff shield is win





i think i jsut wanna disable those LED's. or put yellow ones in or something.


and dont ask me what the jizzbomb on the right hand side is, idk. but none the less it aint blinding anyone

i gotta get a good night picture. this was kinda during the day, random shot. kinda looks like ass. ill take a new one

 

You have a maaaad hotspot in the middle of your lights. If you notice Importkillers lights (retrofit) there are no hotspots and very even light distribution. I bet he has a nice set of retros. If you got a set of retros, or a REAL set of projectors (meaning factory), you would laugh at your old self for thinking that the aftermarket lights for cobalts are good.

 

i got hot spots all over mine, but honestly, if i can see, and i aint blinding anyone, i dont really care. i was just way to embarassed of the gay "Z" pattern of the gen 2's when i was at a traffic light and the car in front of me had a big crooked line of light going up it. now at least its flat and gets the job done. if there isnt as much light in the lane over as directly in front of my car.... so be it.

 

Yeah, my cut off is not crystal clear because it has been "color modded" I have 4500 k lights but on the cut off there is a deep purple color that looks awesome! I am not as obsessed with sharp as a knife cutoff or the perfect angle of the cut off, as long as the cut off is there it works for me, plus the way my cutoff slopes down on the driver side reduces the light aimed at oncoming traffic. The cut off is way higher on the passenger side to see wildlife and road signs. The biggest deal with a good HID retro is smooth even light with no hot spots. Plus with a true retro then you have true bi-xenon projector which means the cutoff moves so that you have an open projector!

 

I mean, hotspots are a personal preference thing. I like a nice, smooth light with no hotspots. Im not saying they are 'bad', I just personally think the light looks better with no hotspots.

 

I love these threads.