I drove my SS/TC in the dark for the first time, and it also happened to be raining cats and dogs. I couldn't see sh*t with the stock headlights and stock foglights. The stock foglights seemed to illuminate 5 feet in front of the car. The headlights sent out enough light to make reflective signs and cones "shine" but it was useless for lighting up roads.

Has anyone tried upgrading the bulbs first before going with a HID kit?
Was the factory aim adequate or did you have to raise it a little?
I'd love to do the HID upgrade but I don't know of any clean way to install the ballasts.

 

hid if you take your time you can take your headlight out and the black bracket that the headlight goes on to take that out and mount the ballast to the bottom of the black bracket put back in and hook up. this how mine are ony my 05ss/sc and my 09ss/tc .

note i tried a ton of different lights in my 05 back in the days but never found anything to compare with or to hids

 

Wow, that sounds slick. Do you have any pics?? I'm not sure where to buy the HID kits, VVME or SharpHID or perhaps somewhere that has a better kit? I think I will need the Bi-Xenon/tilt 9007 and the standard H11 foglight.

I looked at the wiring diagrams and don't think that I need to use the usual harness/relay setup that is included in the kits. HIDs are 35W (versus 55W/65W for halogen), plus the OEM setup uses relays inside the distribution box - HIDs should draw less current, negating the need for upgraded wiring/relays.

 

yeah i can take some pics but wont be able to post the pics til later this week im moving curently and im on my mac laptop/ it doesnt like to work with my camara but i'll gladly take pics and post them when my pc tower is setup. you shouldnt have to upgrade any wires i didnt on my 05 nore my 09 and i havnt had any issuse to date. you wont need to add any wires, just make sure there plug in play.

my 05 has the low beam hid and high beam bi-xeon crap its waste of money, i never use the brights anyways beside if i do it looks like a kids fisher price flash light on the street, my 09 just has low beams thats it, kits are cheaper.

 

Thanks, pics would definitely help me out!

 

I have HIDs for sale to fit headlights and fogs. PM me there plug-n-play!

 

sure thing not a problem i'll try to have them up sometime early in the week

 

Cool! Did you get the HIDs for the foglights as well? Are the foglights worth upgrading?

 

no i never did the fogs a friend of mine did his and they didnt do much more for are foglights is so damn small you best bet so the lights match is look for an h11 bulb thats a hyper white or super white, it will be a better match too the hids than the factory bulbs or find some yellow bulbs that are h11

 

Step one - make sure the lights (headlights AND foglights) are aimed properly. The factory gets the headlights pretty close, my fogs may as well have been pointed straight down.

"Brighter" bulbs may help a bit but don't expect them to live very long.

HID's in stock housings? No comment until I can see what the beam pattern looks like. I know they will put out more light but the whole glare debate......not spending the bucks until I see for myself

If you can swing the cash, retrofit bi-xenon hids ftw!

 

I just checked the aim on the stock headlights and stock foglights. They are aimed "to spec" based on what the industry perceives as acceptable standards. That means I can see sh*t in the dark. I rented a 07 Ford Taurus and the cut-off, while sharp, basically forced me to use the high beams to look at each and every sign like I was some frigging tourist in a vacation area (which I was, but I don't like standing out in a crowd). I made sure to aim every rental car I got just to avoid this problem.

Back on topic:
I raised the low beams so the most intense part of the beam was dead center with the measurement from the ground to the center of the headlamp. Some people will argue this causes excessive glare, but I invite them to drive in front of a Cadillac Escalade with the factory HIDs that barely met FMVSS 108. I thought I stared into the sun - all I saw was WHITE LIGHT - it wasn't even glare. Trucks and SUVs will glare occupants of small cars no matter what.

The foglamps were aimed about 1.5"-2" below the center of the lamp height, as per the spec given by Dan Stern Lighting. This causes the lights to be aimed at 6" in front of the car, rendering the foglights impotent and utterly useless. I raised it so the most intense part of the beam is dead-center.

I tried taking the headlights out to swap in GE Nighthawk 9007s, but the fit of the housing was so tight, I was afraid of scratching the bumper fascia or fender.

FWIW, I dig the VOR cut-off on the Cobalt. It's very modern, just like the VOR cut-off on my 07 Mustang GT. My 00 Crown Vic has 9007s and the headlight housings are SH*T. It's a mechanical aim POS that throws a blob of light out onto the road somewhere, and the worst part is Ford aimed them 24" below spec on a wall 25' away from the car. I guess old people don't need to drive fast at night.

 

I should have taken pictures when I installed mine, I also mounted mine there, and after I did a relay kit and cleaned up some of the wiring, it looks crisp clean, and with my Gen 3 Projectors is amazing at night!

 

I'm getting ready (in 38 days) to leave for a cross-country trip. I think the lights basically suck for night driving...and i love driving at night. What is the brightest and farthest reaching lights I can legally put in the car that won't break my bank..?


Some of what you guys were typing above didn't exactly make sense to me. I don't know what the standard positioning of the lights is supposed to be...also, no clue what VOR is...or 'cut off'...

Sorry for ignorance..

Thanks ahead of time for any info.

 

hahahaha I drove a cadillac DTS (the new one out) for a 6hour trip all of which was in the dark. It seemed like 100 cars were flashing me b/c they thought my brights were on. I would have to flash em back to show them my highbeams. That car is so smart, it senses when it's really dark and puts on the high beams until the car notices oncoming light and automaticly turned the highbeams off.

 

The Escalade Platinum and Hybrid have LED headlights, which are supposed to be just as bright as their HIDs but with a 6000K color temperature (the nature of the beast, or rather white LEDs).

I read that the 2010 Toyota Prius has optional LED headlights, making it the first production vehicle to offer LED headlights, while carrying a MSRP that is affordable by normal people.

 

your best bet would be on ebay for hids there not garbage either like some people think. for the most visibilty and should have no problems with cops you be any hid's in a 6,000k thats really white, anything higher than that then it does down lil by lil, 8k is with a bluish tint and 10k would be like bluish purple lil, i would go with the 6k or 8k, you should be able to get a pair off ebay for under a 100. just make sure when your order, that there coming from the usa, any were else i wouldnt by then.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate the advice

 

4300k...anything higher than 5000k and you're a moron.