I did a quick search, didnt find anything catering to this subject
As some know i use to own a maxima, and i had a set of HIDs in and before i installed one pieces in my DB, i had HIDs in my 3 pieces. So i’m kind of thinking my thoughts on halogen are kind of thwarted, but is it just me, or is the output on the one pieces just not as good as most halogen setups? It seems as though even the halogen setup on my maxima had a better output than on my one pieces right now w/ the current halogens.
I guess i’m kind of on the fence of getting a set of HIDs to put in my one pieces to help w/ the output. I BELIEVE, I did read before about the HIDs being even worse in one pieces then in 3 pieces. Was this just said for the fact of it scattering worse, or just in regards to oncoming traffic? I wouldnt mind retrofitting, but i’ve never done it before. But i have one semi good one piece from my accident that i can practice with to take apart. But for now, i’d like a ‘quick fix’…input?
I recently bought another integra, this one has one pieces installed by the previous owner and they are worthless. Now mind you, I’m used to driving with a retrofit and the previous owner just screwed the stock 9004 bulbs into the jdm one pieces instead of using the correct h4h bulbs but I can’t handle it. Soon these things are going under the knife and getting a retro…
i have regular H4H bulbs and it seems…even when i flick it to high beam, the output is shitty. High beam seems to give less vision than low beam on my maxima when i had it. i was able to deal w/ the HIDs when i had my 3 piece, it worked fine and i had better vision…now, when i’m going down a dark road, i feel a little insecure
Headlight housing, reflector, lens design are all built differently between headlights and cars.
For the most part headlight design with regards to light output has advanced quite a bit since 1990-1993. Different bulbs give off specific lumens as well. Some more so than others.
When your going from a 2000 Maxima with probably a much better designed headlight to a 1990-1993 Integra headlight, whether US or JDM, you will notice a difference.
I would honestly suggest a retrofit. Once you’ve driven a car with oem HIDs everything else makes you feel insecure. Improving your headlights output is one of the most significant safety improvements you can make to your car.
[QUOTE=spikeymike;2268392]Headlight housing, reflector, lens design are all built differently between headlights and cars.
Some give off better light output than others.
For the most part headlight design with regards to light output has advanced quite a bit since 1990-1993. Different bulbs give off specific lumens as well. Some more so than others.
When your going from a 2000 Maxima with probably a much better designed headlight to a 1990-1993 Integra headlight, whether US or JDM, you will notice a difference.[/QUOTE]
yea i kinda thought so…i’m kind of hesitant to throw a set of HIDs in my one pieces for 2 reasons:
#1 cop attention. i was hoping that the halogen would give me what i needed to see w/o having to resort to HIDs or a retrofit of some sort, but the more i drive at night the more i feel the need to do something so i can see better at night.
#2 i just wanted to maintain a stock look w/o gaining undo attention from possible thieves and what not. i didnt know if there was a better bulb i could go with or what. these i got from PasswordJDM seem to give me no kind of hopes of doing that
sigh i guess i’ll have to look into retrofitting and search on here to see what others have done. BTW my max had OEM halogens, i put aftermarket PnP HIDs in it, with no retrofit and it did help me see better, but it also gathered undo cop attention and i said when i go the teg i wouldnt do HIDs anymore so cops wouldn’t bother me unnecessarily…thus far it has worked
Honestly most of those sylvania bulbs claim to be up to x% brighter but they slightly coat the bulbs with a blue fim which actually decreases lumens and alters the output to a higher color temperature, giving the illusion of being brighter. Not that it matters since they don’t make them in h4h…
Most of the pictures that used to be posted of members retrofits were lost when the forum changed over but Hidplanet actually has quite a few 2nd gen retroes posted. Or I could post some pictures of mine if you’d like. Although I’ve only successfully ever retroed the aftermarket one pieces.
I’m assuming you haven’t seen in person or tried the Xtra visions then because they are a clear bulb. No coating to alter the output color or lumens output.
The only coated bulbs from Sylvania are the Cool Blues, Silver Star, Silver Star Ultra and Silver Star zXe.
I don’t think I have used those bulbs. I wasn’t saying all sylvania bulbs are coated, I was just stating that several of their bulb types are and describing why coated bulbs are nothing special. I personally stopped using $50+ halogen bulbs years ago.
I personally haven’t written a how to on retrofitting. There isn’t really one correct way to do it. Its going to require trial and error to mount the projectors and shrouds, develop a method for aiming, and of course design a relay harness to run the lights correctly. Well worth it when complete though. I suggest you do tons of research before starting or even buying parts. Hidplanet is an awesome site for that. I would also recommend using oem parts rather than aftermarket as the quality is exponentially higher.
I got a set of JDM’s and the light output seems to be as good as my wife 2011 Mazda CX-7, with that said mine were taken apart cleaned and polished up and a set of PasswordJDM Hyper White H4H’s are being used…Maybe a little TLC is in store…
If you were to do a projector retrofit with the JDM one pieces or the USDM three piece for that matter, I’ve found in my research that because of the fluting it kind of decreases your HID light output a little and the cut off won’t be as great, but I’m sure it will still be better than Halogen lighting and just throwing in HID’s without projectors. So if you were to sand and polish down the flutes it would make the output on the projectors even better. With the current retrofit I have being my first, I just did it with clear ebay one pieces and I think the output is great.