Xenon HID vs. Factory Halogen - The test!

[THS_Cruiser03]

Hi Mopar Brethren!

While I was researching whether or not I wanted to do the Xenon HID conversion on my PT, I was mistified by the fact that no one documented the before and after results. I read all about the "3x the light output of standard halogen" but never saw any real world photos. Mostly pictures of headlights on or pictures of the halogen vs xenon lighting up the street/parking lot where the guy took the photo.

Since I decided I was going to go with the xenon, I chose the best balance (in my opinon) between that cool bluish xenon look and getting the maximum light output I could (2,900 lumens) so I went with 8k lows & 6k highs.

What follows are photos taken about 15 hours apart on the same stretch of road. I also used the "paces method" and my odometer to distance the objects from my car that you'll see in the pictures. I placed a medium sized stuffed animal about 200 feet from the car, the "stop ahead" sign is at 500 ft, and the street light/stop sign at the intersection is at 1,500 ft (well beyond 1/4 mile distance).

I apologize in advance for the shakiness of some of the pictures, I thought I was holding the camera still but apparently not - Hey it was 4 AM, I just got up!

I took the photos at 8 MP, but reduced them to 4 MP for web viewing. I also took the photos from the drivers seat (exactly the view you have) rather than standing outside the car. If possible I reccomend viewing them in a darkened room on your PC & open each pair in new windows so you can flip quickly between them for comparison.

On to the pics! - (Click to get the full size versions)

This photo shows the factory low beam halogens (mine are six years old btw) As you can see the stuffed animal is barely visble at 200 ft. The stop sign is pretty hard to make out.
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This is the same photo only with the 8k xenon lows. Interestingly you can see the stuffed animal somewhat better, and the "stop ahead" sign is much more illuminated than with the halogen lows. The stop sign at the intersection is actually pretty visible (but the photo doesn't show it as well as it looked in person).

The other observation is how much wider the beam pattern is. The stock Hella headlamps were not re-aimed, but you can see much futher into the ditch (scroll right on the full size image) and periferally. While driving it reminds me of cars from years ago that used to have side marker lights when you flipped on the turn signals.
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This photo shows the factory high & low beams. As you can see nearly everything shows up pretty well. I have to give the factory highs credit, they do a nice job. On this very dark stretch of country road they give you lots of confidence.



This photo (you guessed it) shows what the view is when you run both the 8k lows and 6k highs. I waited about 5 seconds to let the highs reach full intensity before shooting the image. You'll notice that all three objects are highly illuminated, but the biggest difference is about 160 ft (just in front of the stuffed animal) that area is VERY intensely bright - which blows away the stock halogen highs.
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So after all that what are my impressions?

8k lows:

Well for one thing the 8k lows take some getting used to, especially in town. Your eyes are not trained to look for reflections in this color. You feel like you aren't seeing everything until you concentrate a bit more. This is kind of wierd to explain, but you just have to drive it to believe it. I'm not saying you can't see well, you can, it's just your perception that needs to get used to it. You see things farther away than you do with the factory low beams, and things close to the car are more intensly lit

The other interesting thing is that everything white on the road (sign lettering, white stripes, white cars) have a flourescent effect akin to how your shoelaces glow under a blacklight. This is neat because you can read a street sign before you can really make out the green background. I.E. you don't need the contrast to read it. I think this "blacklight" effect will be especially nice on those dark rainy nights when it's hard to see the dotted or solid white lines well - they will sort of glow for you. Though this might become something of a problem in winter when I'm driving home in a snow storm. I'll see how it goes, but I suspect I may have to change back to factory halogen for winter.


6k highs:

The high beams are pure pleasure, no doubt about it. They kick the tail of what I think are already very good factory high beams. Give Hella a hell-of credit, those bulbs and reflectors work damn good. But they work even better with 6k xenon! But if you're strapped for mod cash, you can easily live without the 9005 high beam kits. But if you live and drive in the boonies like me and use your highs quite a bit (which I do) then you'll love them.

So xenon HID conversions on PT's - Thumbs up I say.

I hope you find the review useful. I'm interested in feedback on this so let's talk.

Tom

[ginuwine]

any one flash light at you for blinding them ? did you install the antiflicker harness with your kit

[outfit]

Nice .. I never did get around to posting the dif between the lights. I am going with the same bulb types as you are running, 8k low and 6k high. i must say the is a hellva dif between the lights, I to was blown away with the dif. Were did you find your 6k highs and did you have to run another battery harness. I have an 06 PT touring and I used the batterty relay harness on mine. I was just wondering if you did or were you able to just plug in play? Hellva job though, can't wait to install mine in the next couple of weeks.. Oh I also know what it is like to drive and live in bum F@#k'd eygpt at night.. Good high beams are a must... By the way do you have the foglights also? i want to install some hid's for them but I kind of think it will be overkill .

[THS_Cruiser03]

No one has flashed me yet. I drove Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights.

My kit was bought from Extreme Accesories Inc.

eBay Store - Extreme Accessories Inc: H1 HID Kit, H3 HID Kit, H4 9003 HID Kit

It didn't require a seperate anti flicker, the anti-flicker technology was built in. It was plug and play.

Totally awesome kit, IMO.

Tom

[THS_Cruiser03]

Lots of guys on this forum bought from 3b specialties, and I admit they are good quality. But they don't come very cheap. So I did some more talking and shopping around before I found the right kit for me.

I bought my kit based on Atrus1212 (a guy on this forum I talked to a while ago) he claimed the kits were good quality and anti-flickering. He even said it worked on his buddies 300c, his Magnum, and his Dad's PT. I was impressed with the guys ebay store and he warrantied his kits for a year, plus gave you the anti-flickeirng ballasts for no extra charge.

Nope, no extra battery harness necessary. Mine was totally plug an play off of the headlight bulb harnesses.

Yeah the light output is pretty good, especially on the high beams. Go for it man, get your kits installed you'll love em.

Fogs? No my car is a base PT so I don't have factory fogs. However, I did buy an aftermarket fog light kit. I noticed (when doing the xenon ballast install) the the dummy covers in the lower fascia actually have the wiring clipped to the back. So to add the fogs is going to be super easy (I think)....

I just don't know if the switch wiring is behind the dash somewhere.

Do you have photos of a pre 2005 PT dash with the fog light switch? Where is it located....center stack?

Tom

[outfit]

Realy. I was looking at the link you sent and damn if it was built in then I am set.. Thanks for sending me that link. The wife and I have been looking for this type of set, especialy for this price.. good thing I saw your post, you just saved me $$$$.. I did not see thought , do you have foglights on your PT ?

[Mean Green]

Originally Posted by ginuwine

any one flash light at you for blinding them ? did you install the antiflicker harness with your kit

I hate those lights. They are too bright and are blinding to the other driver. It's real fun coming around a curve or over a hill on a dark country road and being blinded. HID stands for high intensity death because they blind people and will cause accidents. I've been driving for over 40 yrs with standard lights, rarely ever have to use my high beams and get along just fine. So just remember that while driving with those lights you may be blinding someone at the wrong time and it may involve you.

[outfit]

That may be true on car that are not installed right. some headlights do not have the proper sheild in them , there for send light out the sides or a beam that is to high. those are the ones that people should be mad at. If installed properly people will not have this issue. I hate it when people ruin it for others..

[THS_Cruiser03]

Thanks for your comments Mean Green. I can understand your complaint.

I am actually acutely aware of this and am planning to watch how other drivers react to it. If I find they are creating problems I will re-aim the lights (a few degrees lower) to compensate.

Outfit is correct, lots of people have these installed in cars that don't have projector lenses which focus the light differently. However I find in my experience that the PT Hella reflector lens optical lamp directs the light fairly nicely, without much of a blinding effect. I saw many PT's with these lamps before I decided to go for it myself.

I did my homeowork on this. I found these wikipedia links helpful:

High-intensity discharge lamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Headlamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom

[THS_Cruiser03]

No my car is a base PT so I don't have factory fogs.

See my question about hooking up aftermarket fogs to the factory wiring above here:Xenon HID vs. Factory Halogen - The test!

Anyone know if the switch wiring is there behind the center stack (rear defrost/rear wiper switch panel)? I can't remember where the stock fog switch goes on a PT?

Tom