[The_Jackfish]

Hey guys, Jackfish again. Ive noticed while on the highway once she gets dark out that the lighting quality of my trep is just god awful! My buddys '99 Jetta TDI is FAR better. What could you recommend to change that? Im looking into projectors. But will that solve the problem or just make it look nice and still light up the road for ****?

 

[beeblebrox82]

Are your headlights fogged over?

 

[The_Jackfish]

Are your headlights fogged over?

No, they are damn near crystal clear.

 

[gardidien]

HIDs!

 

[bigde024]

I have projections in my 00 r/t and I'm about to switch back to regular housings.... I love the look of the projections but the light output it junk.... I also have hids in them too and I love those.... Would recommend just getting some hids

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[300maximilien]

Might want to try some silverstar ultra bulbs first

 

[TrepLovin]

Look into some nice bulbs... HID's are a popular thing to install now and days but they claims to be bad for colder environments.

 

[Intrepidfan]

I've got 35 watt 5000K HID's in SPEC D tuning projectors and I just love them. The light output is just phenomenal! These beat OEM anytime.

But that's just my two cents.

 

[micholob]

Dumb question: Are they adjusted correctly?

 

[VAtrepn]

x2 micholob

 

[The_Jackfish]

Dumb question: Are they adjusted correctly?

Yes they are. I had a shop check them out for me. Was my first thought too lol. And it seems like HID's are the way to go here.....

 

[joe_]

I wouldn't recomment HIDs. The reflectors are designed for regular bulbs, and they don't direct the light properly with HIDs. To oncoming traffic, you'll look like you have your high beams on all the time.

 

[TrepLovin]

I wouldn't recomment HIDs. The reflectors are designed for regular bulbs, and they don't direct the light properly with HIDs. To oncoming traffic, you'll look like you have your high beams on all the time.

I noticed that with a lot of makes and model vehicles. I'll give them the high-beam flick to remind them that their high-beams are on and then they end up flashing me back and I'm left thinking "WTF!??"

 

[Ronbo]

Unless you get rebased D2R bulbs...you'll have stray lighting reflections annoying other drivers when using the stock headlights.

 

[gardidien]

Aim them down enough and you won't have any problems. I have had them installed for 9 months and haven't had a single person ever flash me. I drive A LOT at night and have passed my fair share of local and state police as well. Just don't go putting them in your fog lights and you'll be fine. Those scatter light everywhere with HID bulbs.

 

[hardwareguy]

Even with rebased bulbs, the lighting pattern with HID in halogen cans is crap, and the Intrepid cans deal with the 3X higher light output better than most.

Aiming them down helps with glare but all you get is a big blob of light right in front of your car. This may be comforting in the city but it's not so good in the dark boonies as it prevents you from throwing a beam down the road very far, even with the high beam engaged. Also, that big blob of light immediately in front of the car destroys your night vision.

I speak from experience on this. Once you go projector, you NEVER go back.

 

[gardidien]

Even with rebased bulbs, the lighting pattern with HID in halogen cans is crap, and the Intrepid cans deal with the 3X higher light output better than most.

Aiming them down helps with glare but all you get is a big blob of light right in front of your car. This may be comforting in the city but it's not so good in the dark boonies as it prevents you from throwing a beam down the road very far, even with the high beam engaged. Also, that big blob of light immediately in front of the car destroys your night vision.

I speak from experience on this. Once you go projector, you NEVER go back.

What kind of projectors are available for our cars though? The Spyders? I'll take the stock headlights over those any day with HIDs.

 

[hardwareguy]

What kind of projectors are available for our cars though? The Spyders? I'll take the stock headlights over those any day with HIDs.

I have a 300M Special...those are the only LH with factory HID projectors. The Special uses D1S lamps. Most retrofits will use the less expensive but just as effective D2S lamp. (D1S has an integrated ignitor, D2S has an external ignitor)

If you want good HID, you're gonna need to build some projector cans. If you had an LHS or 2002+ Concorde, the retrofit would be far easier as those use halogen projectors and rebased bulbs work OK (still not great) and HID projectors are easier to retrofit in.

 

[joe_]

I suggest reading this:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

 

[Ronbo]

Too bad they used D2S bulbs which are mean't for projectors instead of D2R bulbs which are made for reflector housings.