The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hi,

Im looking at converting my high beams to HID's.

I was going to go for either 35W or 55W HID kit, but will 55w be too much for/ damage the stock reflectors? Or should i just stick with 35W?

Cheers.

What car? It'll be fine. Just remember they take afew seconds to warm up.

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35W will be fine and give you heaps of light. The 55W ones may melt the headlight refectors as they aren't really that thick in size of material.

Dave I still reckon get some 240 Blitz lightforce's and mount them to the top tubing of your bullbar and 75watt HID them. hahaha

I agree with alex they take a few seconds to come on which would be annoying if you want hi beam now to see something

I have a set on my liberty and love them but i have lo/hi in one

Jan

Alex wrote:What car? It'll be fine. Just remember they take afew seconds to warm up.

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Outback 3rd gen.
Also i am getting a cheapie kit off ebay because i have a $50 visa card to spend. So even if they go it isn't a huge loss and if I'm happy with the light output i know spending a bit more on a good kit is a worthy investment.

Main purpose is more light on the highway and even more so for offroading at night. Ill also be putting some narva 160/115 spots on my subaextreme bar as well, they will do the distance and I'm hoping HID high beams will do more coverage to the sides.

I might go 35W to be safe if it is possible that the reflector may be damaged, I'd rather settle with a bit less light.

Check if the globes are only HID on low beam, some of them are from memory, buying HID doesn't always mean high and low are both HID, unless that combination would work best for what you want.

gosurfun wrote:Check if the globes are only HID on low beam, some of them are from memory, buying HID doesn't always mean high and low are both HID, unless that combination would work best for what you want.

In the outback there are seperate globes/ reflectors for high and low beam. So i only need my high beams done as i want to leave low beams stock as to not be blinding for oncoming drivers.

I reckon the lights will be fine handling 55w hid. I've been running 125w halogens in my gen3 liberty with identical headlights and had no issues. I'd say the grunty halogens get hotter than 55w hid.

Alex wrote:I reckon the lights will be fine handling 55w hid. I've been running 125w halogens in my gen3 liberty with identical headlights and had no issues. I'd say the grunty halogens get hotter than 55w hid.

Ive read that the HID globes could be longer, and so closer to the projector lens. Could that be an issue for heat being closer, or the globe being too long to fit? Or if the globe is H1 and the car is H1 it will fit no matter what?

Kinda confused about the different globes and things in cars. Also the manual says the globe is H1U although through internet searches H1U globes dont exist? Do normal H1 globes/ HID kit work with it?

EDIT: After more reading, since im going with a cheap ebay kit with most likely very crappy bulbs i am better off going with a 35W kit, as usually with 55W kits they put over stretched 35W bulbs in which will produce immense heat and potentially stuff reflectors.

Davidov wrote:Ive read that the HID globes could be longer, and so closer to the projector lens. Could that be an issue for heat being closer, or the globe being too long to fit? Or if the globe is H1 and the car is H1 it will fit no matter what?

Kinda confused about the different globes and things in cars. Also the manual says the globe is H1U although through internet searches H1U globes dont exist? Do normal H1 globes/ HID kit work with it?

EDIT: After more reading, since im going with a cheap ebay kit with most likely very crappy bulbs i am better off going with a 35W kit, as usually with 55W kits they put over stretched 35W bulbs in which will produce immense heat and potentially stuff reflectors.

You definitely need to use the same type of bulb, ie H1, H4, etc as is in your car.
As this is for your high beam only bulb i'm guessing its an H1...can anyone confirm this?

Is your lens plastic or glass? If glass it can take a considerable amount of heat. I use 130/90W H4 bulbs with no probs. If plastic that would kill the lens, make it smokey or even distort/melt it. As HID produces much less heat than halogen i'm sure 55W would be fine but the safe bet is 35W.

nachaluva wrote:You definitely need to use the same type of bulb, ie H1, H4, etc as is in your car.
As this is for your high beam only bulb i'm guessing its an H1...can anyone confirm this?

Yeah well the manual says the bulb is H1U (i.e H1 Upgraded). But i cant find any bulbs in existence online. Ive emailed a subaru dealer about it so hopefully they will clear it up, but it seems likely to me that H1 will work.

Yes. High beam is h1, low is a h7. I personally think a 55w hid will be fine mate.

In both my Gen3 liberty and Gen3 outback I have a 35w hid low beam and 125w halogen high beam. They kick arse.

If you're worried about melting the lenses with 55w hid id give them a break after 5 or 10mins let it cool then flick them back on again but I highly doubt they put our more heat than my 125w high beams.

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Hey Alex.. have you ever felt your 35W HIDs after they have been on for a while and you haven't been driving the car? now just imagine them twice as bright.. you'll be surprised. 125W Halogen are nothing compared to 55W HIDs. I have 90/140W Halogen lights in my 22B and looking at Dann's they'd put mine to shame.

http://www.lightforce.com/hid/halogen-versus-hid

read the last dot point.

http://www.r6messagenet.com/forums/r6-m ... -heat.html

im not saying HIDs dont get hot, they definately get hot enough to burn your skin.

i like the point made where a 35w HID produces 300% more light than a 55w halogen meaning more of the energy is used as light, rather than heat.

Alex wrote:http://www.lightforce.com/hid/halogen-versus-hid

read the last dot point.

http://www.r6messagenet.com/forums/r6-m ... -heat.html

im not saying HIDs dont get hot, they definately get hot enough to burn your skin.

i like the point made where a 35w HID produces 300% more light than a 55w halogen meaning more of the energy is used as light, rather than heat.

hahaha.. so light doesn't equal heat.. someone should tell the sun it's doing it all wrong

but HID does it a different way to halogen using gas rather than a filament arrangement.

why does lightforce say theyre 'cold' to touch?

why do CFL household globes get nowhere near as hot as a standard globe? cos its done a different way?

the sun isnt that hot....durrrrrrr....

whats hot is my work office sitting next to two 24inch widescreen monitors with a stuffed a/c system!

Alex wrote:but HID does it a different way to halogen using gas rather than a filament arrangement.

why does lightforce say theyre 'cold' to touch?

why do CFL household globes get nowhere near as hot as a standard globe? cos its done a different way?

the sun isnt that hot....durrrrrrr....

whats hot is my work office sitting next to two 24inch widescreen monitors with a stuffed a/c system!

Because Lightforce have a clear plastic cover lense that is away from the main lense. I have a set on these on the Canyonero and they do get hot to touch.

CFL are fluorescent light (compact) and they use ions to bounce off each other to create friction light. The white powder coating allows them to glow.

i could feel the heat from my old lightforce XGTs which were a halogen type globe.

but the risk isnt worth it i suppose. 35w hid still gives off bullshit light.

A 35w HID uses the same amount of power as a 35w halogen, and heat generated is directly proportional to power consumed, so they would get equally as hot.

The same applies for 55w HID compared to 55w halogens.

If the lens is capable of withstanding 55w of halogen, it will cope with 55w of HID heat.

But...
The ultraviolet light emitted by HID's may have a detrimental effect on plastic housings though.