My evo 1 has some really crappy headlights. Even with expensive sylvannia bulbs they still pretty much suck. so i am searching for lighting solution to get current technology on the car. but i have some questions.

1. do HID projectors run cooler? how close to lens can they be installed? glass and plastic.
2. can the projectors lens be installed bugeye style? protruding from lens as i dont have much space to make headlights deeper. will they pop in the rain??
3. not sure i will even go HID because i dont want to ad the weight. but the projector lens itself I think does most of the magic. My mazda 5 has projector looking low beam but they are halogen bulbs. the lights are fantastic with that cool sharp cut off wide beams. super bright compared to my evo.
4. stock headlights are fluted glass. what happens to projector beam installed in fluted housings? I would think they wouldnt loose any brightness, just would loose that sharp cutoff?

 

1. Yes, but you don't want them installed right up against the lense. Maybe a 2" gap if possible
2. Yes, but they won't last long. Projectors are not waterproof and are designed to be behind a real lens in a sealed housing
3. True. Halogen and HID projectors are virtually the same thing
4. Get non-fluted housings. Fluted will screw up the beam pattern. Clear eBay lights that have been taken apart and re-sealed properly are perfect for retrofits

 

Hi. I'm not much of a poster myself, but do a bit of researching to learn what I need to learn. But in this case, I'll answer your questions for you because I do retrofitting for a living, but will not state what company as I'm not a vendor here.

1) HID projectors or just HID's in general always runs a LOT cooler than halogen lights. If you have your lights on for about 5-10 min, place your hand on the outside of the lens and you can feel how hot the lens actually gets. With HID's, the lens is only mildly warm at best. I've had projectors mounted anywhere from an inch to a couple inches back with no issues. What you do have to watch out for is that "hot spot" for the projectors. Kind of like when you take a magnifying glass and creating that hot spot, projectors do the same, but generally does not make much of a difference as it shouldn't affect anything in the headlights. At least not from my own experience.

2) You can have the projectors protruding from the rear if you wish. Just use common sense. I've done quite a few retrofits with the projectors protruding from the rear and exposed to the elements for many years with absolutely no issues, like condensation, or damage to the projectors. Yes, they should be mounted more for the insides of the housing, but in most cases, if your lights are not already equipped with projectors, you don't have much of a choice. Again, never had issues.

3) Projectors will definitely add some weight, but you are only looking at a couple pounds at best. I don't even think it's 5 lbs. But as far as comparing halogen projectors vs HID projectors, these are NOT the same. In some cases, you can toss in an HID kit for halogen projectors and will be fine, but others it will throw off the lighting quite a bit just like reflector housings. HID projectors were specifically made for HID lighting where you will have the best foreground lighting, width, and output. Halogen projectors can also produce somewhat of the same conditions as HID, but may also require some modifications. If you are gonna do the job, do it right the first time.

4) If you put projectors in fluted lens housings, I have seen rare cases where it actually does not affect the output at all. In most cases, it will cause blurriness or just a blob of light output. Does this affect performance? Personally, I would say yes. The reason is because if the output is blurry or out of focus, all the performance of the light is not where it should be, which is straight towards the ground rather it being scattered. You are better off getting a clear lensed housing to have maximum light output if possible. If this is not possible for your model, you can look into vacuum forming new headlight lenses for that crystal clear look.