Quick question about HIDs, do they have different light brightness levels like the stock bulbs or are they just one continuous glow?

 

you mean high beam? there are SOME brands that have that

 

If they don't have high beams then what do you do? Wouldn't the beam be too bright for traffic driving but too dim for driving out of the city?

 

Low beam aftermarket HID are close to brightness as regular haolgens low beams + high beams combined. You need to look at the output in lumens. Also, depending on the color temperature, lumen output is also affected. My wife's 03 accord has 9000K Thunderbeam HIDs. I think they are 2500 lumens, compared to 700 for regular haolgens and 3200 lumens for 5600K HID. Not as bright (on the road surface) as say 6000K or 7000K setups but very blue/violet in color. They would be more brighter on the road surface if the factory headlight design didn't scatter light in such a broad angle. If I put projector beam head lghts then they would kick a$$. As far as highbeams, I know some kits out there have high and low beam in one bulb setups. Another option is HID fog/driving lights.

 

Catz makes a dual beam (high/low) HID kit for the Lancer. Thing is, it costs almost twice as much as most single beam HID kits, go figure.

 

Whats the install of HIDs like?

 

You fail inspection.

 

Yeah I'm in Canada so thats not a big deal. Hell, a lot of the trucks on the road would fail inspection instantly.

 

They tend to make concessions and bend the rules for trucks because they promote commerce. I never use my high beams, but I'd rather have them for blinding my friends than just have low-beam HID's. That's just me though.

 

Yeah currently I have no plans for HIDs, I just always wondered what people with them did when they drove in traffic.

 

If they're angled correctly (as they should be) they should not blind anyone, and there should be little need for high beams.

 

so theres no need to lower them?

 

^ you would need to lower them a little...you can keep the high beams if you get the jdm head lights where the high is seperate from the low(different bulbs). install on the HID's are not hard at all should be plug and play...hard part is finding a place for the ballasts and/or igniters...one of the best mods i ever did...but i still have yet to purchase my turbo so...so far i love it

EDIT: i dont like how it looks on the standard headlights(chrome)...hids spread too much and get to be really bright if you lights are not blacked out

 

Cost me $50 and 1.5 hours at my local reputable shop. They had to take off the front bumper. Beware of the plug n play HID. I bought one and it did not work. Reason: HID needs close to 9-12 volts to power up. Most new cars the headlights go through some sort of electricty distributor thingy (the best I can describe it) so your bulbs may actually get less than 9 volts so it would never have enough juice to create the initial spark.

The system I bought later was a not a true plug n play but with voltage coming directly from the battery.

 

I dunno why you got less than 12v, but even under battery power my car has never gotten less than 11.6v (assuming the battery isn't dead). While running my system voltage measures in the ballpark of 12.00-12.65v at any given point in the system that I've checked.