kkim

Okay, so these kits are not legal. What is the difference that make the Porsche or any OEM kits legal? Is there a certification process that these don't have?

vjd3

If you get in a fender bender, the insurance adjuster is not going to sprint right over to look at the car. If you total the front end, it's a moot point because it's all going to be smashed and unrecognizable anyway. If it's in a situation where the adjuster is going to go over the car with a fine tooth comb, yes you can go over to the tow yard and/or body shop and remove personal property from the car before you release it to them. Ask me how I know.

Vic
95 C4 cab

BrianB

Kelly I dont think there really is anything different other than them being OEM. The facotry Litronics are not self leveling. So there really isn't any difference other the ballast config and them not being OEM. The law is kinda vauge it basically says all non OEM HID lights are illegal. The law was passed because many people were puting HID lights in headlights the were not meant for HID lights thus causing excessive glare and improper aiming. You'll notice that most cars with OEM HID lights use projector type head lights. Porjecter headlights are usually the best headlights to convert into HID. Where reflector type headlights are usually alot more difficult because the can produce alot of glare and back scatter. There is tons of info on this subject here http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/

grmnxtc

There's always the argument....

"the previous owner must have fitted them!"

And... (adding fuel to the fire)...what about all those rednecks with "super lifted" trucks .... those don't even meet federal safety standards for bumper heights!!!!

Do you hear about insurance companies not paying out on those.... don't think so...

Go ahead... make your care "safer" with better lights.... then point out to the insurance co (if you ever need to!) about why they are insuring much more "unsafe" trucks....

texas911

Its also illigal in some states (TEXAS) to not have front plates but people leave them off, especially Porsche owners. And its illigal to speed but I'm sure people do on this forum.


I'd upgrade the HID, as it was an option on your car, no one will know it was an upgrade.

JohnJL

Hey, I'm not a redneck and I've got a super-lifted truck...oh wait, maybe I am...if by redneck you mean I enjoy a diverse array of vehicles, I like to work on my cars myself, and each of my vehicles excells at what it is intended for (by the time I'm done with it.) Then yes, I am a redneck Corporate banker.

BrianB

Well put GRMNXTC. I couldn't agree more. I think this thread gotta a little off track. Bottom line. I found a decent quality inexpensive HID kit that worked out great for me. It is technically illegal. But in reality its no different than OEM interms of function. That being said if you want to see at night put HID's in your car. If you don't then don't.

kkim

Brian,

I'm looking to upgrade the hi lites on my car w/ HIDS. I assume the kit you bought can be used for either hi or low light applications, correct?

BrianB

You can't do HID in the highs because the require 10 seconds or so warm up and become fully bright.

GrantG

Yeah, the Bi-Xeons in the 996 use an auxillary halogen bulb for the flash-to-pass and have just one main Xenon bulb with a moveable shutter that blocks the high beam light path when in low-beam mode, so the bulb is always on...

kkim

edit: I've been in email contact w/ the kit's seller and here is his reply....

HI, YES THEY CAN WORK FOR HIGH BEAMS, AS LONG AS YOU NEED AN H1 BULB FOR HIGH BEAM. THANK YOU!!!


Hmmm... so what's the story??? Can they be used for high beams or not?

BrianB

I dont think English is his first language. Yes you can put HID's in your high beams but it wouldn't work well because of the time needed to trun them on. Basically you can't flash with them or turn them on breifly then turn them off. HID lights take like 18,000 volts to turn ignite them and the ballasts dont do well with constant switching on and off. Basically what wears down HID bulbs and ballasts is how many times they are swichted on and off.

kkim

I could live w/ the no flashing part, but how long does it take (in terms of seconds) to switch on? If I change from low to high lights, will I be left in the dark until the bulbs come up to full brightness?

Sorry for the newbie questions... I'm just suprised to hear this about not using them for high lights.

BrianB

They come on instantly but take 5-10 seconds to become fully illuminated. So you wont be left in the dark by any means.

Since I have done the conversion I now have no need to use my high beams. Where before I was constantly using them. Honeslty the low beams with HID put out far more light than the high beams. The high beams are just aimed slightly higher but I think the lows w/HID still give you more usable light than the Highs.

kkim

Thanks, Brian. I just looked at my car and the low light bulbs stay on when the high lights are on. I was under the impression that the lows went off when the highs were switched on, so yes, I would never be left w/o lights when switching to highs.

I'm looking to increase my light output to see as far down the road as I can when driving a mountain road at midnight. No street lights at all and it's pitch dark. Lots of wildlife wandering around, so I'd like to give myself every advantage of seeing them. I've already "tapped" a deer. Luckily only a slight crack in my front bumper was the result.

I think I'll give the Hids a try in the high light position... if not, I could always move them to the low lights, right?