sal4

Hello, I ran across this xenon converion kit. do any of you have any experience or recommendations with it?
thanks in advance for the input.

I believe it is manufactured by VTX??
The 3 Main Components of the HID System

BULB : - The Xenon Gas and mercury Metal Halide Salts existing inside the light emitting tube causes the molybdenum electrodes on both sides to plasma discharge and create energy, which in turn produces light. In laymen terms…These suckers are Bright!

IGNITER : - This is an electronic amplifier that receives electric current from the ballast and boosts voltage to ignite the Arc Light Source in all environments. It initializes plasma discharge within the source by delivering a high-volt pulse to the electrodes.

BALLAST : - This is an electronic control unit used to initialize arc and supply a stabilized power supply to the bulb and igniter during normal arc conditions.

s14roller

If I were to buy a HID kit, I'd probably try getting one with a reputable name behind it. Never heard of VTX. Try getting something from Philips or Sylvania.

Also, if you just want something that lights the road better and looks good, maybe consider just putting in some Silverstars. If it were up to me, I'd probably just go that route.

Orient Express

I have a HID Xenon conversion kit in my wife's Honda Hybrid. It was a very straightforward modification, completely plug and play.

If you are interested in the details, including where I bought it at, click here.

The biggest challenge is in the design of your car's lamp reflector. Many reflector designs do not focus the added light very well, which causes glare for oncoming cars.

charlesml3

Here's another one:

http://www.cqlight.ca/

Anybody tried this one on a 996?

-Charles

sal4

Looked into the Sylvania lights they seem like a good option at a fraction of the cost. is there a big difference in lighting between silverstar and Xenon?

Ubermensch

I've seen a few independant tests that show silverstars don't do much to improve lighting. It looks better, but doesn't actually improve your field of view...

Patrick

Agreed. What year is your car? The Porsche litronic upgrade, while pricey, works well. The thing with xenon headlights that most people find annoying is the glare. The stock litronics have a very sharp cutoff line on the beam. That keeps them from blinding oncoming traffic. You probably won't have that with an aftermarket kit. It could be more than just annoying. It could be downright dangerous.

Porsche_Smile

isn't the litronics for the porsche a form of projector? if so, what's the difference b.t xenon and projectors? is the only difference is the housing the xenon is in?

Orient Express

Two completely different things. Xenon refers to the bulbs, and projectors are the housing that the bulbs are in. There are 2 main types of housings, reflectors, and projectors. Reflectors are parabola housings and are the norm for halogen bulbs. Projectors are a housing that has a lens in front to focus the light, and has internal baffles to aid in the cut-off and shape of the light pattern.

Then there are bi-xenons that combine the highbeam and lowbeam in one projector and one xenon lamp by using a movable baffle to change the light pattern. For bi-xenons, there is usually an auxiliary halogen lamp with a reflector to be used to flash the lights. This is because the rise time to full operational brightness on a Xenon is a few seconds making it unusable for quick flashing.

Here is a link to a tutorial on HID lighting

wlee69

http://www.xenondepot.com/

I bought from them for a Lexus GX470. Very popular company with a good reputation on the Lexus boards. All genuine Philips bulbs/ballasts.

Moogle

Be VERY careful when replacing bulbs. Some operate at high temperature and will actually melt the headlight housing.

Orient Express

Not true with Xenon lamps. They draw less power than Halogens (35 W vs 55V) and run cooler in operation.

Here are 2 photos of tests that I ran on my wife's car HID conversion. I ran both the stock halogen and then the HID conversion for 1 hour and then measured the temperature of the headlight housings. As you can see the HID is cooler than the Halogen.

Porsche_Smile

thanks a lot.... clear things up pretty good......

delirium

I am interested in a xenon conversion for my facelifted 996 as well, however upon taking the headlight out of the car, it appears that the 996 has a very different from what I am used to seeing, the bulb & wires are all attached to a harness that plugs into the car... so how would a conversion kit plug & play??

Are the pre-facelifted 996's set up the same way?