S14 zenki HID pictures request!!!

[p0onsta]

guys, i hate bumping old threads, but I'll do it this once because this seems to be the most honest and least-cluttered informational thread on zenki HIDs that I can find. allow me to post a ramble from another forum and a picture from my own:

just try to read and understand. i think it might be useful...

hid kits for halogens aren't as simple as "not designed for it, impossible, don't do it, do it right"

many of us here have used these sorts of kits before, and we all have different results.

the truth of the matter is, there's only 3 real reasons why hid kits don't work perfectly in halogens. 1 being that the light source is of a different shape, 2 being that the light source is of a different location, and 3 being that the light source is of a different orientation, all when compared to its halogen counterparts.

orientation is the key player here. HIDs will only have its output longitudinal to the bulb, like how the filament is in an H4 bulb or how the engine is in an FR, and NOT an H3 bulb or how an engine is in an FF. Note that if the light source is of a different orientation, the kit will inherently FAIL in terms of glare and light scatter, and if they manage to put in enough shielding for that, they will STILL FAIL in terms of light output. Why get HIDs that are 10x brighter and shield out 90% of the output, for example?

the light source's location can be fine tuned, and with a combination of the proper orientation and a good base from a quality company, you're 80% of the way there. i'm going to take a whack and say that most HID companies can center their HID bases properly. The only matter of question here is the depth of the mounting. A comparison could be drawn by anybody who has glasses and has kept their eyes open looking through the lens while putting them on. The image is distorted until the glasses seat properly on your face, and even then, it takes a little getting used to. Light goes both ways, and if the light source is positioned at the wrong depth, the output will be out of focus and distorted. read: it will scatter to all the wrong places.

the light source's shape, you can not control. halogen filaments have the light output shape of an oval, or almost a round-ended football. HIDs have a peanut shaped output. halogens >55w have a larger oval, and the light from this larger oval was not taken into account when OEMs design their headlights. you can rarely take someone else's glasses and have them work perfectly for you right? be sometimes it's "good enough"? That's the concept of why "competition h4's" are acceptable, but since most of our cheap cars have plastic headlights, it won't work too well.
In comes the HID peanut. the 35w HID peanut is just about the same size as the 55w halogen football, with the peanut being only slightly larger than the football. The areas where the peanut is larger is what causes the glare. the way this glare is treated is different on a case-by-case basis. i'm sure we've all seen chromed out headlights on certain cars and then get superseded by blacked out headlights of the same design. the change is aesthetic, but the output is unchanged, and that's because the areas blacked out are unused. However, if it's a chromed out headlight, this glare will bounce off the shiney, supposedly unused areas. If such is the case, black out those areas, and you will have less glare. Cars with fluted lenses like the s14 zenki are okay, since the fluting was meant to COMPLETELY scatter whatever light hits it, to illuminate road signs and reflector strips.
the NHTSA has provisions for a set amount of "light bleed through" that's allowed for the purpose of lighting up these signs. that's the reason why different oem HIDs have differing cutoff sharpnesses and still all pass the gov't standards, but that's a different story altogether. basically, if bentley or rolls royce wanted to implement a projector that works like the movie theater projectors, they can, since they're pretty much no-expenses-withheld. but they didn't. guess why? makes like BMW that have near-movie-theater-projector cutoffs for HIDs also have those "angel eyes" to illuminate said signs and such, so if you retrofit, be sure to have these provisions in as well. last thing you want is to upgrade your lighting to have perfect vision on the road and not be able to see a deer that's running into the highway, an idiot with a primer paint job and no headlights, or worse, a homeless guy crossing the street.
back on topic...So this is why a halogen HID kit will NEVER be as good as HID lighting designed from ground up. but i truly believe that proper orientation, positioning of the bulb, and design/slight-modification of the enclosure can get you 90% of the way there. at least on s14 zenki's they do.
so how does HID net a higher output? because the center of its peanut is HIGHER INTENSITY than the center of the halogen football. However, the area of highest intensity is smaller in the peanut than it is in the football. because of this, you will ALWAYS get a MORE NOTICEABLE bright spot. the bright spot does exist in the halogen application, just less noticeable. drive up close to a wall and you'll see it bright and clear.

so to sum it all up, i wanted hids, i wanted better output, i wanted at least a halfway decent cutoff, and i absolutely did not want to blind people. so i did my research, and bought a good kit. i also took 10 hours to buff my yellow headlights as seen at Club Spirited Drive • View topic - Renewing Plastic Headlamps.... i wish i had a power buffer. 10 hours by hand is still not as good as it could be. just imagine the glasses issue. if there's residue on it, it will illuminate with light, like glasses do when dirty. when it's clean...you can figure the rest out. i'm done ranting.

and how can i back all these up? i can't, but 2 years of on and off research and development by HID suppliers led to this conclusion, and i have a nasty habit of not keeping my sources. a fellow member here had a kit, and he says just do it if you want it, and i saw his output, which was good, before i went with my setup. if any of you have the backing data on this, please post. questions? please ask


5k HID Drop-Ins.

Click on the picture on this post to view the hi-res version. More details upon request:
Club Spirited Drive • View topic - Kitty's Picture of the Day