HID Kit recommendations

[KuroNekko]

I'm actually going to have to disagree having driven in very very heavy fog that only a mountain environment can bring.
Fog lights alone don't do a good enough job of creating light to be seen. They are to see lights, not be seen lights. Just like people driving at night with just their DRLs is insufficient lighting, the same goes for fog lights alone in fog.
Unless you have the headlight low beams also on, it may be hard for oncoming traffic to see you until it's too close as fog lights aim directly down, in front of the car. I've personally seen this happen with vehicles only using their fog lights in dense fog. You can't see them approach until they are rather close versus cars with low beams also on.
This is also why some European cars have rear fog lights (You commonly see them on Mercedes, Audis, Jaguars, Land Rovers.). They look like a single or dual bulbs on in high intensity, much like a brake light without the center brake light on. The idea is the same. If only the tail lights are on, it's hard to see the car in front of you in dense fog until you are close.
In essence, it's important to be seen just as much as to see, especially in fog (and rain).

Also, in very heavy fog, especially at night, having the lows on or off does not really matter. You can't see well regardless. I've experimented numerous times with low beams only vs. fogs only vs. fogs and low beams as my Suzuki Sidekick used to have auxiliary fog lights I installed (so they worked independently of the headlights). My experience showed me that lows plus fogs were the best and safest combination.

Unlike lows, high beams are actually detrimental because they create more glare that impairs your view, almost looking like a white blanket in front of your car.

I think a lot of cars that are often in heavy mountain fog actually utilize yellow headlights as well. I've seen pictures of cars in South American mountains and they are usually 4x4s with yellow headlights and fog lights. While the theory that yellow light waves reflect less than other colors from fog particles has been debunked, there is apparently still a difference in how the human eye can see in yellow versus light waves with more blue in it. The yellow output allows the human eye to see better and this is why many fog lights are yellow.

In the end, it's more about where you live. In the mountain, high beams and fog lights were a must. Now, I barely use either as I drive around a large city. The fog lights on my Kizashi are mostly cosmetic now and that's why I've done nothing to correct the horrible light output of the yellow HIDs that the previous owner put in.

[bootymac]

KuroNekko has spoken.

Neat fact: rear fogs are usually a single light because we notice asymmetrical shapes/patterns faster

[KuroNekko]

KuroNekko has spoken.

Neat fact: rear fogs are usually a single light because we notice asymmetrical shapes/patterns faster

Yeah, I used to always get annoyed because of the asymmetry (blame my OCD) then I learned some cars are supposed to be that way.
However, higher end Euro cars have two rear fogs. I know for certain the Audi A6 does and I've seen Jags and Landys with two rear fogs.

I think the "lower end" cars like the Audi A4 and the Merc C Class only have one on the driver's side.

[murcod]

A single rear fog light helps your brake lights stand out more when you brake. Two rear fog lights and the poor driver behind is likely to be blinded and totally miss them!

[~tc~]

I think the debate on low beams in fog depends entirely on the sharpness of the cutoff and their aim

[KuroNekko]

A single rear fog light helps your brake lights stand out more when you brake. Two rear fog lights and the poor driver behind is likely to be blinded and totally miss them!

True, but some of these cars have rear fog lights outside of the tail light cluster. Mercedes have them inside the tail light cluster, but utilize only one fog light. Personally, I'd like two so it doesn't look like I have a bulb out.

Interestingly, the Euro-spec Kizashi does have rear fog lights and uses two of them. They are what goes in the obvious bulb housing space under the back up lights. My car simply has no bulb housing there.
I've talked about this before, so sorry for the redundancy to some. Here's a photo of a Euro-spec Kizashi's rear fog posted by a member here.

[bootymac]

Thought I'd go back to HIDs and share some information I found about colour temperatures and their luminosity. I knew 4300K is the brightest, but I wanted to know the relative differences:

55w halogen: 700-1900 lumens (huge range)
35w 3000K: 3200 lumens
35w 4300K: 3200-3400 lumens
35w 5000K: 3000 lumens
35w 6000K: 2800 lumens
35w 8000K: 2500 lumens

Sources:
http://www.mobilehid.com/3000k.htm
http://www.hidretrofits.com/
http://headlightretrofits.com/bulbs-inf ... vin-color/

[KuroNekko]

Thought I'd go back to HIDs and share some information I found about colour temperatures and their luminosity. I knew 4300K is the brightest, but I wanted to know the relative differences:

55w halogen: 700-1900 lumens (huge range)
35w 3000K: 3200 lumens
35w 4300K: 3200-3400 lumens
35w 5000K: 3000 lumens
35w 6000K: 2800 lumens
35w 8000K: 2500 lumens

Sources:
http://www.mobilehid.com/3000k.htm
http://www.hidretrofits.com/
http://headlightretrofits.com/bulbs-inf ... vin-color/

Yup. Basically, color temperature and lumen have an inverse relationship. As color temp goes up (yellow to blue), the lumen (a rating of light output) goes down.
Wattage is not the best measure of light output because it's a measure of power consumption, not output performance.

People's ingrained conception of wattage = output is creating a problem for the home lighting industry as they move more to CFLs and LEDs. For decades, consumers measured the performance of an incandescent bulb by wattage like 30W vs. 60W. However LEDs, regardless of performance level, will consume less wattage. So a 14W LED may easily outperform a 60W incandescent bulb, but most consumers will not realize this. This is why the lighting industry is moving to measure lights by lumen which is actually a measure of light output, not power consumption.

The same phenomenon goes for automotive lights in halogen vs. HID vs. LED. HIDs are typically rated by color temperature in Kelvin and the wattage. This can be misleading because lower Kelvin color temperatures offer more light output. HID bulbs also consume less power than halogen. A 35W HID bulb will easily outperform a standard 55W halogen despite the lower wattage consumption.
LEDs consume less power than both and their technology is constantly evolving. Some LEDs are now rivaling HIDs in lumen output while consuming a fraction of the wattage. This is why they are starting to make it into automotive headlights and have already revolutionized the flashlight industry.

[~tc~]

Got the kit in from Retrofit source. It was back ordered and actually arrived before I was expecting it.

Got one side put in last night after work, what a PITA. My Kizashi has more bolts than alluded to in the write ups and videos on here, and the front fascia is connected to the aero panel, so it doesn't just "pop off" like has been shown.

On the drivers side, there is a convenient hole for mounting the ballast.

Hopefully, the passenger side goes more quickly tonight.

[bootymac]

Was your L-R adjuster capped off as well? I noticed that on mine and learned that Suzuki messed around with the aim of the driver side light and blocked off the adjuster.

Also, a prior thread mentioned that they were able to fit the ballasts within the headlights. Is this only possible with the slim ballasts?

My HID kit was shipped to the wrong address so now I'm waiting for the new kit to arrive. I have terrible luck ordering parts for the Kizashi!