Xenon Lights
10-01-2008 | 05:23 PM
#1
Thread Starter
New Member
Joined: 09-23-2008
Posts: 10
From: Phoenix,AZ
Xenon Lights
Anyone have a recommendations?
Conversion kit OR new complete housing
I've seen a few reasonably priced conversion kits out there....but I was thinking of replacing the whole housing due to some nasty chips i have on my left lamp.
thoughts?
Conversion kit OR new complete housing
I've seen a few reasonably priced conversion kits out there....but I was thinking of replacing the whole housing due to some nasty chips i have on my left lamp.
thoughts?
10-01-2008 | 06:12 PM
#2
Senior Member
Joined: 03-31-2008
Posts: 772
From: CLEVELAND
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/general-hhr-4/hid-question-16548/
I'll be working on a couple pair later this year when it gets too crappy here to ride (mtb) and before the ski season kick in full strength :)
I'll be working on a couple pair later this year when it gets too crappy here to ride (mtb) and before the ski season kick in full strength :)
10-01-2008 | 08:54 PM
#6
Senior Member
Joined: 08-28-2008
Posts: 542
From: Houston, Texas
Some of that linked information was not correct regarding lenses and such. First, the HID conversion kits ARE true HID's. HID's in every factory application I have seen are used with projector lenses. Those are the lenses that the poster in the other thread was referring to. Projector lenses are not always HID's. HID (High Intensity Discharge) refers to the bulb itself. To do what he was talking about, you'd have to take your lights apart and custom fit projector lenses with HID bulbs, either aftermarket or from another vehicle. I hope all of that makes sense. HID's used with reflector (rather than projector lenses) don't look as nice, but they are still a VAST improvement over stock as demonstrated with pictures in the other thread. You will get flashed because your lights are bright, but it has little to do with the lenses. If you do it, consider re-aiming your headlights. As to the police, the information I have heard regarding legality says it is illegal to convert a vehicle to HID if it is not OEM, so cops can pull you over whether you do a lense conversion or not. Also, the color is affected by the color temperature in Kelvin of the bulbs you buy. You can get them to yellow to blue/white (6000K will be closest to the OEM look) to royal blue to purple.
Most blue or Xenon lights just dim the light with a colored lense. It's really just the cheap way out. If you get that sort of bulb, I'd recommend Silverstars, as I've used them with good results before, but HID's have become so affordable that it's smarter to just go with them in the first place. I'm thinking about using yellow HID fogs with blue/white headlights on my BFM SS.
Hope I was helpful.
Most blue or Xenon lights just dim the light with a colored lense. It's really just the cheap way out. If you get that sort of bulb, I'd recommend Silverstars, as I've used them with good results before, but HID's have become so affordable that it's smarter to just go with them in the first place. I'm thinking about using yellow HID fogs with blue/white headlights on my BFM SS.
Hope I was helpful.
10-01-2008 | 10:50 PM
#7
Senior Member
Joined: 03-31-2008
Posts: 772
From: CLEVELAND
I am not sure which things that you say are incorrect, although i did not re-read that entire thread, and maybe some things were not clear.
From my understanding (speak up anyone if I am off base here) you have a few parts.
Bulb.....ballast...wires....lense/projector....housing
I consider "true" hid's/retrofits all of the above except the housing. You can just modify your own like enomai.
Kits that just sell the bulbs, wires, and ballasts are "true" hid's however they will not give the look or output that your paying good money for. It's like having superman-strength eyes behind spiral kalidescope clown glasses. I call those "bootleg hid kits".
Our hhrs do not have lenses/projectors....just REFLECTORS. So if you want to look like an expensive oem hid car, your gonna need the FULL KIT. And your gonna need to hack/chop/pullapart your existing housing and insert a projector/lense to focus and cutoff that new super nice beam.
It does not appear that any aftermarket lenses are out there, and also none with a lense/projector built in that oem fit into an hhr.
If you do decide to put hid bulbs...ballast..wires....in your stock reflector housing (meaning no projector/lense, and no hacking up your housing to fit them in) you will look to other drivers like you have your HIGHS ON ALL THE TIME. Not a big deal if you don't care about the rest of us on the road...or if we all had auto dimming mirrors side and rear (we don't) or if you want to be flashed relentlesly. It will work this way, but you'll get what you pay for.
I do admit you will save $200 out of $450+ and not have to do the real expense of housing destruction, however why do it "wrong and half@SS" if your trying to look AND PERFORM top-notch?
From my understanding (speak up anyone if I am off base here) you have a few parts.
Bulb.....ballast...wires....lense/projector....housing
I consider "true" hid's/retrofits all of the above except the housing. You can just modify your own like enomai.
Kits that just sell the bulbs, wires, and ballasts are "true" hid's however they will not give the look or output that your paying good money for. It's like having superman-strength eyes behind spiral kalidescope clown glasses. I call those "bootleg hid kits".
Our hhrs do not have lenses/projectors....just REFLECTORS. So if you want to look like an expensive oem hid car, your gonna need the FULL KIT. And your gonna need to hack/chop/pullapart your existing housing and insert a projector/lense to focus and cutoff that new super nice beam.
It does not appear that any aftermarket lenses are out there, and also none with a lense/projector built in that oem fit into an hhr.
If you do decide to put hid bulbs...ballast..wires....in your stock reflector housing (meaning no projector/lense, and no hacking up your housing to fit them in) you will look to other drivers like you have your HIGHS ON ALL THE TIME. Not a big deal if you don't care about the rest of us on the road...or if we all had auto dimming mirrors side and rear (we don't) or if you want to be flashed relentlesly. It will work this way, but you'll get what you pay for.
I do admit you will save $200 out of $450+ and not have to do the real expense of housing destruction, however why do it "wrong and half@SS" if your trying to look AND PERFORM top-notch?
10-01-2008 | 11:07 PM
#8
Senior Member
Joined: 08-28-2008
Posts: 542
From: Houston, Texas
I am not sure which things that you say are incorrect, although i did not re-read that entire thread, and maybe some things were not clear.
From my understanding (speak up anyone if I am off base here) you have a few parts.
Bulb.....ballast...wires....lense/projector....housing
I consider "true" hid's/retrofits all of the above except the housing. You can just modify your own like enomai.
Kits that just sell the bulbs, wires, and ballasts are "true" hid's however they will not give the look or output that your paying good money for. It's like having superman-strength eyes behind spiral kalidescope clown glasses. I call those "bootleg hid kits".
Our hhrs do not have lenses/projectors....just REFLECTORS. So if you want to look like an expensive oem hid car, your gonna need the FULL KIT. And your gonna need to hack/chop/pullapart your existing housing and insert a projector/lense to focus and cutoff that new super nice beam.
It does not appear that any aftermarket lenses are out there, and also none with a lense/projector built in that oem fit into an hhr.
If you do decide to put hid bulbs...ballast..wires....in your stock reflector housing (meaning no projector/lense, and no hacking up your housing to fit them in) you will look to other drivers like you have your HIGHS ON ALL THE TIME. Not a big deal if you don't care about the rest of us on the road...or if we all had auto dimming mirrors side and rear (we don't) or if you want to be flashed relentlesly. It will work this way, but you'll get what you pay for.
I do admit you will save $200 out of $450+ and not have to do the real expense of housing destruction, however why do it "wrong and half@SS" if your trying to look AND PERFORM top-notch?
From my understanding (speak up anyone if I am off base here) you have a few parts.
Bulb.....ballast...wires....lense/projector....housing
I consider "true" hid's/retrofits all of the above except the housing. You can just modify your own like enomai.
Kits that just sell the bulbs, wires, and ballasts are "true" hid's however they will not give the look or output that your paying good money for. It's like having superman-strength eyes behind spiral kalidescope clown glasses. I call those "bootleg hid kits".
Our hhrs do not have lenses/projectors....just REFLECTORS. So if you want to look like an expensive oem hid car, your gonna need the FULL KIT. And your gonna need to hack/chop/pullapart your existing housing and insert a projector/lense to focus and cutoff that new super nice beam.
It does not appear that any aftermarket lenses are out there, and also none with a lense/projector built in that oem fit into an hhr.
If you do decide to put hid bulbs...ballast..wires....in your stock reflector housing (meaning no projector/lense, and no hacking up your housing to fit them in) you will look to other drivers like you have your HIGHS ON ALL THE TIME. Not a big deal if you don't care about the rest of us on the road...or if we all had auto dimming mirrors side and rear (we don't) or if you want to be flashed relentlesly. It will work this way, but you'll get what you pay for.
I do admit you will save $200 out of $450+ and not have to do the real expense of housing destruction, however why do it "wrong and half@SS" if your trying to look AND PERFORM top-notch?
And you're right, there isn't anything aftermarket out there for the HHR that's a drop in solution. When I mentioned aftermarket or OEM, I meant using a universal part or a part taken from another car and have it custom mounted in your headlight. I always thought the multi-element cluster in the Focus was cool.
10-02-2008 | 04:27 AM
#9
Senior Member
Joined: 12-14-2007
Posts: 2,964
From: Toronto ON Canada
I have been looking for a while. The aftermarket doesnt seem interested in producing projector housings for HHRs. I have seen 4 or 5 really nice looking units for the cobalt, but none for us. Maybe the easiest route would be to hack up a set of cobalt projectors and put them in the factory HHR housings.
It might not fit too well though, as all the ones I have seen have separate high and low beam lenses. The halos look sweet though.
It might not fit too well though, as all the ones I have seen have separate high and low beam lenses. The halos look sweet though.
10-02-2008 | 08:39 AM
#10
Senior Member
Joined: 06-01-2008
Posts: 2,762
From: arlington texas
My friend john sharp owns SharpHid. He has kits from 3000-30000 in color
you can get slim ballast kits for 99.99 , lifetime warranty. and he backs up the warranty well. if your light burns out, send him both back and he will send two new ones , just pay shipping. check out his site, ive bought all my hids from him. im about to order the HHRs hids.
He has kits for cars with day runnin lights that keep the hids off. just give the site a look and email him w/ questions.
go to ... www.sharphid.com
-HALFpanel-
you can get slim ballast kits for 99.99 , lifetime warranty. and he backs up the warranty well. if your light burns out, send him both back and he will send two new ones , just pay shipping. check out his site, ive bought all my hids from him. im about to order the HHRs hids.
He has kits for cars with day runnin lights that keep the hids off. just give the site a look and email him w/ questions.
go to ... www.sharphid.com
-HALFpanel-
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