I have a question about the hids headlights. I know they shine with a horizontal line going across, unlike convential headlights, but is it suppose to be a straight line? My right side seems higher than the left. Going across from the left it's like this _____/""""""" . Well, something like that. Right at the middle where it meets you can see that the right side is slightly higher. Okay, I'm not that concern, but I just wanted to know if that was normal or is it suppose to be a straight horizontal line?

 

Yes, it is normal.

 

Actually you should have two breaks in the HID's. The drivers side is tilted in some so it doesn't blind oncoming cars.

 

yup normal stuff...I had the same question for the service guys at the dealer and he assured me it was normal.

 

Read post #2 here: http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2136

 

Okay thanks guys. I feel much better. For a while there I thought one of them was aimed wrong.

 

its normal in order to lighten up street signs on the right hand side and the side of the road. JDM HID are the opposite as it is Right Hand Drive. i had a JDM Conversion integra with h.i.d's and i got flashed a lot cause of that.

 

I have a slightly different question about HIDs.

I have seen a few members post claims that foglights are NOT required with the HIDs. I searched the archives and didn't see a thread that addressed tihis claim, so I would like to know what others think about foglight effectiveness with HIDs.

 

Foglights are more cosmetic than anything. Unless you're doing 5 mph you'll out drive them.

 

I disagree. Although half the reason I got mine WAS for cosmetics there is definitely a noticeable increase in light on the sides.

 

I know it sounds crazy, but im actually dissapointed with the HID's. They just dont seem that bright to me (im sure oncoming traffic would beg to differ). Is is possible to get the OEM fog lights as white light? Or is there just a bulb you need to get to replace the stocks?

 

oem fog lights aren't h.i.d or did i misunderstand the question

 

Foglights, by definition, are for use in fog, when you're expected to be going slow.

They work because they're low down, where they won't glare back at you, and light the road in front of you as well as the area at the edges of the road very well. Helps even more if they're yellow, which tends to glare a bit less. (I'm not sure what color Acura uses, mine won't be installed until next week, but tint kits are available and I'll use one if necessary.)

The downside is that they don't shine very far ahead. That's the price you pay for limited glare-back. In fog or snow, when you're driving at appropriate (slow!) speeds for the conditions, they are very useful. At normal highway speeds you are going too fast for them to be much use at all, as you said. But you shouldn't be going that fast if the visibility is only a couple of hundred feet.

Personally, I have always lived in areas where heavy fog is occasionally a problem. Even here in California we get some nasty coastal and valley fogs from time to time and I like them for that. On road-trips I almost always seem to run into heavy fog. Driving across Nebraska once, I found myself on I-80, in fog so thick that you literally could not see the exit signs. Or a car's taillights more than 100 feet ahead. After about an hour at 15-20mph, I finally took an exit, found a motel with one room left, and crashed for the night. Without fogs I would have ended up parked by the side of the road waiting it out, like most of the cars and trucks I passed.

One thing I dislike about the Acura setup is that you can't operate the fogs without the mains going at the same time. In real fog conditions, those HID mains would be a major pain in the ass. The bluish color would only add to the glare problem. My old car was set up so the fogs could come on with the parking lights, without the low beams going. In really low viz conditions, that was the best way to go. I suspect that some re-wiring and re-switching of things will probably be in order someday.

To me, they're a useful took that I like to have available, but they're only useful if you understand (and respect) their limitations. I recognize that for most people, particularly in fairly well-lit urban and suburban situations, they're pretty useless.

 

That may just be that you need to wash your headlights every once in a while!

Seriously, though, if you use them in an urban setting you might not see their value as well as if you are into more remote regions where it actually gets really dark. Then you start to see much better.

Also one other thing, if you always drive baround with the trunk empty, the beams are set pretty low, so just a slight adjustment upwads might help give you a better lighting. I know Dan Martin did this on his car.

 

Sauce, im obsessed with cleaning, thats not the issue :P

And also, I knew that the fog's are not HID, I was just wondering if I add them can I replace the bulbs with something that has a light color similar to HID to match the mains.

 

has nothing to do with HID lights... it is a projector lens... so put any bright light source behind that lens and you will get the nice little cut off line.

 

Projector lenses can also be set as a flood light it's just that the TSX's lights have a screen to give you the cut off. It's there so you don't look like you're driving with your highbeams on all the time.

 

i think it clashes wit tha h.i.d's lol

 

I haven't seen a whole lot of "blue white" H11 type bulbs, and not even sure if they're made. However, you can always apply this stuff to the lens, it's available in bluish and yellowish tint, as well as clear: http://www.clear-guard.com/headlight_page.asp

That said, you should read everything above. Fogs won't give you a whole lot of brightness away from the car. They are mostly good for the area immediately in front and alongside the vehicle.

 

Which might be ok. I've seen mods for fog or projector lights that have gone in places other then the oem spot, which I think looks cheesy. Is there a projector kit out there that would fit the oem spot for the lights?

 

I haven't seen one. The Euro kit is a bit different, but fits the same locaton.

OEM fogs are pretty lightweight and it would be tough to attach any serious lighting in the same location.

I did see a guy here a while back who did something different. Check out this thread: http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9933

 

If there was a smiliey for :cheeseball: I would use it for that.

Not my cup o' tea, but thanks for the find...

 

Yeah, I agree, depending on my happiness with the OEM fog kit, I may try to figure out a way to fit the small PIAA's in the same location. They're not the best, but they're better than a lot of OEM crap. These guys maybe: http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/1400.html, or possibly even these: http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/1500xt.html

The difficulty is always finding a good strong mounting point that doesn't make the car look completely stupid. Going to make sure that I keep all the original parts after the foglight kit install, that way I can change things around a bit if I want to.

Won't be an issue for me for several months, so it's definitely low on the priority list.

 

I love the lights... i was buggout at first when i turned them on...

 

i love them too i get flashed even when i dont have the high's on....i think fogs are ugly IMHO. I would never get them unless i needed them and where i live there is no need =)

 

LOL, that happened to me 2 days ago, the first night I had the car.

To make the high-beams more like the HIDs, can you not use LEDs, like the ones listed in the LED conversion instructions that are floating around here? Could probably do the same for fog lights.

 

hahah ya i get flashed at all the time.. or when i'm park with the lights on... they tell me to turn off my high beams...haha... i tell them its off.. but they said no it ain't.. till they come look. a police officer pulled me over cuz he tought i was driving with my highbeams haha on a city street.. he felt sorry

 

But then you'd lose all high beam efficiency. What's the point in that?

 

leave well enough alone.

 

What do you mean? You're just replacing the regular light bulb in the high beam with an LED... The light pattern would still be the same, and you'd match it with an LED of equal brightness, so what would you be losing?

 

You'd be a rich man if you could come up with an LED that produces the same amount of light as a halogen.

 

Unless that LED headlight is for your bicycle .. you are going to have problems.

 

Hmm... I don't remember reading that on the LED replacement guide... Guess I'll just stick with the brake lights.

 

The brightest LED's on the market (Lumileds) can produce 120 lumens. A simple halogen high beam bulb at 55W can put out over 1550 lumens and a HID lamp can put out 3200 lumens at only 35W! So you'd need 13 of the uber-expensive Lumileds to equal one halogen and 26 to replace the HID.

 

so what's wrong with that

 

The led replacement guide suggests some super white bulb, not a LED.

 

In the Pacific Northwest we get rain frequently. The HID illumination of a rain-soaked freeway is great IMHO.

I too was concerned about the low-level of that top "line" and the obvious mismatch but soon learned here that that's normal. Also, I was surprised at the dimness of the bulbs. That is until it rained. Never have I seen rain-soaked asphalt and concrete be so well illuminated. Any reflective surface bounces out of the night from rather long distances too. We had both the Odyssey (the good missus was driving it w/ the kids and her dad) and the TSX out in the weather that night. After we arrived home, she complained quite significantly about having difficulty seeing. It surprised me as I'd had no problem at all.

So, in rainy weather, I vote HID all the way.

Bi-xenon would rather be a nice addition for mid-2005/2006 yes?

Dr. Daryl

 

Mid-2005 addition!! LOL

I rarely ever use my high beams so I'd rather not see it because of the added cost. With the way Acura works though, you will never see bi-HIDs on the TSX before the TL.

 

...the TL has them....... FWIW only.

It was one of the things I liked about the car when I test drove it.

....and yes I know Honda really doesn't do "mid-year" cars like VW did w/ the Passat.

Does *everyone* mock each other on this website, or have people just been drinking?

Dr. Daryl

 

I missed that when comparing the TSX and TL.

I've had a few tonight.