sixgearcl

I was over in the Tl community and i saw a post about chaging the Stock HID bulb to a 10000k bulb...

i know there are a few HID gurus here so if you could inform me... whats the stock color for an 03 cl... and any feedback for the 10000k bulb...

thanks guys

962.5tl

your best bet is to just go with a 6000k upgraded bulb, the stock is 4300k and 10000k will be too much for the stock ballasts to handle over time, i have had the 6000k bulbs for a year now and no problems whatsoever.

frenzie

whats the model of bulb or the stock number to get for our cars?

greyjhu

bulb type: D2r

I have the philips ultinon 6000k and like them alot . The 8,000k and 10,000 kelvin bulbs look cool, but am not sure how well they illuminate the road. From what I understand, the ballast compatibility issue with higher kelvin bulbs is a myth, as they all run at 35 watts...

NiteQwill

True, they are stable at 35W at <85V, but start up ignition of bulbs increases with a higher Kelvin rating, decreasing the life of the ballast dramatically. For instance, it takes <25,000V for 3 msec to ignite a 4300K bulb and stabalize at <85V (an 8000K bulb is stable at 85V), the number can nearly double for a bulb with a higher kelvin and also increase startup time. In the long run, putting a ballast through that amount of energy numerous times will eventually lead it to die.

greyjhu

But aren't lots of the 8,000k and 10,000 kelvin bulbs simply 4,300k bulbs with blue/purple coating? When I was in Japan this summer, I looked around at the PIAA 8,000k and 10,000k bulbs, and they were said to be "OK" with the stock ballasts of many cars. A blue/purple coating on the crystal glass shouldn't affect ignition of the bulb, true?

louisn

Plus the so-called upgrade is actually a downgrade in the illumination provided by the bulb and is more apt to blind on-coming traffic. 4300K supposedly provides the most visibility according to my sources. Why would anyone want to decrease your illumiunation and blind other drivers and risk screwing up a very delicate lighting system is beyond me?

sixgearcl

cause it looks hot...

im in the metro area of nyc so headlights aren THAT important... i know upstate there are no street light so i could see it being a problem there...

louisn

I suspect at 54 years old that I'm more apt to consider the safety factor more than a 22 year old whose main consideration is that "it looks hot." Jessica Simpson and Brittany look hot but after 6 months you'll be looking to bail out. Hopefully you won't be in the ditch.

sixgearcl

cltypeSLOW

Phillips HID D2R part number 85126 they are 4300k

if your lookin for new ones check out this auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=36476

hes a legit seller i ordered new bulbs for my cl about 6 months ago and they work great and he shipped really quick and packaged them safely and its a really good price for OEM HID

cltypeSLOW

oh forgot to tell you....if you need just one replacement bulb you should opt for the phillips 85126+ bulb...as we all know HIDs color shift over time...and the 85126+ is pre color shifted so it will match your other one thats older...that way you dont have 2 diff color headlights...i just ended up getting the reg 85126 (pair) cause it was such a good price but if you want to buy just one all you have to do is check out that sellers other items on the auction above he sells those in singles...good luck!

NiteQwill

No, thse are cheesy 10K & 8K bulbs that are marketed as just that, when they are simply coated. Coated bulbs are actually worse than a higher Kelvin rating. Kelvin raiting is the temperature at which the light is stable, which has NOTHING to do with color; color is a byproduct of the reaction between mercury and xenon in the glass tube which contains an electrode.

Any coating = less light. Higher Kelvin = less VISIBLE light.

The brightest HID component bulb is 2200K, which are used in high end cars that have HID fog lamps, hence they are a "true" yellow, no diachromatic or coated yellow like current marketed bulbs.

frenzie

that's helpful... thanks!!