arseny87

Hey guys, i wanted to change my stock 4300K d2s bulbs with 8000K ones, but i am stuck on which company is the best. There are a few out there, JDM, McCulloh, etc. I was just wondering what kind of results and bulb life u guys got with them and which would you suggest? Thanks alot!!

Raheel

It will be really Blue but the Brightness will be VERY LOW, you will lose the benefits of Xenon lights as far as brightness and safety goes

rbf351

better off going to regular halogen if you want blue bulbs

crazymjb

^regular halogen, with a blue filter you mean? Or are you kidding?

ed99

I was thinking of putting 8000k too and I saw a TL the other day and his HID was bluish white. It looked really nice far away!! He sure put a pretty nice light show b/c at first I thought it was a BMW but turned out it was a 3rd Gen TL. So that makes me think of changing mine out too. Once you change yours, be sure to post Pics here for Before and After shots and change one only and take a pic to compare the color of the 8000k vs the OEM 4300k.

arseny87

well actually, 8000k is the brightest and longest range out of all the HID bulbs, once you surpass 8000k u lose distance and the color changes to purple. It seems as though 8000K is the best of both worlds, brightness and a nice blue color. I should have the bulbs in within a week so i will definately take pics and post them, so stay tuned!

JDM5lugHatch

You are mistaken with your information. 4-4300k is the best lighting you can get with HID's....... it's the optimum range. Followed closely by 5-6000k anything after that is color saturated which cuts down on visibility. The reason most change to the higher numbers like 8-15000k is purely for color reasons.

TacoBellSauce

but blue looks nice

TheNip73

The TL lights are blinding eough... why in the hell would you want to get something that will be even more blinding to other drivers and possibly dangerous? I just do get it. Who cares if it looks cool - safety shoud come first.

I know it's your car so do what you want, but I have personally been blinded by oncoming 3rd gen TL's like mine and I really feel for the other guys on the road.

SouthernBoy

What some of these respondents are telling you is true. As you go up in the kelvin temperature scale, you will loose visible light. And where this will really have a serious detrimental effect is in the rain. Give this some real thought before you make the switch.

datplayaz

I don't think it's that big of a deal... I mean you're riding around with HID still, if you can't see with 8000k or even 10,000k all those other people with regular headlights isn't going to see the road either?

I've seen 10,000k in person on a BMW... it's still puts out very good light output

crazymjb

Thenip, you sound like on of those people who would pull out there HIDs as a courtesy and stick in halogens

THe TLs lights are not blinding at all if leveled correctly.

SweetJazz

8000K

TheNip73

The TL's lights do not auto level. So when the car is on an incline or goes over bumps the car can very easily send blinding light into oncoming traffic...

Actuary

I agree on TL blinds drivers easily I had TL on my tail last night and it looked more blinding than 3-series or A4 with auto-leveling

crazymjb

I know it doesnt auto level, I kind of forgot about the bumps.

I have been flashed in the eyes by an oncoming TL, It wasnt too bad, nothing that would cause me to crash.

mio

10000K (or 8000K,) is not bright enough in the bad weather, eg: a rainning night...

those yellow regular headlights work better in bad weather conditions. (compare with those 10000k, or 8000k HID...)

that is also why all the stock cars r only using 4300K HID. (no more than 4300K... )

arseny87

I totally disagree... car companies use 4300K because it is LEGAL in all states as compared to lets say 8000-14000K which is state dependant. So, the reason they use 4300K is not because it is the best BUT because it keeps them from getting in trouble. As soon as i put the bulbs in, you guys will see how big of a difference it is, and plus it makes ur TL, YOUR TL and that makes you feel good. ; ]

caball88

dude you are sadly mistaken and this topic has been talked to death on all car forums, just do a search. its simple science that makes the lighting performance better for 4300K than anything higher. The lumen output(which is the measure of how much light is being put out) for a 4300K stock bulb is about 3200 lumens, for a 6000K philips bulb(one of the best) it is about 2800. just for reference a regular halogen puts out 1200 lumens. when you get 8000K/10000K bulb which only korean companies and some ghetto japanese companies make the lumens drop to 2400/1800 lumens respectively. The 10000K bulb is just barely better than a regular halogen. i bet the 14000K would be actually put out less light than a halogen. another thing is wavelength, the higher the color temp the shorter the wavelength. This makes it much much harder to see in bad weather cause the light does not pass through the rain. basically if you have a 14000K bulb and it is raining at night with no street lights, you might as well drive with your eyes closed cause there is no difference. the only benefit of the higher color temps is because it "looks cool". if you don't believe me do a quick google search, information is quick and free out there.

KADAW

^word

edit: i mean even i thinks its nice, "cool" to have the lil bluish in the headlights, but its give off less light then the stock bulbs 4300k

Sniper 55

http://www.xtralights.com

SouthernBoy

Well done. In any lighting application where the amount of light is the key factor, the lumenosity of the lamp is the fundamental item, be it lighting in a task area or from the lamps in an automobile. I used to be a lighting consultant in my prior profession, so I know the value of good lighting.


Well done.

TL trblmkr

TL's in America don't come with blue HID's??? That's one of the nicest things about the TL is it's blue HID's making it stand out amongst most other vehicles (aside from BMW's and Mercedes of course).

caball88

all cars from the factory comes with the same 4300K hid bulbs. the only reason they look "bluer" is because of the optics in the headlight housing. difference projector and reflector type housings will make the car appear to have differenc color hues. when u see a car with hid bounce up and down behind u one a bunpy road u will notice the change in color in your rear view mirror.

JDM5lugHatch

I agree. However, Lexus definitely has a purple tint to their HID's compared to any of the other manufacturers. Maybe it's a different kelvin or maybe just a different manufacturer. I believe the ones in the TL are Stanley's.

SouthernBoy

I could sware I've seen you license plate around Fairfax.

SouthernBoy

Oops, spelled "swear" wrong.

crazymjb

So those low <3k bulbs would be good substitutes for our fogs?(though you need to buy the entire setup)

JDM5lugHatch

Probably have. My fiance' lives near Springfield Mall. I also go out towards fairfax on occasion for Subaru meets. You may see me out in manassas sometimes as well. Every once and awhile I go visit my friend at work (Tweeter in Manassas). You should check out the Rockville meet this weekend at Dave & Busters.

Mrjiggyfly920

I just ordered 8k for my hid because i always wanted to upgrade them to a bluer look...