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HID grille fogs

2K views 32 replies 12 participants last post by  5LHO 
#1 ·
Everybody's gonna light me up (har) for putting HIDs in halogen housings but, it's a switchable light so, I'm not burning anybody's retinas in normal duty.

35 watt 6k kit, standard stuff. really good results. Cut line and pattern are the same as the halogens but, alot more light down the road a good ways.

The photo doesn't really do it justice. This is factory HID headlight low with HID fogs together.
 

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#3 ·
Just local to me, from one of the F&F community suppliers. There's lots of plug and play stuff on Ebay, DDM tuning, etc.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I have mine set pretty high for maximum reach so, I'm sure it'd attract attention around town if I ran 'em. Hell, people flash me here for my factory HID headlights, on low beam and at factory height, bloody panty-waists. :D

I was thinking of 55s too but, they had to be ordered and these ones were on the shelf. Plus, the hardest part of this job was whipping up a couple brackets for the ballasts to go behind the rad support. Everything else was plug and play into the factory connectors.

What I can't stand is when factory equipment is delivered useless. The 45 watt 9145 bulbs in the fogs and their aiming down like grandma's boobs from the factory means they are just dead weight. I wanted to make them worth a damn and these did that.
 
#7 ·
I have mine set pretty high for maximum reach so, I'm sure it'd attract attention around town if I ran 'em. Hell, people flash me here for my factory HID headlights, on low beam and at factory height, bloody panty-waists. :D

I was thinking of 55s too but, they had to be ordered and these ones were on the shelf. Plus, the hardest part of this job was whipping up a couple brackets for the ballasts to go behind the rad support. Everything else was plug and play into the factory connectors.
I get there annoyance. I am light sensative and some headlights at night truely blind me. I don't do anything because I know they are legal. I just see they're side.
 
#8 ·
I 'see' it too, when people run them in non-option lights like headlights. Where I am, the grille fogs are DRLs but, in full daylight, these aren't too annoying. I'll still switch 'em off at night in the built-up areas.

I always suggest to people complaining about lights though, "Don't look at them, switch your gaze to the yellow outside road line until the bright object passes."
 
#9 ·
I get flashed a few times a week just having my factory lights on. People aren't smart enough to see that if there are 4 lights on, then the high beams aren't on. Usually it ends up with them leaving their brights on and me pulling the lever back and giving them brights and fogs. I'm just gonna start flipping on all my red/blue strobes as they pass by.
 
#10 ·
flash-to-pass and brights kill the grille fogs....that's my next task, see if I can figure a way around that little problem that isn't too invasive. Anybody got any ideas?
 
#11 ·
I remember on my old ranger that the flash to pass option was deleted by removing a tab or bending it on the high beam relay, I think it was the high beam really at least, I've been looking for the schematics for it for a while but I haven't found them yet, I may just have to trace them out when I get back to VA from this school....
 
#12 ·
Sadly, all this stuff is controlled through the smart junction box and messing with the inputs/outputs to one of those crosses my boundary of"invasive".
 
#14 ·
Put in sum lower hid fogs.
 

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#16 · (Edited)
You'll need everything you can get in those little CS projector lights, fire 'em up on 55. The huge reflector in the grille fogs lets you get away with less.

Beware of heat buildup in the small housing though. The factory bulbs are not running as hot as 55 watt HIDs.

Those little projectors suck wind really badly though. I wouldn't ditch the grille fogs for those, if night lighting mattered to me, seriously, which it does.
 
#17 ·
You'll need everything you can get in those little CS projector lights, fire 'em up on 55. The huge reflector in the grille fogs lets you get away with less.

Beware of heat buildup in the small housing though. The factory bulbs are not running as hot as 55 watt HIDs.

Those little projectors suck wind really badly though. I wouldn't ditch the grille fogs for those, if night lighting mattered to me, seriously, which it does.
So you don't have a problem with heat the the cs lights with 55s?
 
#19 ·
I think you might have issues with 55w and heat concentration in those small fogs

Lighting up the road 7-8 feet in front of the bumper is next door to useless, even in fog. It'll just ruin your night vision so you'll see even less.

The CS fogs are pretty useless no matter what you do. They're a glorified marker light.
 
#21 ·
I think you might have issues with 55w and heat concentration in those small fogs

Lighting up the road 7-8 feet in front of the bumper is next door to useless, even in fog. It'll just ruin your night vision so you'll see even less.

The CS fogs are pretty useless no matter what you do. They're a glorified marker light.
I don't think it will necessarily ruin your night vision, especially in fog. I don't think they were designed to project out like headlights or the grille mounted lights as those are much higher than the lower valance lights. There is a definite line were the lower fogs end, where the upper ones seemed to blend in with the HIDs and project down the road. Depends on what your going for really.
 
#20 ·
I use 35w hid fogs in my 12 gt because my raxiom smoked headlights offer no visibility no matter what bulb is in there, and they keep burning out. So i just took out my headlight bulbs and run my hid fogs at night. Works decent in so cal where half of all cars have HIDs and people are to ignorant to care what you're running.
 
#22 ·
Even in fog you need more distance than 7-8 feet to see anything. What I stated is well supported in any lighting literature. You need most of the throw a little further out and bright light close to the car blows your night vision for sure. The biggest problem with running HIDs in halogen lamps is this effect can occur. Hence HIDs in halogen needs to have as much reach as possible, to counteract this effect.

try this: run your bright-at-the-bumper fogs, then switch off your lights suddenly (make sure you aren't moving). See what you can see and how quickly vision return v. what returns of your vision if you do the same with headlights on, even though they are much greater in terms of light output.
 
#23 ·
Everybody's gonna light me up (har) for putting HIDs in halogen housings but, it's a switchable light so, I'm not burning anybody's retinas in normal duty.

35 watt 6k kit, standard stuff. really good results. Cut line and pattern are the same as the halogens but, alot more light down the road a good ways.

The photo doesn't really do it justice. This is factory HID headlight low with HID fogs together.
Where did you buy the kit? Does it fit 2011 GT?

---------- Post added at 11:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 PM ----------

Where did you buy the kit? Does it fit 2011 GT?
Forget it. Just read post.
 
#29 ·
Pretty much, 55 watts is 55 watts, heat-wise, no matter how you make it. How things run hotter is people put 55 watt lights in little housing that had 45 watts or less in them originally, or had a bulb style much shorter than the HID lamp (Say, H3), bringing it too close to the lens.

35 watt HIDs put out about double the light output of a 65 watt high performance halogen lamp (Silverstar, Nighthawk, etc.), ~3 times a 45 watt standard lamp. All with lower electrical strain on the harness, naturally.

Watts are useless for measuring light output, they are somewhat good for predicting the electrical strain on the harness and the heat load on surrounding plastic.

This is why the entire world other than NA, measures light output in a light output measure, lumens or candelas, for example.
 
#30 ·
Ok, did some research to help figure this out! Halogen bulbs burn hotter temperature wise around the filament, whereas HID bulbs burn hotter at the core of the bulb. This heat in an HID is converted to light through the gas.

Mathematically it's simple to see:

Power= Voltage^2 / Resistance

So in a 35w Halogen it would look like this:

35w= 12^2 / R

Or

R= 144/ 35

R= 4.11 Ohms

In an HID bulb of same power and assuming a ballast voltage of 24,000V (typical voltage) it would be this.

35W = 24000^2 /R

Or

R= 576,000,000/ 35w

R= 16,457,142.85 ohms

Now if I understand what I read correctly, resistance (Ohms) can be equated to energy lost, in this case by light output, due to the fact that Halogen Bulbs are much less efficient, most of this energy is lost as heat, whereas in an HID bulb it is lost as light output or lumens. Creating light is in fact energy lost....

Anyone please feel free to chime in, because like I said, I'm not sure if this is correct or not, not very good in electrical!
 
#31 ·
And just to add in the average lumens...

Standard bulbs average 700-900 depending on make
35w hid's average 2200-2500 depending on make
55w hid's average 4000-4200 depending on make

At least the last time i really looked into it.
 
#33 ·
HIDs are getting better, too, just as halogens have.

Most quality 35 watt kits are claiming around 3200-3400 lumens now.

55 watt kits are closing in on 5000, which is insanely bright.

A high output halogen, GE Nighthawk 9005s (65 watt), for example, is at 1650, according to GE.
 
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