Please get the relay, and use it. It will eliminate the chance of any electrical issues down the road. It is cheap insurance. It puts less strain on your OEM wiring because it draws power directly from the battery. I have almost 5 years of experience with these P&P HID kits.

 

^^ So do others with 5 years an NO relay...

The only time and common misconception regarding relays, is those stupid 'hid headlight super bright bulbs'.

Yes, those generic 'blue' bulbs from eBay. THe only reason they are brighter is because they are overpowering your OEM wires since they are 100W, whereas OEM would be 55W.

In this instance, that's asking for trouble! Hence a relay is key with something like that, as the wiring would burn before the bulb would.

Second, the HID kit, as i mentioned already doesn't require a relay since the OEM wiring is not feeding more power thru the wires than the car can take.

It gets the same 'jolt' of power as do your OEM bulbs. With that said, do you too have a relay for your OEM bulbs? I think not.

Therefore relay harness = useless. Also, it helps that it looks like **** in the engine bay, as it clutters up the install with useless and random wires all over the place.

 

So relay or know? I have 2 for and 2 against. Its not an issue of money, is an issue of me not wanting to clutter up my engine bay.

 

I say know!....I mean no to a relay! Listen to 01LEXPL he knows what he's talking about.

 

I would never question 01lexpl's advice, but when other people go against him, its a natural reaction, sorry. Also i foudn out since i have an 01, and HID's were an option in 2001, the stock wiring was made to be able to handle hids? is that correct

 

I have a 98 and I have HIDs in my fogs and I am NOT using a relay. With that said, your 01 wires can handle it because your ballast is doing all the work.

 

Not to confuse you anymore, but no matter what kit I used, DDM Apexcone, DDM Slim, or MobileHID kits, I always had to run a relay. Without it, my HID system would never fire up. Like I stated earlier, if yours doesn't fire up when you plug it into your OEM wires, you will NEED to buy one. The extra wiring will provide the extra boost to start up your HIDs. After that, then the ballasts can run fine.

FYI for those who weren't aware. Our cars are regulated like crap. I measure a range of 10.6-15.6v for any exterior lighting element at any given time. Its the same deal in my RX and Camry. Not all cars will provide the necessary power to power up an HID kit. Of course, that also depends on what power setting the ballast will fire up on

 

There isn't a decisive answer. Buy both. First use the pnp and if they significantly flicker or one doesn't fire up switch to the relay.

 

Well you guys can believe who you want but I still disagree with 01LEXPL about the relays and harnesses. Again this is just my opinion and im certainly not a electrical engineer so who knows maybe im wrong I dunno...
In my experience with installing HID's in halogen cars I found some vehicles can power up HID systems normally without problems but overtime I think it can really put a beating on your electrical system. The inrush load can be up to max 13 amps per ballast where as a normal halogen bulb is around 7amps. Most standard halogen headlight circuits are 7 amps inrush and 4.5 amps continuous load. So I think overtime connectors, headlight switches, wiring and fuse holders will slowly bite the dust. It may happen quickly or it may take years. My point is that if you must install a cheap kit in a halogen based car then do it right and make yourself a nice harness. If done properly a harness can be almost completely hidden.

So to sum it up saying "a ballast does all the work" is true, but I wouldnt bet my cars electrical system on it. However, if the 00/01 ES's headlight wiring is identical between HID equipped and non HID equipped cars I would go ahead and presume its safe to install the kit without your own custom harness.



James

 

Ugh ya im confused now. For every one person who says no to relay, theres one who says to get one. From usuing the search function, the results are also the same, one with a relay, one without

 

if anything, just go ahead and get the relays for peace of mind.

 

You have any pics of your hids? i was about to buy the DDm kits! they have a lifetime warranty too!

 

Do what you want!

 

I bought a P&P HID's 5 yeas ago, and 3 years later both of my sockets were burned out and melted. I also had problems with only one side lighting up on occasion also. I had to replace both of my melted sockets. I've had a relay for almost 2 years now and haven't had a single issue. It is up to you whether you want to use a relay or not. Most of the people on HIDPlanet recommend using a relay just to be safe. There is a guy over there with a WRX who used a P&P kit and the underside of his whole dash melted because he didn't use a relay.

Honestly, it is up to you whether you want to use one or not. I am just telling you what my experience has been. I guess if you don't want some extra wire running around under the hood, then don't use it. I also thought the same thing, until I had melted parts under the hood. My hood only gets opened to change the oil. I care more about functionality than a few extra wires running around in there.

My 2 cents, like I said, it is up to you...

 

^^^ thank you very much those examples help get my point across.. Like I said if done correctly a harness can be made and installed to be almost 100% hidden. Atleast ones I have made in the past I was able to. You can buy complete wire harnesses with relays and all pre-made for reasonable prices if you dont have the means to make one custom to your car yourself.

James