Im interested in a 3000k for my fogs, now i just want to know whats the differents between a cheap HID kit or a named brand like MTEC or a well known one here like mobile hid, whats the diff... what is it like color? do some light up more than others? i mean if the cheap dont last that long, for the price you just can go buy another right? someone talk me into expending a extra $150.00?

 

there's not much difference when your buying it for fog lights in my opinion especially when your going for 3000k which has a yellow to it... which should be just fine for cutting through rain/fog and give you enough output at night. Cheap HID's won't be able to do that for you. They will "LOOK" bright when your staring at them from the outside but when your in the driver seat... it sucks. When you buy HID's the higher the output the color changes. 2500k is yellow 3000k is yellowish white 4500k is factory, 6000k is a blueish white 8000k is a blue and now they have green and purple(pink) Sticking with a "BRANDED" HID kit supposedly will give you the most bang for your buck when your talking about being able to see at night. Imagine buying cheap hid's for your headlights which will "Look" cool but still not being able to see anything at night or especially during rain or fog. That is what most people do just to get that "LOOK".

but once again... fogs shouldn't matter much.. But for instance... i have a 07 IS and my brother has a 07 GS.

I bought a xenon depot hid kit for his fogs and a xtreme hid kit for my fogs. Xtreme hid kits i think are xenon depots "cheaper" kits... good quality kits... just not as good as their other ones. 6000k for his and 3000k for mine. Both are from xenondepot.com

His fogs are brighter than all my lights together.

 

well not everyone has money like u Bat. u a baller lol. im gonna pick up a 6k hid kit from ebay and ill tell u if the output sucks.

 

Differences:
Cheap ones - sometimes they are not sealed properly to ensure a waterproof tight ballast. Some are not silicon filled, thus another reason why they can sell for so cheap.
Expensive kits - it is internally sealed/filled with silicon to ensure if water gets into the ballast, nothing will sort out or rust.

bulbs:
they are basically all the same with the exception of the color temp. keep in mind that some bulbs "burnout" before others... this could result from the constant usage of the bulb. Lets say you drive a lot at night or have ur HIDs on all the same... expect it to burn out sooner then you think.

I've sold HID kits for a long time. The kits I am currently selling now are around $120-150 and they are cheaper then the other ones on this site. Once in a blue moon I will get a customer who says a ballast went out. Thats no biggie, just replace it for them, but I have yet to hear about a bulb burning out on them.

just my opinion. cheap ones are fine for me.

 

Just keep in mind that the 6000K bulb kits will put out more white lighting. 4300-4500K is light yellowish/white. The higher in K you go, the less productive lighting will be visible. I prefer 6000K-8000K for the main headlights and 3000K for the fogs. A combo of 8000K headlight and 3000K puts down very good lighting. It counters each other.

 

i've been in a car with factory HID's and they do look GREAT. perfect cut off and line patterns and the output is wide and very clear.

on my HID's the light out put looks just as bright, but i believe it's the head light that is making the big difference.
im not sure what kind of HID kit mine is i know it's 6000k.
i would probably get the "Cheap" HID kits again

pics are poor quality but you can have an idea:







i needed to widen the beam out on both sides, they were too centered. now they look a little wider and better

 

RI-lex - just wanted to let you know that the fog light housings on the 2nd gen GS are actually aimable... once you remove them from the bumper, you will see a dial on the back that you can turn to either point the beam pattern higher or lower.

 

oh Damn gonna try it, thanks cliff

 

HID kits differ only in build quality i think, the actual light output is more dependant on the housing of the headlight or foglight, as long as bulb orientation and design is decent i doubt it makes much of a difference.

 

There definitely is a difference in terms the quality of the component used. Another thing to consider is how reliable the vendor is should something ever go wrong with the product that you ordered.

Steve

 

i think we should have a Ginnie pig.. someone buy a cheap set that already has a GOOD set of HID n then they can run the test =p

but then again thats "wasted" money hah..

anyways IMO venders are gunna say their product is the shizznit cuz they want to make sales. Who would say their product is trash anyways?

lets COMPARE on contrast with Actual items =]

so whos buying?


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not it =]

 

I have an off brand no name cheap HID kit in my car for my lowbeams right now. It's been 14 months and I have not had one problem. I also have a set of OEM Denso ballasts for backup in case my cheap kit fails. Hasn't happened yet. I'm not saying that spending more money means more reliability, but your warranty only lasts for 1 year. If anything should break after that, it would be like purchasing a replacement part at full price.

Go for the cheap kits. You can buy two or three for the price of one of the expensive kits. You'll also have the option of changing out your bulbs for different K's (colors) when you want if you buy multiple kits. And have back up ballasts to boot.

 

vwynn,

Keep in mind that if it wasn't for the supporting vendors paying advertising feeds for this website Club Leuxs would not be here to enjoy.

 

Really, Steve? I know that as a sponsor of these forums, you would like acknowledgment, but really? No, you want people to buy your products because they're reliable and good, not because you spend money to sponsor a forum. Dumping money into a forum is no reason for anyone to feel like they need to buy your products. Heck, I could donate money too and then try to sell stuff I bought cheap from the junkyard... but it's crap products. No one wants that.

That aside, I want to say that people here say that Steve's products are reliable and good. Many people have chosen XenonDepot HIDs and like them. After considering carefully, I chose MTECs instead. If these fail me, I may choose XenonDepots the next time.

To the OP, stop being so cautious with your money. If you want the cheap route, get superwhite halogens. Otherwise, be prepared to spend. You don't want to get some cheap no-name HIDs. These are high voltage products and with electricity, reliability is everything. If you get some cheap product, you risk blowing out your electrical lines, smoking your headlamp lens, or worse. Are you really going to risk a few thousand dollars for $150 because you didn't want to buy the more expensive kit? That's silly. A headlamp housing replacement alone is $300+. Let's not talk about how much it would cost to fix the headlight wiring. A better HID kit is worth it. But hey, your money, your car. The choice is yours. I own a $30K car and I want to take care of it.

 

I've got $100 kit from ebay for my benz. I needed to add capacitor on each side to avoid flickering/error msgs. But they've been great so far. And I've got more expensive Hella brand from 6 yrs ago for my Acura and ballasts still work nicely, although the bulbs were cheap.