HIDs in Solara?

[maoz]

Has anyone actually installed real HIDs in their Solara? What setup did you use? Have you been pleased with the results? Thanks a lot for the information.

01 Solara

[aralos]

Welcome maoz! Some Solara owners have installed HIDs ( I don't know if any have in this forum ). I believe most of them used Philips brand, which in my opinion isn't the best one out there. I have posted a diagram here in this post. This will give you an idea of how the HIDs work. There is a site called Gourmet Garage, a company based in California that sells Aromat ( Japanese imported brand ) HIDs. I was about to get those, but then decided not to due to a higher price. Philips brand goes for around $550, whereas the Aromat brand goes for $950. There is also SUV Lights. This site will help you get some ideas about what you want.

And by the way, the performance, I heard wasn't that great. This was also a reason why I didn't install HIDs. Others are trying to sell their Philips HIDs and start on a project - Modifying the housing to install projectors like BMWs, Audis, etc. Solara headlight housing weren't designed for HIDs whereas BMWs and Audis have projectors to focus the light in a specific area in front of the car. The HIDs in Solaras scatter and can be prone useless for visual comfort ( I have no idea what I just wrote). You get the idea. Good Luck!


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: aralos on 2001-07-16 17:22 ]</font>

[SuperHell]

I heard that the light beam wont be aimed correctly... thus blind everyone in front of you..

[maoz]

Thanks to both of you. You have given me a lot to think about. I thought that adding HID would be a relatively easy thing to do. Apparently it would not look as good as I hoped in my Solara. No need to waste money on something that won't even look/perform well. Thanks again!

[bluesolara]

HIDs are great

not as good as projectors, but definitely MUCH MORE LIGHT than halogen or blue bulbs

God bless

Kevin

[Whatever]

There are many ppl with the real HIDs in the forum.
I love my HID it looks acturelly better then what i've expected, and yes it's much more brighter then halogen. About the aimming, I don't know about others, but mine aims low and it doesn't blind anybody.
To me HID does look better and does perform well.

[Solaradude]

who cares if u blind other drivers? it's all about looking good.

get HIDs u wont regreat it

[Grazi07]

did you guys get the dual filament ones? there's some being sold on the forum w/o the dual for a lil over $300.... worth it to not have high beams?

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

thgis is IMO so don't flame me folks:

OPTION 1: I think its a waste of money if you buy plug & play HID units. Our Halogen reflectors produce intense glare. Yes, the glare can be reduced by casper capsules (or likewise)..but never eliminated. A lot of good companies have stopped using hi/lo units (intended for h4's) cus the hi/lo mechanism fails in a few years. A few people then focus the lights really low to prevent glare...but this defeats the purpose...as you are loosing the lighing distance by aiming tooo low!!!

OPTION 2: Is same as above..only difference is that you have to blacken the solara reflector, and glue/paste some IS300/Es300 reflectors (ie. reflectors meant for HID's). Yes this does reduce glare even more..

OPTION 3: retrofit projectors. I think this is the one! The prob' is that i'm not savvy with my hands to undertake this..but one day i will.

OPtion 1& 2 can cause you to be stopped by cops..and IMO it was these options that lead for hid's to become illegal as people were blinding oncoming motorist.

[bluesolara]

I agree with you, jhbhatia,

but...the glare is not eliminated by some OEM HID reflectors, (i.e. old ACURA TL), so glare is not so much a concern for the cops, as long as your light isn't above 6000k, which means you have intense color, the cops most likely won't mess with you...if they ask, just say, "this came with the car." Heck, even Ford focus has HID now, what do THEY know?

so...plug and play is not the best option for true HID performance, but it IS true xenon HID, so it WILL IMPROVE NIGHT VISION and improve COOLNESS, fo sho.

retrofitting projectors is the way to go, but I don't wanna mess with my headlights, so I'm just gonna wait until I buy a new car with OEM projectors.

alrite, hope you guys all the "see the LIGHT!"

xenon kicks ass, projector or not

God bless

Kevin

[bluesolara]

oh yeah..one more thing

this might sound pretty selfish...but,

the glare is really very useful sometimes, you light up those tall signs on freeways from far far away. or you can light up an entire wall.

bad for oncoming drivers, but good for your visibility

God bless

KEVIN

[WTF??]

^even UFOs can spot you!!

[Mole]

^even UFOs can spot you!!

what are you talking about?

its YOU who can spot the ufo's

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I agree with you, jhbhatia,

but...the glare is not eliminated by some OEM HID reflectors,

I didn't say eliminated...i said it reduced glare even more so. My point was that those who have the HID kits, a lot of times aim their beams really low (to prevent glare)..that they reduce their 'lighting visibility' (if thats a word).