HID's or PIAA 520's

[bowhunter53]

I would like to upgrade the lighting on my 03 SE, again. I already replaced hi and low beam bulbs with H.I.R. and I have a set of 80W SPP yellow fog bulbs intstalled (with hi-temp harness). I cant help but think it could be better.

I am debating on going with a xenon depot extreme digital HID kit, or adding a set of PIAA 520 fog lights. They both cost about the same so I was hoping for some feedback from anyone who has one, or both of these on their rig. Since I do not have projector headlights I am not 100% sold on the performance of the HID kit.

Yes, I have searched, and read a ton of posts on these subjects, but I wanted to get some fresh opinions.

 

[BlairB]

I think you are comparing two very different things.

I have seen those HID's and they throw out some great light, but the PIAA's are also a good choice. How would you mount them though?

 

[bowhunter53]

Either a westin bar or I would do the "floating" bumer mount that many here have done. The weather is bad from November to March and I am looking for something that will help with poor visiblity conditions, rain, snow, fog etc.......

 

[Uneek]

I think you are comparing two very different things.

I have seen those HID's and they throw out some great light, but the PIAA's are also a good choice. How would you mount them though?

:iagree:

The difference will lie in the design of the reflector. If the PIAA are driving lights, it will produce a long pencil beam and it will probably light up a very far distance, whereas if they're fogs the beam will be very wide.

As far as HIDs go, inside a headlight or fog, which ever it maybe, the beam pattern with be the same but it'll just be a lot brighter because of the lumens HIDs can pump out.

I have 4300k HID in my lowbeams and for night driving they're great. In wet weather, where the water on the ground washes out light, there's some lighting on the ground that isn't there with halogens. The only problem with them being so much brighter than halogen is when I pull up behind another car, the light reflecting back can make your eyes tired. Maybe I'm getting old.

To give you an idea, here's a thread that shows the difference between HID and halogens. Both are from the stock projectors, but you can see that it's just a lot brighter.

 

[bowhunter53]

I realize these are two different things. I cant compare the output of your HID's becuase you have projector headlights. Since I have already upgraded my headlight bulbs, and foglight bulbs, my question was which one of the two, HID kit, or PIAA fog lights would make the most difference in foul weather situations.

 

[Uneek]

I understand you have reflector headlights and HIDs in a 2006+ projector headlight are not apples to apples comparison. I was trying to point out that beam pattern would not be different with HIDs in the headlight, other than it being a lot brighter.

For foul weather, such as dense fog, true foglights would be better than HIDs as the beam pattern is designed to be wider and the lamp is probably mounted (and aimed) lower than headlights. IMO, my factory fogs are not the greatest fogs, it's better than nothing (as it closes the small dark gap where the light actually hits the ground and bumper), but can't touch real foglights.

 

[banker1]

If you don't intend on retrofitting HID's or at least upgrading to a set of projector headlights then go with the PIAA's.

As was said earlier, HID's are brighter lights however, in a halogen housing you'll actually LOSE usable light because of where the HID bulb sits in the housing compared to a normal halogen bulb. More of the usable light from HID's will be scattered around without projectors to focus the beam. Not to mention, you'll blind oncoming traffic and anyone you come up behind. You may also become a bigger target for police.

 

[hayk]

Actually, it does not matter if you have projector or conventional headlight. In both cases HID is much brighter and will have much better visibility at dark. I do have HID on conventional lenses and they are much brighter and better than any PIAA. Big difference at night. However, fogs are better left with conventional bulb, because HID will reflect and will not be as efficient as conventional bulb unless you find low Kelvin yellow HID bulbs.

 

[banker1]

Actually, it does not matter if you have projector or conventional headlight. In both cases HID is much brighter and will have much better visibility at dark. I do have HID on conventional lenses and they are much brighter and better than any PIAA. Big difference at night. However, fogs are better left with conventional bulb, because HID will reflect and will not be as efficient as conventional bulb unless you find low Kelvin yellow HID bulbs.

I did not say HID's are less bright in conventional headlights. I said you LOSE usable light when installing HID's in conventional headlight housings. Similar to your point about HID's in fog lights, HID's in conventional headlight housings are less efficient because the light is scattered about rather than focused (as it would be in projector headlights).

HID's in conventional headlight housings are also blinding to oncoming traffic. I highbeam anyone with HID's installed incorrectly hoping they understand what it's like for me...

A few good HID sites are below if you want to learn more:

www.hidplanet.com --> look for the link to the forum
www.lightwerkz.net --> look for the link to community