Now I fit in with Priuses...

[KellyJ]

... since we both have HID's but no projectors :guitar3:

:roadkill:

Anywho, got my 4300k VVME kit in the mail yesterday and installed them. Got them in 2 days and it took about an hour to install. Yes yes, it's not a retro blah blah, still on the fence as to whether or not I'm gonna do the retro. Interestingly enough I didn't get flashed - not the tig ole bittie kinda flashing - at all while driving with them on (on a busy Friday night I might add - must have gotten flashed 5 or 6 times this week with my Silverstars)

Cutoff is pretty good, goes relatively far up on the right side, but it's just more noticeable now with more intense lights.. night pictures later today. havent been to sleep since thursday night at 7am.:beer:

mmm glare..

 

[004Gunner]

4300 K is a nice color temp. You don't have high beams now right? It looks good so far, but I definitely want to see pics of the cut off.

Where did your fogs go?

 

[KellyJ]

Thanks, yeah I wanted the most OEM looking lights. Definitely glad I went with 4300k. I actually went with the high/low bixenon kit. The brights are pretty good, not amazing, but a definite improvement over the halogens. And are you talking about the fogs in the stock location? I've been through 2 sets of OEM fogs and one set of Hella DE's and just haven't found it worth it to keep replacing them. They didn't aid much in forward visibility when they worked.

 

[Rock Slide]

I definitely want to see pics of the cut off.

There will not be one if he just replaced his stock bulbs for HID bulbs in the stock headlight housing. You need a cutoff shield to create a cutoff line.

 

[kaiser]

Looks good

 

[steezemcqueen]

when i read the title of the thread, i thought i would see a picture of you speeding out of control but refusing to step on the brakes or put it on neutral....not sure what a picture of that would look like though.

 

[KellyJ]

There will not be one if he just replaced his stock bulbs for HID bulbs in the stock headlight housing. You need a cutoff shield to create a cutoff line.

The VVME bulbs came with a metal shield installed over part of the bulb, which I believe is some type of cutoff shield (the front and bottom of the bulb are not exposed, only the "top" portion of the lightbulb in the housing is exposed). Although the light pattern now is almost identical to the stock pattern that I was getting with halogen bulbs.


Nice comment green monster haha...

 

[LINY4Runner]

very nice...crisp white light...nice pick on the 4300k

 

[KellyJ]

Thanks Kaiser and Bryan, glad I went with 4300k. Lookin' straight OEM up in hurr... night pics as promised

And an up close shot of the shroud over the bulb:

 

[Rock Slide]

The VVME bulbs came with a metal shield installed over part of the bulb, which I believe is some type of cutoff shield (the front and bottom of the bulb are not exposed, only the "top" portion of the lightbulb in the housing is exposed). Although the light pattern now is almost identical to the stock pattern that I was getting with halogen bulbs.

Exactly.

People consider that piece on PnP HID bulbs a "cutoff shield", but it's not a true cutoff shield. A true cutoff shield keeps the light output from being reflected upwards, thus producing a clear and precise cutoff line out in front of you.

No matter what's added to a HID bulb (as the shield pictured above has been), if the bulb is still installed in a stock headlight housing, the light produced by it can only reflect off the stock headlight housing just as the light does from a stock halogen bulb. Just as you said, the light pattern now is almost identical to the stock pattern you were getting with halogen bulbs...which makes sense. Only a projector can change the way that light is reflected.

I'm not trying to start a debate on retrofits vs PnP kits...that's been done. I just wanted to to explain the difference between projector cutoff shields and PnP cutoff shields.

 

[96743runner]

Looks great man! Those HID bulbs you chose give off a very nice white light. I really love the look of HID's but it's illegal for street use in my state and now it seems like the cops are out more to catch people for basically anything.

 

[werez12]

So are these on all the time then? Meaning drl/high beam?

 

[KellyJ]

I have my DRL's disabled, and yes the HID's are both low and high beam