About to order an '07 IS250, have some questions.
09-02-06, 11:14 AM
#16
here's some reading on hid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight#HID_technology
the main advantage of hid lights is the greater light output over halogen bulbs. no matter what type of colored halogen bulb you get... it will never reach the light output of real hid bulbs. and factory hid does not include halos... unless you're buying a bimmer.
the main advantage of hid lights is the greater light output over halogen bulbs. no matter what type of colored halogen bulb you get... it will never reach the light output of real hid bulbs. and factory hid does not include halos... unless you're buying a bimmer.
09-02-06, 12:22 PM
#17
Driver
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: OH
Posts: 165
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also, if you purchase a "blue bulb" that has the same draw on the electrical system of a white halogen, they won't be as bright, so you will have to use a brighter bulb which will cause an increased draw on the system and can shorten life.
I've used them on a previous car, and have real HIDs on my current ride (S2000) and I can tell you there is a major difference. The light output on the HIDs are intense, piercing through the night and through poor visibilty conditions, allowing me to see reflective signs, law enforcement, and deer much further up and farther off of the road than I ever could with normal halogen bulbs, even with the high beams on.
To me, you cannot achieve that effect with anything other than HID. Now if I were buying a Toyota Yaris, and HIDs were an 800 dollar option I'd consider not getting it, because that's a huge percentage of the car's purchase price, but 800 on a 30k car is much less. No offense, but if you can't afford that option, maybe you shouldn't look at a Lexus.
That may not be your case, though. You just want to justify the cost if you really need it. I would say yes, get the HID option because of the safety issue. I believe that this lighting should be on all cars. You can not achieve this without buying a true HID kit with ballasts.
I would skip over the factory nav if you're trying to save some coin, and get a portable unit, or for 10/month through Verizon Wireless, use their VZ Navigator which works quite well and is even cheaper yet. Use the money you save from that to buy the HID option, as you'll get more use out of them than the nav, is most cases.
I've used them on a previous car, and have real HIDs on my current ride (S2000) and I can tell you there is a major difference. The light output on the HIDs are intense, piercing through the night and through poor visibilty conditions, allowing me to see reflective signs, law enforcement, and deer much further up and farther off of the road than I ever could with normal halogen bulbs, even with the high beams on.
To me, you cannot achieve that effect with anything other than HID. Now if I were buying a Toyota Yaris, and HIDs were an 800 dollar option I'd consider not getting it, because that's a huge percentage of the car's purchase price, but 800 on a 30k car is much less. No offense, but if you can't afford that option, maybe you shouldn't look at a Lexus.
That may not be your case, though. You just want to justify the cost if you really need it. I would say yes, get the HID option because of the safety issue. I believe that this lighting should be on all cars. You can not achieve this without buying a true HID kit with ballasts.
I would skip over the factory nav if you're trying to save some coin, and get a portable unit, or for 10/month through Verizon Wireless, use their VZ Navigator which works quite well and is even cheaper yet. Use the money you save from that to buy the HID option, as you'll get more use out of them than the nav, is most cases.
09-02-06, 12:30 PM
#18
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: PA
Posts: 368
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also, if you purchase a "blue bulb" that has the same draw on the electrical system of a white halogen, they won't be as bright, so you will have to use a brighter bulb which will cause an increased draw on the system and can shorten life.
I've used them on a previous car, and have real HIDs on my current ride (S2000) and I can tell you there is a major difference. The light output on the HIDs are intense, piercing through the night and through poor visibilty conditions, allowing me to see reflective signs, law enforcement, and deer much further up and farther off of the road than I ever could with normal halogen bulbs, even with the high beams on.
To me, you cannot achieve that effect with anything other than HID. Now if I were buying a Toyota Yaris, and HIDs were an 800 dollar option I'd consider not getting it, because that's a huge percentage of the car's purchase price, but 800 on a 30k car is much less. No offense, but if you can't afford that option, maybe you shouldn't look at a Lexus.
That may not be your case, though. You just want to justify the cost if you really need it. I would say yes, get the HID option because of the safety issue. I believe that this lighting should be on all cars. You can not achieve this without buying a true HID kit with ballasts.
I would skip over the factory nav if you're trying to save some coin, and get a portable unit, or for 10/month through Verizon Wireless, use their VZ Navigator which works quite well and is even cheaper yet. Use the money you save from that to buy the HID option, as you'll get more use out of them than the nav, is most cases.
I've used them on a previous car, and have real HIDs on my current ride (S2000) and I can tell you there is a major difference. The light output on the HIDs are intense, piercing through the night and through poor visibilty conditions, allowing me to see reflective signs, law enforcement, and deer much further up and farther off of the road than I ever could with normal halogen bulbs, even with the high beams on.
To me, you cannot achieve that effect with anything other than HID. Now if I were buying a Toyota Yaris, and HIDs were an 800 dollar option I'd consider not getting it, because that's a huge percentage of the car's purchase price, but 800 on a 30k car is much less. No offense, but if you can't afford that option, maybe you shouldn't look at a Lexus.
That may not be your case, though. You just want to justify the cost if you really need it. I would say yes, get the HID option because of the safety issue. I believe that this lighting should be on all cars. You can not achieve this without buying a true HID kit with ballasts.
I would skip over the factory nav if you're trying to save some coin, and get a portable unit, or for 10/month through Verizon Wireless, use their VZ Navigator which works quite well and is even cheaper yet. Use the money you save from that to buy the HID option, as you'll get more use out of them than the nav, is most cases.
I'm getting at the minimum Premium package with Nav. I want HIDs and must have them... but as you said, I was just trying to justify the cost of an $800 factory option to $30 bulbs.
The IS just doesn't look right without the Nav option. To me, in my opinion, there's no reason to buy a luxury car like this and not get nav. It just looks cheap.
09-02-06, 03:39 PM
#19
Pole Position
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Ga
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just get the HID option and be done with it. You will reget it if you don't. The aftermarket way, if done right, will still cost you $400 or so and you won't have the AFS and leveling feature plus no warranty. Going with the cheap $40 bulb option is pretty half assed. Your buying a lexus, do it the right way!!
09-02-06, 03:49 PM
#20
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: VA
Posts: 1,068
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just get the HID option and be done with it. You will reget it if you don't. The aftermarket way, if done right, will still cost you $400 or so and you won't have the AFS and leveling feature plus no warranty. Going with the cheap $40 bulb option is pretty half assed. Your buying a lexus, do it the right way!!
09-02-06, 07:17 PM
#21
Rookie
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: FL
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The worth depends on where you live. I am in South Florida and every road has lights. In my location, the lights have no value. I can't remember the last time I even used the brights. I use the Nav all the time though.
09-30-06, 08:43 AM
#22
I just uze the xenons on my car because they distinguish the car from others on the road since most have ugly halogens. Only more expensive cars have them (and cheap hondas with those $40 bulbs) and they look a lot better. I usually try not to play the brand card, but if you spent over $30k on your car, you'd you want the world to know it?
09-30-06, 07:22 PM
#23
I'm getting at the minimum Premium package with Nav. I want HIDs and must have them... but as you said, I was just trying to justify the cost of an $800 factory option to $30 bulbs.
The IS just doesn't look right without the Nav option. To me, in my opinion, there's no reason to buy a luxury car like this and not get nav. It just looks cheap.
The IS just doesn't look right without the Nav option. To me, in my opinion, there's no reason to buy a luxury car like this and not get nav. It just looks cheap.
REAL HIDs consist of 2 systems:
A. the headlight housing (projector type lens + adaptive AFS capability) and
B. the bulb system (ballast+ignitor+D2S bulb).
Those $30 bulbs you mentioned have blue tint on them which reduce the amount of light they put in front of your car, it is even less bright than the regular halogen. They may look blue (which is cool) but non functional. Also, those $30 bulbs mostly draws more current than stock headlight wiring (more than 50Watt), which may burn factory wiring because they are not designed to handle that much of a current draw...happened on my previous cars before..Big bucks to replace wirings, relays, switches.
HID kit, e.g from XenonDepot's or XenonKing's uses system B of the two of the REAL HID (see above).
The choice is up to you.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by SugarRush; 09-30-06 at 07:41 PM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
