Upgrading car hedlight bulbs to Cree ones

Having been round those very roads with nowt more than high/ low beams for company - clean lenses and good bulbs are all that's required. You don't want to be stuck trying to change a unit in the middle of the night.
 
just bought a car with an aftermarket HID kit on the headlight. they were brighter than the normal full beam, ace

took them out though as its so easy for the police to spot them and it really isnt worth the tug
 
The first two links claim around 400 to 500 lumens, per bulb presumably. I thought standard halogen main beams were around 1500 lumens per bulb?
 
JamesM":3711sm9r said:
The first two links claim around 400 to 500 lumens, per bulb presumably. I thought standard halogen main beams were around 1500 lumens per bulb?

That was my thought too. 1650 lumens is the limit I think. So a 500 lumen bulb might produce the crisp white light it claims but just not enough if it to compete with the standard halogen.

Optics is critical as has been mentioned, I have a 1000 lumen Cree torch, very bright but the beam is all wrong and although much brighter than my hope HID I would choose the later for a night ride because the optics have been matched to the bulb and there is a good beam spread.

The reflector in your van has been designed for the standard bulb, if you change the bulb type then really there is no telling how the beam pattern will fall on the road.
 
So

those led's for your van will give you worse light not better

We also have seen many have been subject to badly set up hids

and we have seen those who have set them up properly acknlowledge they give a much brighter light with much less electrical need for not much money and if you go for those around the 6000k mark then they are in appearance no different than the bmw and audi top projector lights which people are very much used to seeing
 
BMW lights are generally set up well and don't dazzle. Audi are probably the worst offenders, followed by Land/Range Rover.
These lights are way too bright. THey are my Super Hero eyesight's Achilles heel. I get really bad headaches whenever I drive after dark.
Bring back the old French lights, 45W max and yellow lenses. If you can't see where you're going, slow down!
Dig up the cats eyes too, for that realistic froggy experience.
 
Often, on cars which don't come with HIDs as standard, the problem is just crap wiring. The wire is just too thin and/or long once it's been round a loom. The right way to remedy it is to wire in relays by the headlamps, activate them with the original headlamp feed and run a full-fat +12v straight to/from the battery. My Citroen had this problem and the difference with relays is like, well, night and day.

Sadly Barry and his Corsa mates prefer to just buy some Chinese HIDs off ebay, thereby annoying the hell out of every other driver on the road.
 
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