Brighter Aftermarket Headlamps

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

There we have it. Spoken by an anecdotal daily driver who has been running this mod since 2012

I only used the term "anecdotal" because I have neither tested the CorvertteHID.com system in my own car nor have I driven another car equipped with the system.

Because, in the last year or so, I have been doing product reviews of various lighting products, I have several tests I run on headlights I am testing.

Garage door pattern test.
High speed test which–always done on the same highway, at the same time on a moonless night.
Lo beam performance test
Hi beam light pattern imaging test.
Subjective impression test.
Installation test.

Because I've never run any tests on the CorvetteHID.com system, I rely on anecdotal accounts from others and, as you've read here, anecdotal accounts are that the CorvetteHID system works reasonably well but then, with respect to HID conversions in general, there is a ton of mis- and disinformation on the web about them. Also, many Internet forum discussions of lighting are anecdotal and subjective.

That said, my gut feeling is that HID conversions which actually work well are going to slowly become obsolete because of the cost, the complexity and the need–in some cases–for modifications to the vehicle. LED technology, such as the GE Nighthawk LED conversion, makes a lot more sense in light of all that...ah...no pun intended.

This is not to say that a properly-designed HID conversion won't work in a C4 for high-speed night driving, but it is to say I believe there are more simple and less expensive alternatives that work as well or better.

[GOLDCYLON]

Having also used the other alternatives from silver stars and H4 Hella housings there is no better system than the HIDS that I am currently running. So I have to disagree completely with your argument other than LEDs are something to look into in the future. Go ahead and take the 800 dollar plunge and report back. The rest of the alternatives as stated previously and also earlier in this thread only offer subpar improvements in my used daily experience as a daily driver. As technology improves it will all become cheaper using moore's law as a baseline argument from technology improvement. The rest of the argument is hollow at best... Headlight aiming etc is assumed to have been done. Some of us have already tried the rest.. And moved on. GC

[secondchance]

This is a very interesting subject matter for me because I have been toying with an eye towards to headlight upgrade. Once I started to drive cars with HID headlights, poor quality of illumination of my 94Z was almost annoying.
Until about 5-6 months ago my intention was to go with HID. Upon research it became apparent, regardless of HID bulb itself, reflector/lens assembly would make or break actual quality of illumination, namely controlled cut-off and uniformaty of illumination. I concluded that CorvetteHID.com system may be the best out there.

Having been involved with marketing Korean made (LG) high power LEDs to top of the line US Operating Room Light manufacturer along with marketing other LED lighting products a few years back, I learned a few things about LED lights. By 2008-2009, auto industry and light manufactureres already concluded that high power LED would become the choice of automotive headlights. This is being driven, especially, by electric powered vehicles where minimal power use of LED relative to lumen output becomes indespensible feature.

Then I accidentally stumbled onto GE Nighthawk LED website. LED, like any other light source, must be designed with well engineered reflector/lense combo in order to provide high quality illumination. When major brand such as GE brings a product to the market fear of poor design and quality of product can be put to rest. Also, recently I started to notice Philips manufactured version also. Both are currently priced at around $250 each. Third brand currently available is Truck-lite at about $180 each.

This alternative to HID is very attractive in that it's a cost competitive alternative to HID, with GE and Philps engineering behind them I expect high quality illumination, these are simple plug-in units with no modification to wiring, low wattage consumption (less then halogen for sure) and the life expectancy of LEDs are 15,000 hours plus.

On the down side (and I think Hib briefly mentioned this), in order to maximize lumens/watt, I suspect these LEDs have white phospher coating resulting in 6,000 to 7,000K color temp (bluish white). At such high color temp, light tends to reflect back when driving in rainy or snowy condition. However, I'm sure most of Z crowd consciously avoid driving in these type of condition and may be a non-issue.

I look forward to your report Hib.

[Hib Halverson]

To read the Corvette Action Center review of GE Nighthawk LED headlights, please, click here.

I just checked pricing and for the just-released Second Generation Nighthawk LED 5x7-in headlight, Amazon get $290-ea.

[Paul Workman]

Very interesting. Thanks, Hib and everyone for the comments. I'm "in the hunt" as they say. No doubt about it...the STOCK lights have got to go!

And, not to get off topic, any update info on complimentary FOG LIGHTS would be appropriate too, I recon.

Hib, the HOTB is always looking for articles that will keep our beloved cars current as possible, if you would be interested....

Just a thought.

Paul.

[GOLDCYLON]

No mention of the re lensing option that you can get with the HID alternative I mentioned. The blue light reference is a matter of element temperature so mine are bright white and not blue. zero mention of the pairing of the HIDs with the correct European projectors housings. Not a balanced article IMHO only weighted devoid of the other benefits and correct methods of use as mentioned above. You like the $600 samples you were provided. Good data Hib but the research is not complete until you actually sample the correct HID setup beyond simply speculate. Kind of anecdotal right?

[Billy Mild]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

No mention of the re lensing option that you can get with the HID alternative I mentioned. The blue light reference is a matter of element temperature so mine are bright white and not blue. zero mention of the pairing of the HIDs with the correct European projectors housings. Not a balanced article IMHO only weighted devoid of the other benefits and correct methods of use as mentioned above. You like the $600 samples you were provided. Good data Hib but the research is not complete until you actually sample the correct HID setup beyond simply speculate. Kind of anecdotal right?

I thought using E Code H4 housings would not provide the correct reflector for HID's. This would cause a lot of glare for oncoming drivers.

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by Billy Mild

I thought using E Code H4 housings would not provide the correct reflector for HID's. This would cause a lot of glare for oncoming drivers.

Correct, Goldcylon is talking about the Projector lenses not reflectors

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by -=Jeff=-

Correct, Goldcylon is talking about the Projector lenses not reflectors

Correct. They will not work correctly in any H4 housings . They have to be focused in the correct euro projector housings like most high end luxury and sportcars to aid in your daily driving

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

No mention of the re lensing option that you can get with the HID alternative I mentioned. (snip)

There is no mention of the re-lensing option because the product review was not about CorvetteHID.com's product, however, I've made mention of that option in an earlier post to this thread.

Originally Posted by Hib Halverson

I've, also, researched CorvetteHID.com's product to the limit that its web site allows and I agree that a "relensing" service is an attractive feature, especially, if you drive in places were vehicles ahead kick-up little rocks and stones or you drive where your front end gets sandblasted at night.

Tell you what "Goldcylon"–you seem quite unhappy with this thread and devoted to HIDs. In the interest of fairness, let me suggest this comparison: bring your car to where I do my headlight testing and I'll do a second product evaluation story which compares the two systems. I do my testing west of the Los Angeles area on SR1 between the town of Lompoc, CA and where SR1 meets US101 north of Gaviota. To properly compare the two, we'd have to test your car in the same place.

Let me know what you think.