Are so called"xenon" lights worth buying?

[FocusRun]

I was looking through ebay and saw a bunch of "Xenon headlights" for the Focus. They are much cheaper than the regular halogens that I'm using. I burnt one of my stock lights and it cost about 14 bucks for one bulb. These so called "xenon" are about 17 bucks for a set and are brighter.

Since I share the road with other motorist, I'm concerned that these cheapo Xenon might do more harm than good. Last thing I want to do is have the blind some poor driver. On the other hand, I would not might mind having brighter lights (for a cheaper price).

What do you guys think?

[lalaland]

Depends on the brand. I would only recommend Sylvania Silverstars (approx $70/pair) as a good bulb upgrade. Otherwise, stick with OEM, they last longer than any cheapo xenon bulb.

Other decent brand would be PIAA. Stay away from Eurolite.

[FocusRun]

the cheapo one i'm looking at is the EuroDezign. Is that what you mean with Eurolite?

[drrac2]

Go with REAL xenon. There is a company called HIDS4LESS that makes real xenon kits that can be retrofitted to any vehicle. I put a pair in my 88 Saleen and they are well worth it. I had the superwhite bulbs before, and there is no comparison with the real thing. I would look around and see whats available. I understand that Sylvania/ Phillips/ etc. all make these type of true xenon kits.

Good Luck

[jduarte]

I agree, go with the real-deal xenon bulbs. Take note though that the real-deal is extremely costly. The other bulbs who claim to be xenon are merely standard halogen bulbs that are like dipped in blue paint. They are only designed to emulate the look of xenons, but pale in comparison in terms of performance. In fact, a lot of these superwhite bulbs have reduced performance over stock bulbs, especially in rainy conditions. You can easily tell the real-deal xenons from the knockoffs - usually, the real xenons come with an external ballast, and the bulb itself has no filament.

I'll try to look for the site which did a side by side comparo of xenon-knockoff superwhites vs. stock 60/55W H4 bulbs and post the URL here. Anyhow, the gist of that comparo was that the superwhites had diminished performance, both in terms of brightness and distance of beam.

[FocusRun]

I would very much like to see them results, jduarte.

[kgb]

Originally posted by lalaland
Depends on the brand. I would only recommend Sylvania Silverstars (approx $70/pair) as a good bulb upgrade. Otherwise, stick with OEM, they last longer than any cheapo xenon bulb.

Other decent brand would be PIAA. Stay away from Eurolite.

I will agree 100%. I got a set of Toucan's Eurolites. in my hatchback. THEY SUCK!!!!! If I am on a really dark backroad at night.....fuggedaboudid......I can't see crap!

[audio1der]

My PIAAs claim 85W light output with 55W; I'm not stupid and know they can't change the laws of physics, but in a side by side comparison to stock bulbs, they are MUCH brighter.

Another less expensive mod is to rewire your headlights to receive your car's full voltage from the battery, instead of using the chincy wiring and switched provided by the factory.
That helped a lot, too.
I took the upgraded diagram, and bought the parts instead of his outrageously expensive kit, but this is where I go the idea:
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/relays/relays.html

[Guess My Name]

REAL XENON Hi intesity Discharge lights cost over $400....anything else is a wanna be.....

HID uses Xenon filled tubes with a metal arcing device .... Ballast .... and starter .........

[bet993]

Guess My Name is absolutely correct.

HID lighting is going to cost a minimum $400 depending on the type of head light assembly you have. If you seriously want the increased out put and performance nothing compares and it is completely worth every cent.

My car had very poor low beam lights and the factory upgrade was about $1800, so I recently purchased an HID upgrade for $400 (it was a special group buy price) from http://www.liteswap.com and could not be more pleased. The product was great and I was able to install this set up just like the factory option.

The cheap bulbs sold as xexons are mere xexon gas filled regular bulbs very similar to halogens gas filled bulbs with just the look (but not the performance of HID) or halogens with a blue tint in the glass. True HID or "xexon" lights require a ballast and ignitor (there are a couple of manufacturers that the ballast and ignitor in the same piece of equipment).

[audio1der]

http://www.intellexual.net/hidframes.html
Everything you ever wanted to know, and more.

[Jon718]

I would say THE best place to get a real HID kit would be

www.autolamps-online.com they are one of the few companies who are authorized dealers of Philips products (they make many OEM products for HID applications)