is there a way to make stock xenons brighter?
10-15-2008, 10:52 PM
#11
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If you have VAG you can adjust the height of where they settle to....
You still have to use the white ***** to fine tune the pattern. The factory settings are like 00020 I think. I have mine at 00030 I believe. Good write up on how to adjust them in Stoney's. In fact, here you go good buddy...<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/tt/msgs/775700.phtml">https://forums.audiworld.com/tt/msgs/775700.phtml</a</li></ul>
10-16-2008, 07:02 AM
#13
i've got hid's in my fogs too, and i swear they are brigther than my headlights at their cut-off...
i'll try aiming my lights, i've been meaning to do that for a while now, just dont have a garage and hard to find a level area with a clear wall in front of it... since we have the facelift headlights in the 4.2, can't we just install the 90mm projector into them? or do you need the chrome piece that they screw into?
10-16-2008, 07:17 AM
#15
found an interesting write=up... turns out you can use a 50W bulb with a stock ballast
First of all, don't believe everything you see when it comes to the VHO (Very High Output) or 50W HID kits being sold - they use standard 35W bulbs that are being pushed to 50W but more on that in a bit. Secondly, 50W kits are for off-road use ONLY.
Let's take a look at an OE D2R bulb found in the low beam on an IS. The Osram manufactured bulb produces a color of 4100-4300K and has an output of 2800 lumens. When compared to its D2S equivalent, the color stays the same but the output is 3200 lumens. Both bulbs are designed to operate at 35W with a constant 85V. For the sake of the discussion, let's use the D2R bulb as our frame of reference.
Before discussing ballasts, let me give you a few numbers for halogen and 50W HID bulbs. A standard HB4 or 9006 bulb operates at 55W and produces 1100 lumens. 50W HID bulbs, of which there's only 1 true 50W bulb produced by Philips, the MPXL-DL50 or DL50 for short, operates at 50W and produces 5600 lumens of light with a color temperature of 3800-3900K.
The real meat and potatoes of this discussion are the ballasts. OE Koito ballasts require 12V input and produce the 35W, 85V necessary to power a standard D2R/S/C HID bulb. Halogen, there's obviously no ballast, so what you get is the result of resistance in the filament. 50W ballasts need the same 12V input as their 35W counterparts, but the output voltage is significantly increased. By increasing voltage, output is increased, color temperature decreases, current and heat given off increases, and bulb life decreases significantly.
Now that you're armed with some necessary back ground information, let's compare bulbs in combination with the two types of ballasts. OE D2R bulbs give off 2800 lumens while the DL50 gives off 5600. The DL50 gives off 2x as much light as a 35W bulb, 5x more than that of a 9006 halogen, while only sacrificing a couple hundred kelvins of color. Can you imagine how bright it would be to see another car coming at you late at night with that much light?
What I haven't told you is that it's next to impossible to find DL50 bulbs. Occasionally, they pop up on eBay under an Australian seller for $50 US dollars + shipping, but to buy them from a US distributer, expect to pay more than what you would for a set of Philips Ultinon 6000K bulbs just for 1 bulb. If you're ever serious about buying any, play the waiting game and buy them off eBay.
Since DL50 bulbs are so rare and expensive, kits using 50W ballasts use 35W bulbs and force them to operate at the increased wattage and voltage. Because no one has a definitive answer, it's speculated that the 3000 hour bulb life of a brand new bulb is cut in half and the lumens are somewhere in the neighborhood of 5400 using D2S bulbs. 5400 lumens is still a substantial increase considering new OE bulbs can be purchased for less than $80 and last you a couple of years if you were to use a 50W setup on your car. Again, I'm not advocating that you do, but it's food for thought.
Let's take a look at an OE D2R bulb found in the low beam on an IS. The Osram manufactured bulb produces a color of 4100-4300K and has an output of 2800 lumens. When compared to its D2S equivalent, the color stays the same but the output is 3200 lumens. Both bulbs are designed to operate at 35W with a constant 85V. For the sake of the discussion, let's use the D2R bulb as our frame of reference.
Before discussing ballasts, let me give you a few numbers for halogen and 50W HID bulbs. A standard HB4 or 9006 bulb operates at 55W and produces 1100 lumens. 50W HID bulbs, of which there's only 1 true 50W bulb produced by Philips, the MPXL-DL50 or DL50 for short, operates at 50W and produces 5600 lumens of light with a color temperature of 3800-3900K.
The real meat and potatoes of this discussion are the ballasts. OE Koito ballasts require 12V input and produce the 35W, 85V necessary to power a standard D2R/S/C HID bulb. Halogen, there's obviously no ballast, so what you get is the result of resistance in the filament. 50W ballasts need the same 12V input as their 35W counterparts, but the output voltage is significantly increased. By increasing voltage, output is increased, color temperature decreases, current and heat given off increases, and bulb life decreases significantly.
Now that you're armed with some necessary back ground information, let's compare bulbs in combination with the two types of ballasts. OE D2R bulbs give off 2800 lumens while the DL50 gives off 5600. The DL50 gives off 2x as much light as a 35W bulb, 5x more than that of a 9006 halogen, while only sacrificing a couple hundred kelvins of color. Can you imagine how bright it would be to see another car coming at you late at night with that much light?
What I haven't told you is that it's next to impossible to find DL50 bulbs. Occasionally, they pop up on eBay under an Australian seller for $50 US dollars + shipping, but to buy them from a US distributer, expect to pay more than what you would for a set of Philips Ultinon 6000K bulbs just for 1 bulb. If you're ever serious about buying any, play the waiting game and buy them off eBay.
Since DL50 bulbs are so rare and expensive, kits using 50W ballasts use 35W bulbs and force them to operate at the increased wattage and voltage. Because no one has a definitive answer, it's speculated that the 3000 hour bulb life of a brand new bulb is cut in half and the lumens are somewhere in the neighborhood of 5400 using D2S bulbs. 5400 lumens is still a substantial increase considering new OE bulbs can be purchased for less than $80 and last you a couple of years if you were to use a 50W setup on your car. Again, I'm not advocating that you do, but it's food for thought.
10-16-2008, 07:29 AM
#16
have you guys heard of these wattage boosters?
this guy claims his ballast can boost power to 50W...<ul><li><a href="http://xenonvalot.com/boost.html">http://xenonvalot.com/boost.html</a</li></ul>
10-16-2008, 07:49 AM
#17
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dunno if its safe... :p, food for thought, Acura headlights always seem brighter because
they use Reflection based lighting whereas we use Projector based housings and bulbs, not that they have bulbs that burn hotter.
10-16-2008, 09:41 AM
#19
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googled, found price from $143 to $401!!!. Wow, whatta range for MPXL-DL50 bulbs.
10-17-2008, 05:09 AM
#20
AudiWorld Super User
Which are you concerned about, being able to see or having brighter lights than your friend's car?
Also...you cannot use HID's in fog lights, they negate the whole purpose of having them fitted to the car completely!