Subaru WRX Forum banner

HID's

3K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  fuapiti 
#1 ·
Who all has done the HID conversion? is it something that's really easy that you could do at home? I've been thinking bout purchasing but not real sure whats the best product out there. i've seen ads of sharp HID but i guess i just wanna spend my money on something legit.
 
#2 ·
I have a Sharp HID kit on my 07 WRX. Apexcone 35W H7 5000K and battery harness, to be exact. The only modification necessary was to cut a little hole in the back of each plastic cap behind each headlight for the wires to go through, but other than that, everything else was completely plug and play - including the battery harness. It was really easy to figure out too - you almost don't even need instructions. I don't have any experience with any other brands or retrofits, but I'm pretty happy with my setup. The light cutoff is great and the light looks brilliant white from inside the car and very HID-ish from the outside without looking obnoxiously blue like some of the higher number 8000-10000K+ kits. Sharp HID's free lifetime bulb/ballast warranty isn't too bad either.
 
#4 ·
Man show owns an 07 WRX, which comes with projectors from the factory. His advice, therefore, doesn't apply to you since your car didn't come with projectors. You should NOT install HIDs on your stock headlights. If you want a lighting upgrade, do a projector retrofit, and then think about installing HIDs.
 
#8 ·
I actually have a question on the Projector vs Reflector part. I have an 02' WRX and wanting to upgrade to a 6k-8k HID kit. Since my standard headlamp's are a reflector type could I say upgrade to these 2002-2003 Subaru Impreza WRX Dual Halo Projector Headlights Black and put in the HID kit, because they use a Projector housing/lamp style? Been trying to research for something on the lines of those, but I don't have the funds to do the Moretta nor JDM swap... way to expensive. Heh.
 
#12 ·
You CAN do HIDs in a car without projector lenses, and honestly it will give no more glare than my car and mashow's car, which do have projectors. Check the light beam coming out of the car, and see how much it actually does or doesn't shine up in other drivers' eyes. The potential problem with installing HIDs in a car that did not have them from the factory is that you can get excessive glare for other people heading toward you. People who don't have their lights aimed properly give the rest of us the bad impression.

04-05 STis did not have projectors, but their reflectors inside the headlight housing are a little different. They're called different things to different people, and I've heard them called "squirrel spotters" before even, but housings that come with halogen based lights have specific light reflectors that bounce a small amount of light upward to reflect off of signs and the little reflectors on the side of the road. HIDs are brighter than standard lights, and you will brighten those areas when putting in a brighter light to brighten the ground.

Even a car with projectors, like mine and manshow's will give a little glare above the headlight cutoff. In my wife's MDX, my friend's Cobalt, and my little brother's truck they all have HIDs. I've had them following me, head on to me, really all different positions, and I never have been bothered by the light. I know this is getting wordy, but I seem to be the only person to advocate getting them. Please do some due diligence and make sure your lights are aimed properly when installing them (if you've never adjusted them from the factory then you shouldn't need to unless the car's had an accident).

Point of my rant: Projectors or not, you still have a different light beam pattern than what a car with HIDs will have. I put a different color HIDs in my TSX, and it still had no glare, and the color honestly looked amazing. It's not HID-ish. It IS HID. You'll see very early on that no one will be bothered by it IF they're aimed properly. That's been my experience, and I've had HIDs on lots of cars, and only 2 of them came stock with them. (I tend to go through cars a lot) And +1 for kits from SharpHID.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top