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Brightness of Bulbs??

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Old 12-15-03, 02:57 AM
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Brightness of Bulbs??

would love to hear someone with experence.. what compares to what and how bright each of these bulbs are they've seen in person..

Piaa hyper white 135/125 watt
- my experences with these bulbs have been good and they look real bright but only light on the road not much moer then a 55.65watt bulb, prob due to the color of them.. but i do like them.

Hella Regular bulb 110watt
- this has been the brightest ive seen so far.. a regular bulb not hyper white or something made to look bright like the Silverstar or a Piaa.. A regualer rated 110watt bulb.. Great lighting if you dont mind the stockish color.. a bulb like this is always out preform any hyperwhite whatever.

HID - I know there are many companys and many different K degrees to choose from but I am wondering since i ave only seen 2 sets on cars around here is how to they preform compared to other bulbs? I know they look bight but how do they light up the road comapred to a 110watt bulb or hyperwhite? Basically I am trying to find the best lighting output for the headlights..

Hopefully you guys can help! anything wouldbe appreciated!

Tyler
Old 12-15-03, 03:50 AM
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in order to do this right you need to use objective measurements. in this case lumens.

a 55w h4 (unfiltered) is about 1650 lumens
a 100w h4 (unfiltered) is about 2600 lumens
a 35w hid is about 3200 lumens

the overwattage incandescent bulbs get very HOT, suck tons of power, and have a short lifespan. i think the rx7 wiring is good enough to run them but just be careful of the plastic lamp housing.

i would get the 110w hella. i use to run generic 80w ones from jg whitney in my other car and they were great but they dont last long.
Old 12-15-03, 01:20 PM
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thanks.. any experence with the newer 40watt hids ??
Old 12-15-03, 02:54 PM
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I had a PIAA super white 80w bulb that's discontinued. I replaced it with a PIAA extreme white which is 55w and it's about the same in terms of brightness but a little whiter than the old super white. I stayed with PIAA since I was really happy with the old bulb. I was about as bright as my parent's MB E class (non-HID). The new PIAA only burns 55w but it lights like a 80w bulb.

If you are interested in the old PIAA super white that I have, check out my thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=244886
Old 12-16-03, 12:54 AM
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yeah i ahve tryed about 5 types of PIAA's and many other types of "Ricer" blue lights.. all were very good being PIAA was the best so far in teh hyper white section.. I am going to look into the HID kits now and see what I can pull up and install it and do a few test on back roads.. But i have lined up a few hyper whites and a few Hella bulbs and the hella bulbs easyly out did the PIAA's

the Hella 65wall ones are almost equal to my old 125/135watt ones

120 watt PIAAs were half the brightness of Hella 110watt ones..

The PIAA lights look great and the color on the road is sweet but I findI can see more with the Hella bulbs.. This is much back road racing experence

I would love to hear more ppl storys and what they have to say..

I ahve found the best Driving lights though.. If you care about seeing the road.. I believe they are the PIAA 910 series.. they have a yellow backing and emit a yellow light.. Everyroad I ahve driven on with no light in the middle of the dark forest was like daytime! unreal! I put many many lenght on my friends that were behind me! well worth investment and I picked them up for about $300CAD they sell for i believe 650 CAD retail..

Tyler
Old 12-16-03, 01:27 AM
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HID - I know there are many companys and many different K degrees to choose from but I am wondering since i ave only seen 2 sets on cars around here is how to they preform compared to other bulbs? I know they look bight but how do they light up the road comapred to a 110watt bulb or hyperwhite? Basically I am trying to find the best lighting output for the headlights..

The best light output possible is obtained by custom mounting actual HID projectors inside the RX7 housing. HID projectors spread light evenly and produce very usable light.

Unfortunately, due to space constraints, this can not be done on an FC.

As for Kelvin rating, 4100K is the brightest. Kelvin rating and lumen output usually have an inverse relationship. For example, a 4100K bulb produces 3200lm. A 6000K bulb would produce about 2600lm. 7000K+ is only for looks since the bulbs are too dim for an HID bulb.

Last edited by J_J; 12-16-03 at 01:32 AM.
Old 12-16-03, 03:56 AM
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the new hids are 50w i think, rated at 5000 lumens. SUPER BRIGHT

the color temperate really has nothing to do with light output. it only just so happens that in general, for HID lamps, the brightest is about 4100-4500k.
Old 12-16-03, 11:33 AM
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Yes, color temperature and lumen output are two different things. But for the automotive HID bulbs, usually you will find that the higher Kelvin (5400K+)rated bulbs have less light output than those used in factory versions.

As for 50W HIDs, there's no widely available 50W automotive bulb yet. There is a 50W ballast, but the people who have them say that it does not output 5000lm; you supposedly also need 50W bulbs to get that kind of output.
Old 12-16-03, 01:53 PM
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what are some commmen compamys that make godo hids around 4100-4500K.. The only local one around here has Xenon.. I dont really wanna but that because they only go down too 6000K lighting..
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