Quote:
Originally Posted by tommyz
we sell the nokya xenon bulb ?they are 7000k and i think they reall match the HIDs, have u tried any of those , im wondering how it stands up to your garage tests
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Tommy -
I did indeed test a 7000K Xenon bulb with a similar brand (HILITE) and almost identical packaging. Assuming your Nokya's are like these:
And I agree that they most closely match the color of the Xenon - which is why I went ahead and put them on my own SRT8. The challenge is that while they appear "brighter" when looking at them from outside the vehicle, they do not offer nearly as much light further out. Even a stock 55W 9005 bulb will have a further "reach" than a 65W Xenon. The reason for this is the heavy blue coating that gives it the 7000K color temperature. A quick lesson on "color temperature" and what it means, borrowed from our friend TByrne's website (
http://www.tbyrnemotorsports.com/hids/hids.html):
"Color Temperature is a measurement in Degrees Kelvin that indicates the hue of a specific type of light source. Many people believe the misconception that color temperature is a rating of the brightness of the bulb or HID kit. This belief is completely false. The reality of the matter is that the higher the color temperature, the less useable light output you will obtain. A perfect example would be a black light. This light has a color temperature of approx 12,000k and has almost no useable light or lumens output. Higher K kits such as 7000k, 7500k, etc. have been manufactured for individuals that are more concerned about the actual color output of their lights as opposed to the actual useable light output they produce."
Here is a color chart borrowed from mediacollege.com:
So the bulb coating needed to get that "blue" temperature of 7000K actually
reduces light output and also "defuses" the focus of the beam itself. Here are two shots of the Xenon 7000K, switched to either side to be objective, vs. the GE Nighthawk and then the Silverstar Ultra:
You can clearly see that the Xenon bulb puts out less light, despite having the most wattage of the bunch (65W vs. 60W). Now some companies will up the wattage (100W+) to compensate for the blue coating. This higher wattage can often cause troubles with stock wiring rated for half that amount of power. More than a few LX's have melted those wiring harnesses as a result. And even with that higher wattage, that blue coating still dissipates the beam. If you look at the pictures above, you can see the "hot spots" of the non-Xenon bulbs. Like a flashlight beam, those hot spots spread out as they get further from the vehicle. The result is more light and better projection. True HIDs have an even more interesting hot spot, in that they aren't round and are brighter in a more narrow arc:
Notice the fog lights are the Xenon 7000K's, which are considerably dimmer than the LX factory HID. Both light housings have "cut offs" at the top to prevent them from blinding other traffic. The factory fog housings are cut off to light up very low - they barely touch the headlight pattern even on the street. Thus why some people have put HID kits on their fog lights but still don't blind oncoming traffic: They are simply aimed too low.
And that, my friends, is why I went with the 7000K bulbs for my fog lights: They project so low that it doesn't really matter how bright they are other than the peripheral lighting (to the sides). They will always be limited by the housing so that they can't project past even the low beams. So go for style over substance, color over brightness. But only for the fogs. Leave the important lights (those that show that deer before you reach it) with a truly brighter light like the Silverstar Ultra or GE Nighthawk. Safety over style.