RRRoamer

Given that they are producing 4000k color temp and (as you stated previously) producing the same light output as their standard 3100K bulbs, then it looks like they are buring the filament brighter and filtering out some of the reds and yellow wave lengths.

I'm fine with that. In the aquarium world, we have the problem of getting the color temp UP without losing too much light output. Of course, most of us are shooting for 10000k to 15000k and very high power output (I had 1200 watts of metal halide lights on my last 240 gallon reef tank. Yes, the electric bill sucked!), so it's not quite the same thing.

The reason I'm fine with that is because our eyes work best with light that approaches normal daylight conditions. That is what they were designed/evolved for (pick your personal school of thought). So, if they can get the light output to be the same while pushing the color temp up closer to the 6000K or so level, then your eyes are going to be able to use that light more effectively. And that translates to "see things better".

The HID folks that are putting in 10000K and 12000K bulbs have gone "over the mountain". There is no WAY those bulbs can maintain the same light output as the 4000K (or 6000K) HID bulbs at that color temp AND the human eye isn't as effective using the light that is produced.

mrkabc

Re: stock headlights: Are we talking about the same car here? My first impression when driving my brand-new 2005 'Stang home from the dealer was just how much WEAKER the stock headlights were from my 2002 'Stang. (which did have Silverstars BTW)

The stock 2005 lighting was SO bad I bought the Saleen HID kit within a week of taking delivery of the car (and got hosed $1200 for it, but that's another story). The Saleens sure made up for the seriously terrible stock lights.

Maybe the reflector-less 2007 lights are better, I don't know. All I can say is that the OEM lights my car had were TERRIBLE and I couldn't get rid of them fast enough.

I'd skip wasting money on Silverstars (I wrote a thread about this a while ago and included comparison pics of OEM vs. Silverstars vs. HID for my foglights) and go HID for the headlights. I will concede that HID foglights are an overkill and do generate a lot of glare. However, nothing lights up the road like HID! If you have the means I highly recommend HID.

Dixie_Flatline

I wish I could have gotten the OEM HIDs on my '08, but my choices were limited and dealers in the area don't spec lot cars with HIDs for some reason.

What are your impressions of the Saleen kit? Do you get much peripheral glare? Are they capsule swaps or full replacement assemblies designed for HID reflections?

I'm leery of capsule swaps becuase the HID element is in a different height and fore/aft position than the halogen capsule. This changes all the lense reflections and causes dangerous peripheral glare.

mrkabc

The Saleen kit is a completely different headlight assembly. It is NOT a capsule swap. It uses a motorized reflector to simulate "high" beam (there is only one capsule for both high and low) and does not glare any more than the stock headlight assembly. The beam pattern was designed with HID lighting in mind, and they really do light up the road much better than stock!

Contrast my Saleens with my HID equipped fogs - since my fog lights are the stock assemblies with HID bulbs, hoo boy do they glare!!!

The down side of Saleens: There have been issues with the longevity of the reflectorized coating of the "round" portion of the headlight. The HID capsules have been burning the reflectors. I don't know if Saleen ever fixed the problem, but they refused to stand behind their product when I and others on this board complained. I'd have to give a huge to Saleen's customer service and willingness to tackle a known quality issue.

If I were upgrading to HIDs today I'd probably look in to the possibility of retrofitting the stock assemblies - it's the best of both worlds. High beam functionality without mounting 4 ballasts, and OEM/DOT approved levels of glare and beam pattern.

c25sailor

For what it's worth -- I found a product at Autozone that does a really good job polishing the yellowed plastic. I'll try to post the name from home -- but I used it on the yellowing lenses of the 95 explorer -- and presto -- the looked clear and new. I have used the Silverstars -- and haven't had any problem with premature burnout. They seem to last about like halogen bulbs from my experience. I like the light better. The advantage to HIDs is not the color as much as the Aim. The HIDs on the Mustang do not seem to have quite as sharp of a cutoff as those on my 06 Acura. On that one -- it is a very sharp line of demarcation. I'm suspecting the reason for that is the fact that they are reflectors as opposed to projectors. But that's just a suspicion.

05YellowGT

Guy's , there's quite a lot of opinions in this thread and I thought I'd just add one more. I got rid of my OEM fogs quite sometime ago and have had PIAA driving lights which are white. So a couple of months ago I decided to swap out my head lights and get something with white light to match and I found the Luminics and ordered a set. I must say that they didn't put out nearly as much light as the OEM ones. If I had a car next to me and we had our lights on , you barely tell mine were on. I don't know if this is normal or not , but the set I got definitely were not very bright and would just barely light the road. Yesterday I got a set of Silverstars and they really light up the road. It's been so long since I had the OEM bulbs , so I can't say how much better these are than the OEM ones. Also the quality of the craftsmanship is much better on the Silverstars , when I tried to pull the harness off the Luminics the plastic piece around the pins pulled of both of them. They were only held on with a small dab of glue. Also the metal around the glass was thin and cheap compared to the OEM and Silverstars. So if anyone is considering swapping out their bulbs , definitely go with the Silverstars ...

johnh

do you have a part number

metroplex

The problem with many of the lenses is fogging on the inside which you can't remove or polish. I've had lots of luck using Brasso to polish yellow/cloudy residue on the outside of the lenses. Usually the cloudiness is from the polycarbonate lens coating peeling off.

As for the aim, the 2008 Mustang HID uses D3R HID capsules and relies on a reflector assembly. Chances are it says "VOR" somewhere on the outside of the lens just like the stock halogen S197 headlamps.

The light output of HIDs and halogens on OEM headlamps can be quite close. What remains is the light color which DOES have an impact on how "bright" you think the light is (all in the perception). There have been a lot of studies done on this issue (white vs yellow light) and so far I have not seen a general consensus other than that white light "appears" brighter.