...or "Unglorious B@stards"

It’s 9:21:48 PST and I’m staring down at some red, scratched hands and some cut knuckles. One of the curses I inherited from my family is a proclivity towards flesh wounds when wrenching on a car. Anyway, this one’s about hotter color temperatures in stock 13+ projectors.

One thing that bothered me whenever I would look at my car from the outside was an apparent hodgepodge/mishmash of color temperatures along front fascia. Now, I understand why things are the way they are and the more I dig into this car, the more I see how Ford managed to “find” funds to sustain R&D on the Coyote.

After doing some research, I found that I could score D3S bulbs in varying color temperatures. Ford, with its deep pockets spent much time researching and developing, as they often do, and at the end of their research came to the conclusion that the 4300K bulb was the one for the job. After all, it’s output is about on par with natural sunlight and it throws a long and powerful swatch of illumination. Me, armed with my limited funds and dearth of available information on the 13+ projectors set about on a mission to prove once again that the result of FoMoCo’s R&D could be bested.

I received the bulbs a few days ago and I found a write-up floating about the ether. After having read it numerous times, I felt comfy enough to go to the garage and, pop the hood, and remove the air box for access to the driver’s side headlight housing. I was able to remove and replace this bulb in about 7 minutes. I replaced the air box and moved over to the passenger side of the engine compartment.

Thanks to the proximity of the fuse block to the headlight housing, I found myself in tight quarters. Edit: I literally just remembered that I forgot to reattach one of the wiring harnesses. I unscrewed the cap from the housing and pried the wire retainer clips from the base of the bulb. I then pulled the bulb out and was able to maneuver it topside, where I could use my other hand to detach the plug. If you insist on doing this, then I suggest you wear some nitrile/latex gloves when handling the bulbs. If you get any of your funk/oils onto the glass envelope, you will create a hotspot on its surface at operating temperature and will end its life prematurely.

As I replaced the bulb (in reverse order) I found myself fumbling around as I maneuvered the bulb into place. I felt the bulb seat, then I proceeded to push the two retaining clips into place, but only one would fasten. After removing the bulb, I realized that I snapped off the inboard mounting tab on the housing itself.

As the reality of my situation came into view, I felt anger beginning to overtake me – I calmed myself down, secured the bulb with the one clip, grabbed the plastic radiator liner and buttoned it all back together. Thanks for the plastic clip, Ford. I’d have sacrificed an hour of Coyote R&D for metal here.

I turned on the lights and my first impression was, “**** these are blue. But – they are beautiful.” They do play nicely with the rest of the lights – even with the fogs on. Much better appearance than stock. Time for a test drive.

Once I reached a darker street, I toggled the fogs. I noticed that while on, the amount of light output seemed 50% greater. Before, the fogs contribution to the light pattern was only marginal at best. What does this say, then? The amount of visible light being emitted from these bulbs is about 40% less than the stock Osram units. This is an estimate, as I had no equipment around to take actual measurements.

Driving around a bit more, I noticed that the top of the beam cutoff mark was composed of a violet-hued prism. If was the visual equivalent of harmonic overtones ringing out as my guitar sustains. Gorgeous, but there’s not much usable light here - sorry. Signage that was once legible is now washed out in a violet fog. I drove around trying to find other vehicles’ beams to measure mine against. While the illumination of the road directly before my car was more intense, the long reaching throw of the OEM bulbs was no longer an advantage to be had. At the distant end of my field of view and all along the periphery, a violet/blue filter was cast. Objects which should have been clearly visible were still there, but muted. My eyes strained to make out the horizon. I pulled back into my neighborhood, made my way past the guard at the gate, and I drove on back into the pit of despair and failure that I now call my garage.

You wouldn’t think that what is essentially two steps up from the OEM color temperature would prove to be **** near useless, but in reality the 6000K bulbs were a waste of my efforts and in the end, my money. I’m in this to the tune of a new headlamp housing – I assume that mounting feature, while removable, is part of the headlamp “assembly”. “What’s done is done”, my girlfriend just retorted. She sees that I’m distressed and she’s a wiser person than I. Moments before she said, “I’m an idiot – I forgot to put my teabag into the cup before microwaving the water.” I told her, “No you aren’t. A least you didn’t destroy your new headlamp.” I’m not bitter.

Some thoughts – if you are going to go 6000K on this, you either can’t do it with the projectors Ford gives us or without going to 55W bulbs. My S2K has the same bulbs as the OEM Ford units and they look like 8000Ks from head-on. This is due to their projector design and not the bulb itself. Be warned. If you absolutely must do this, wait for 5000K D3Ss to hit the market. With a car that drives as fast as these, you want a long throw on your lighting. You don’t drive faster than your headlights, son

 

I adjusted the headlights this am and found that they were a few degrees lower than I had them set prior to the install. Will do some more driving tonight and report back.

 

Nice right up, would love to see pics of the before and after...if possible

 

Sup, Denham Springs! Haha, I have some fam in your hood.

Yea, I'd have taken pics, but my iPhone couldn't really capture the differences, if you're tasting what I'm cookin'.

 

Seriously?!?! That's cool, i'm not really from Denham...moved here 5 years ago from Baton Rouge. It's definitely a different world over here than it is in B.R. lol.
And i hear ya on the iphone rubbish, I use to own one before i found something better hahaa

 

Haha yep. It's a whole 'nother world over in DS, brother hahahaha! When I'd go visit, my fav thing to do was go to the local Wal-Mart and just park my buns on a bench and people watch.

 

LOL.... I go to that walmart every saturday morning hahaa Don't get me started on that! hahaa

 

I LOVE that one! Hey, I don't judge - I'm not that far removed! It's all relative. My friends out here call me a redneck/hillbilly lol! Pot, meet kettle!

 

Lol classic!

 

Yeah I learned immediately that the 5000k D3S bulbs I put in my Mustang definitely lacked compared to the stock bulbs. Thankfully at the same time I installed my California Special grilles, which meant I was also installing the lower fascia mounted foglights in place of my grille mounted lights. With them I installed a 35w 5000k HID retrofit, and they more than made up for any possible light output loss. That being said, I have considered upping the ante to a 55w HID kit for the fogs, but I know, in reality, that's far too many lumens to output and not annoy people.

 

Yeah, the brighter the forelighting is on your car, the worse your long distance sight becomes. As you move into turns with the brighter wash of light out front, your pupils must adjust when you turn your head. This can lead to disastrous consequences. 35w between 4 - 6000K seem to be perfect, as natural sunlight comes in just under 6000K. So theoretically, this color temp should be ok. The main differences are the actual output and the limitations of the stock projector.

The image here shows the difference in visible light across the spectrum. The housings depicted appear to be aftermarket civic or s2000 parts. In the end, I think that 6K is ok provided the lights are properly aimed. As it turned out, mine were too low after the install. I adjusted them a few hours ago and will drive around a bit after dark and report back on my findings.

 

Are you also considering that the more you deviate past 4300k, the luminary output drops off rapidly? (Also considering the current evolutionary state of what the human eye can and cannot see)

 

Maybe you guys shouldn't be driving at night if you need more than stock bulbs?

 

Maybe. Maybe not.

 

...and also keep in mind that there are drivers driving toward your super bulbs and they're making it more difficult for them to see.

 

Finding "car people" that leave well-enough alone is a nearly impossible feat, I'd say. The OEM lighting is more than adequate on these cars, but I like to tinker. Sometimes it's a waste of time/money and sometimes it's not. For many people, finding the balance between form and function is best left to the manufacturer. For people like me, it's always an adventure. Knowing when to say when is key and I may have crossed the line here.

To your point about blinding oncoming traffic, I'd agree. Personally, whenever I make adjustments to my headlights I do the following to avoid hindering sight:

1. While in my parking garage, I back my car up as far as possible while keeping my beams on the side/rear of other parked cars - is my cutoff below the rear view mirrors? Yes? Check.

2. What angle are my beams resting at on the walls flanking my car? This will tell me where the cutoff point will rest at a distance.

3. After completing the first two, I drive through the neighborhood and check my beams on buildings and signage. If cars flash me, I will lower. If not, I take to the highway and observe other drivers' reactions. Season to taste...

Nothing angers me more that having some El Doosho blind me with his headlights.

 

And if you had a clue to the design of modern HID projector setups you would know that the beam has a "step" to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. Projectors are a different animal compared to putting an HID bulb into a halogen fixture...

 

The real problem is the subpar design of the Ford projectors. I retrofitted mine (Originally Halogen not HID) with some Moromoto D2S mini's and enjoy a crisp cutoff and clear light output with 5K D2S bulb. Get on http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/forum.php to see the ins and outs of Factory HIDs and possible routes of upgrades. the FX-R is a good canidate for retrofitting the 2013 projectors http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=101

 

Now, if everybody followed all the "steps", it would be a perfect world, but welcome to earth. Lol

 

The only "lol" is you coming in here to flame them, when the 2013 has a factory projector setup, not a ricer hid in OEM halogen crap.