ACURA MDX . ORG Archive - Interesting Info on Aftermarket HID's & Blue Bulbs

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Interesting Info on Aftermarket HID's & Blue Bulbs - Click HERE for Original Thread

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I too had wished that Acura would have offered HID lights as an option on the MDX. Being that it doesn't, I have been looking at several options, many of which I got from this forum. Tonight I went to http://www.HowStuffWorks.com to do a little more research.

Bottom line:
- Stock bulbs are best!
- Any type of "Blue coated" bulb actually significantly reduces effectiveness and causes blurring.
- After market "true xenon HID" kits with ballast, do produce a brighter whiter light (Too much actually), but then lens/optics on the vehicle are optimized based on a halogen output, and can't properly distribute the significantly increase light output.

Check out this link and the others it points you to:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question387.htm.

There's another really good article on blue lights at http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102.

I have had my MDX for 4 weeks now and LOVE it!,
Dan

Sorry about the bad link listed in my previous message. Just delete the last dot on the end of the URL.

This is the correct link:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question387.htm

This is the proper format of the second link:
http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102

Overboost has a couple other good stories/comparos on the site, in addit to the "superwhite bulb" one Dan posted...

http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=328 (HID conversion comparison)

http://www.overboost.com/images/328/comparison.asp (ditto; one of the best before/after comparos I've seen, with a mouseover).

While the increase of 245% sounds great, and the look of HID lights is certainly terriffic it leaves unanswered somethings:

1) Will that much more light, distributed in a reflector system designed for halogens be usable? Or will it create a giant central "burn zone" where the light is so bright that your ability to see the edges of the roadway are wiped out?

2) What about highbeam and "flash to pass"? Don't factory HID systems install a secondary "normal" bulb to take up these functions???

3) Snow. Driving in snow can be menacing with "high beams", if we installed 245% light wouldn't the "flake dazzle" make driving in snow a horrible hypnotic tunnel drive???

4) Oncoming traffic. If I increase my light output by 245% (and the MDX has it's lights mounted fairly far from the raod way) wouldn't oncoming drivers be driving into a supernove??

5) Plug & go or install & stuck with it. It this modification makes it impossible to go back to regular headlights, what kind of "warranty violation" is the dealer's service dept going to try and claim? Will anything having to do with the electrical system now be "my responsibility?

In short, I like HID lights,wish Acura woulb have spent the $500-1000 dollars to put them on and have questions/reservation about doing it myself...