How many have fitted a real XENON/HID kit to their Insight??

[bagwell]

Kits are getting so cheap now its ridiculous!

just was browsing ebay and geeez !! about $75 shipped and up!!! they had some even cheaper kits but fedback wasn't 100% positive (BE SURE TO CHECK THIS!).

[dtlee]

What's the difference between an H4 or H7 bulb? I have a spare set of H7 HID's laying around that might work...

[japanev1]

If anyone is considering an HID conversion kit I would highly recommend NOT using the stock wiring harness and instead run a relay directly off the 12v battery even on $250+ expensive kits. Cheap HID kits that are now flooding Ebay and Craigslist are not worth the possibility of frying your wiring harnesses or even catching your car on fire. The best kits I have found are the respected and well known McCulloch HID conversion kits available from web sites like (http://www.hid-sin.com/). While expensive at $279.99 for the 6000k h4/9003 low beam only kit it is likely to last longer with better results. The stock halogen h4/9003 on the Insight uses two filaments within the same bulb for high and low beams; upgrading to HID with a standard kit will contain 2 HID bulbs and 2 HID ballasts good only for low beam function, and high beam function will be lost. If you wish to have both high and low beam functions, you will need a bi-xenon HID conversion kit ($399.99) with 4 ballasts and bi-xenon bulbs capable of both low and high beams. Some bi-xenon kits us an electric actuator to engage high beam mode by tilting a single HID bulb up or down depending on the reflector housing which requires only one set of ballasts, but may not provide optimal high beam illumination depending on your reflector housing. Other kits use an additional halogen bulb to provide high beam function while retaining HID for low beams only. If I were to purchase a kit today I would opt for the McCulloch 8000k $279.99 as I am willing to sacrifice some lumens for a hint of blue in the light, but most people would probably want the 6000k which is brighter and whiter light. I hardly use my high beams at all, so the extra for a bi-xenon kit would not be worth it to me... I would love to see pictures of an Insight with HID to help convince me to drop some dough on a set for myself as the halogen Sylvania Silverstars I currently have are adequate, just not very cool.

[bagwell]

xenondepot.com (now kbcarstuff) have great quality kits from $224

[dtlee]

JapanEV1 - I've made the conversion on 3 vehicles and the difference is literally NIGHT and DAY. If you like more light and don't use the high beams, go for it. The only thing that would keep me from the conversion is the loss of high beams.

[shifty35]

I'd highly advise against any kind of "drop-in" kit as has been mentioned in this thread. The halogen reflector is not designed for an HID and will blind oncoming drivers as well as project a poor beam pattern.

The right way to put HID's in a non-HID equipped car is to retrofit the projectors into the stock housing. This is a very hands-on, custom job and is not for everyone.

[japanev1]

> My old Prius Touring had stock HID from the factory without a projector lens housing. The housing and reflectors in the HID Prius and non-HID Prius are nearly identical and in the case of HID conversion kits (so long as the HID bulb is positioned correctly) I have seen many converted cars without projector lenses that look great, do not blind oncoming drivers (even the Insight's headlight angle can be adjusted), and provide much more illumination than stock. My old Acura TSX and TL both had projector lens HID from the factory and all the projector lenses did was look cool and provide a sharp upper light cutoff whereas HID equipped vehicles without projector lenses (Prius among many others) provide a much less annoying gradual upper light cutoff and much more light output without blinding oncoming drivers. HID does not require a projector lens housing and converting the Insight to a projector lens housing would be prohibitively expensive. Cars that blind oncoming drivers the most have headlights that are too high off the ground like most pickups and SUVs whether HID equipped or not (I find the ford super duty truck the worst blinding vehicle on the road with its stock halogen bulbs two miles off the ground). HID provides illumination closer to the color spectrum that is the least irritating on the human eye (light blue) whereas stock halogen lights (yellowish) are much more irritating to the optical nerves. I think the Insight with its low headlights and wide beam pattern would be a perfect candidate for HID conversion as described above and I plan on properly outfitting my Insight as soon as possible.

[The Citrus Smoothie]

It is important that any new bulbs do not blind other motorists coming the other way. I believe I am right in saying that to be legal (in the UK) all xenon / HID lights must have a self-levelling mechanism or they fail inspection.

[japanev1]

Originally Posted by The Citrus Smoothie

It is important that any new bulbs do not blind other motorists coming the other way. I believe I am right in saying that to be legal (in the UK) all xenon / HID lights must have a self-levelling mechanism or they fail inspection.

An auto-leveling headlight mechanism is an important auto safety feature that is absent on most U.S. spec cars. It automatically adjusts the headlight height based on the angle of the vehicle which can change due to heavy loads in the back of the vehicle causing the headlights to shine up higher than normal. Some Japan and Euro spec cars have manual headlight leveling switches inside the car that the driver can use to change the headlight level if they are carrying a heavy load, but I have only seen this in a few U.S. spec cars where most adjustments have to be made manually under the hood and are time consuming. The manual and automatic leveling systems are mostly found on cars equipped with HID systems as they are an additional cost item but they are also found on a few cars with halogen headlights. These systems are not absolutely necessary with HID or halogen bulbs (for functionality, legality varies obviously due to the higher luminosity of HID systems) but they are tremendously helpful when carrying a heavy load. In my first Prius (not equipped with the auto-leveling HID system) when hauling 4 people with their luggage the halogen headlights would shine up almost as high as the high beams and I was getting flashed by oncoming drivers constantly due to the heavy load in the back. This could also happen in an Insight hauling a heavy load in the trunk either with or without HID bulbs and you may be pulled over if you haul heavy loads for long distances and it is distracting to other drivers. I have found headlight leveling to be much less of an issue with the Insight compared to the Prius, but people who carry heavy loads frequently may want to become familiar with the manual leveling system on the Insight of they are being flashed by oncoming drivers.

[bagwell]

well I bought one of the cheap ($100) HID kit. I went with a seller with 4800+ sales and 98% positive feedback.
The kit has a HID lo beam and a halogen hi beam.

I had problems from day 1.

when I first plugged them in via the existing harness, the HID bulbs didn't fire up but the hi beams did work when clicked on. The seller told me to swap some of the leads around which made the HID work but when clicking on the hibeam, HID goes out (as it should) but hibeams only come on to about 1/4 power???!?!?!

I switched the leads around every possible combination and finally gave up on having the hi beams work.

I went ahead with the install and went for a night drive --- total glare coming from every which way!
I tried to adjust them but -- its just impossible.

The 6000K color temp looks great - I'll take a pic - but the kit is coming off over the weekend
and of course they won't let me return the kit.

QUESTION -- would a more expensive kit look any different or is our reflector housing just not made for this conversion?