5000k HID lights in Winter Gray Prius IV

Forgive the confusion. So I understand you to be saying that the 2010 package IV has two halogen bulbs for each headlight assembly. Those that have done HID mods have just changed the low beam bulb to HID? I looked at the video of the mod at the top of this thread and don't recall seeing a shot of it with the high beams on...seems like a yellow white halogen next to a blue white HID would look bad. Am I overthinking this?

 

Thanks for the info tideland...maybe your short answers add to my confusion or maybe I am doing it on my own. I am just trying to underdstand what is to be gained if your not changing all the bulbs. Also trying to understand the differences in the GenII and GenIII. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure my previous GenII did not have a dual filament HID bulb. It had a shield that blocked part of the light when in low beam. And you could "flash" your highbeams in that car, and did, when you "flashed" the switch, it would raise the eyebrow shield and allow a larger amount of light to be directed at an oncoming car. If I am wrong, no problem, again...just trying to be correct in my statements and understanding of this car. I love LED's and would love to switch them all. But sometimes different is only different and not better. So forgive me for asking for feedback before I spend needlessly. I am more than happy to contribute knowledge to the pool when I have it to give. Oh, and we live in the country and my wife drives 150 miles a day, half in the dark, so yes, we do drive around with the highbeams on quite a bit. Also, I am pretty detail oriented like most on the board here, so having yellow and blue might bother me. Thanks for your understanding and helping me to have the same.

 

Here are shots of an HID kit from DDM-Tuning installed in my '10 IV.

HID Kits, BMW Aftermarket Bumpers & Lighting, DEPO - DDM Tuning

The first photo is of the 4500k HID, with the high-beam on for color comparison's sake. The relative brightness or rather lack of isn't a clear indication of how bright the HID's actually are.

The second photo is of a 3000k HID bulb installed, with the high-beam on for comparison. When I get my foglights from the PCStore, I'll be installing these bulbs in them.

The third is an as mounted comparison of the 4500k and 3000k installed simultaneously with the high-beams on.

The fourth is with the high-beams off.

Please note, no post processing was done save for resizing and cropping.

Aside from the HID's, the high-beams, parking lights and side markers are still OEM for now.

Hope these pics help visualize the color differences. When I can take better pics I'll post them here.

 

Thanks for the pics! As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Having been a victim of the HID failure in our Gen II previously, and seeing the difference between the color of the various temperatures and the Halogen high beams, I think at least for now I will remain stock. I really appreciate your patience too Tideland, I just needed a little more clarification and you have given me a much better understanding and confirmed much of what I thought I understood. I loved the color and brightness of the wide open HID's on the GenII but not sure I like being back with Halogens for high beams. Tideland, one thing I had not considered that I am thankful that you clarified, is continued turning on/off of highbeams shortening an HID bulb. I have switched all of the lights in my boat to LED's. They are great and cut my battery drain to nil, but there are pluses and minuses to those as well. The main issue with them is not being directional. I can imagine the festoons in the car, they would be very bright in a narrow cone and not enough overall light. I have then in my courtesy lights on the boat. Thanks again guys, really appreciate the info!

 

My 07 Prius Touring came with HID lights, and the LED Headlights on the 2010 are better. I would have no reason to change them.

 

Only the 2010 GenIII package V came with LED headlamps. All other 2010 Prius came with Halogen Headlamps.

 

I don't have any regrets over either of our Prius...I wish I had bought the V for several reasons, as well as the Tech package. There were 10 on the lot at 2% over invoice, none were V's.

 

Is DDM Tuning still a reputable place to buy the HID kit?

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the bulb type for a 2010? And because the high/low beams are separate beams, no relay is needed I'm assuming.

Lastly, can anyone link me to a DIY thread on how to install the HIDS?

Thank you in advance.

 

No to DDM Tuning.

And this is coming from an ex E46 driver (BMW 330). Ask around on e46fanatics.com and you'll see mostly bad reviews.

 

I just installed 6000K's with a 35w "Slimline" solid state ballast purchased for about $100 plus shipping/handling for about $9. CARHIDKITS shipped them in less than 2 days and arrived in 3 days CA to MO. The install was a plug swap with no relay or hot lead to fuse block. They work very well and have a soft start that is supposed extend bulb brightness and life. I don't find them to be too blue but definely bluer than the HID's in our 05' Prius that we just traded after 95,000. I guess will look for LED's to replace headlight marker bulbs next. I still hope aftermarket "single bulb" LED fog lamps will appear for a reasonable price. The multi bulb ones are pretty dim and look cluttered.

 

here's what I'm using for the headlight marker bulbs , I tried cheaper ones but they burnt out quick (too much heat??) or had bad radio interference


Go Tuning Unlimited

 

im very interested in buying the HIDs but am not sure whats the correct kit to buy. what does the 900# or the H# stuff mean? can someone point me to the one i should get?

 

2010 prius uses the H11 bulb

 

The kit I bought was a simple task of selecting from a drop down list, excepting that I went with the "slimline" version for lower wattage consumption, they are very bright and not too blue in the 6000K color range which is the best priced kit as decribed in my previous post. There are a Number of kits out there at simular pricing from various HID sellers. Low beam halogen Toyota uses is known as an H11.

 

Can you recommend another good company for the HID kits?

If I get a 55w kit, is a relay recommended or can the OEM harness handle they extra power?

 

Your existing halogen bulbs are already 55 watts, the system should not see any change. I went with the 35 watt only to save energy, but they still supply a bulb that is the same used with the 55 watt ballast, you get the same light but the ballast is a lot more efficient kinda like transistors are to vacuum tubes. The ballast is smaller and cooler.