DDM Tuning HID question

Negative, that's a common misconception. Reality is the fog lights spray light all over the place, even when adjusted all the way down in their lowest setting.

See the pic that Mo posted here in post 7, where the low beam cutoff is the sharp white light and the HID in the fog lights are the yellow light that is lighting up the entire wall yellow. Very bad glare.

Fog Lights HID upgrade? | PriusChat

If you want HIDs in your fog lights, please retrofit some projector lights into the oem shrouds. I did, link in my signature below. I have a few pics in my thread that clearly show the difference in glare between above and below a proper cutoff, and that's with 55w halogen bulbs.

 

I'm new to the Prius, as of last week, and I just bought the DDM 35W 5K set.
Anyway, I'm really curious if anyone has an idea what the squares are on top of the headlights, right above the cutoff. Mine, of course, does this as well.
I've never seen anything like this. If it weren't for those squares, the factory Prius projectors have a really decent cutoff.

Any ideas?

 

Wrong.

 

IMHO 55W is overkill. I've done it before on past vehicles, but it's really too much. Especially if you live in civilization with the rest of us.
If you live in the mountains or out in the sticks then by all means have at it. But in the cities and suburbs you're going to make the commute miserable for everyone in front of you.
35W is perfectly fine. Just don't go over 6oooK, then you lose effectiveness, and it really just looks silly.

 

Yes, they're commonly referred to as "squirrel finders".

The squares of light are from little cutouts in the cutoff shield that allow some light to illuminate above the cutoff. The idea is it will illuminate overhead road signs which would otherwise remain unlit if a solid cutoff shield were used.

Another PriusChat member has retrofitted HID projectors in his headlights and has remarked that road signs are difficult to see. This is because those projector's cutoff shields don't have the "squirrel finders".

SCH-I535

 

I was actually joking with a friend about them being illumination for street signs... I had no idea I was right! LOL
Thanks for the response.
I think they look stupid, but obviously they serve a purpose. Hopefully they won't blind anyone with the HIDs installed.

 

"Why 35W HID Systems? 

OEM factory equipped HID systems i.e. Mercedes Benz, Audi, Lexus, BMW etc all use 35W HID systems because of their reliability and long life span. Higher wattage aftermarket HID systems i.e. 55W, 100W systems are not recommended as they increase the operating temperature of the HID system, affect bulb color temperature, and in general have a shorter lifespan. Higher wattage kits are not that much brighter than 35W systems. a 4300K 35W HID system, is the same brightness of a 6000K 55W HID system. This is because the increased wattage of the 55W systemoperates the 6000K bulb at a higher temperature, changing the color of the bulb and essentially, creating a whiter color more similar to that of a 4300K bulb. "


Not to mention the fact that a relay is needed with 55w, and not generally with 35w.

from - XenonSupply: Frequently Asked Questions

 

FWIW, a 55W 6000K will have almost the same output as a 35W 4300K setup.
The higher wattage on the ballast washes the color too, so you generally step down a color when going 55W, 6000K becomes 5000K, etc...

 

i went with 55W 8000k, and did not have any issues. didn't see those grounding shadows either.

 

Ground shadows are just due to the ground wire orientation on the bulb. You can get cheap $12 HID bulbs on eBay that produce. no ground shadows. You can also modify any bulb so that it will not have them fairly easily.

 

Says the guy who said modifying an H9 bulb to fit in an H11 mount was a major PITA. Or something to that effect.

SCH-I535

 

This one is way easier. You are only cutting plastic in one place, not metal and then another area of plastic like that mod.

 

55W will kick that down to 6000K, which is definitely usable.

Also the dude who wants the brightest halogen light bulbs and didn't want to go anywhere near HID, but now want's the not-brightest HID kit. Haha.

 

Don't go by wattage alone. A premium 35w kit (think Morimoto, Xenon Supply, KLight) can be just as bright as a low end 55w.

 

I meant the color temp. Doesn't matter who makes it, a 6000K kit will not put out the same lumens as a 4300K.