Okay. Before someone blasts me, I did lots of searching on here before I posted this, k?

1. If you have HIDs, can you still have high beams? Do you have to replace those too?

2. Is a glare guard necessary and what exactly does it do? (besides stating the obvious)

3. Can someone sum up the different types of HIDs there are? I've heard of retro-fit, conversions, projectors, etc.

Also, I've heard that Philips makes the best stuff. I'm looking at this set:

http://www.xenonfactory.com/products/hid/philips.htm

Is it worth it? I want a more white light with maybe a tint of color than just a blue/violet light. Thanx for any imput you can provide me with.

- Desi

 

1) HID is just a different bulb technology. You will still have highbeams and lowbeams, it's just using a different method of producing light.

As for the other questions, it gets a bit more complicated. I've never heard of a "glare guard". Generally, if you're switching to HID, you want to get 4100 or 5000K bulbs -- these are going to give you the best light output, and will be very bright white. You want to avoid getting anything rated higher, because the high color temperature will reduce the number of lumens that you are putting out, which causes eyestrain in addition to reducing visibility, AND causing quite a bit of glare. Another thing to watch out for is that bulbs rated higher are often just dyed to produce a more blue color -- again, not a good thing.

There are really only 2 kinds of HIDs. Those that are designed for reflector-style headlights(like the tC), and those that are designed for projector style(like BMW's). Retrofit and Conversion are more or less saying the same thing -- taking a car that doesn't come with HIDs, and adding them after the fact.

Personally, I'd recommend if you're thinking about doing an HID conversion, doing it right. Reflectors(and projectors, for that matter) are designed to reflect(or project) a specific light pattern. In order for a conversion to not blind other drivers, you need to switch to reflectors or projectors from a car that was designed for them. This usually would involve some custom fabrication, but will produce the best results.

 

Thank you so much for your help! :D You've really answered a lot of my questions. For those of you who have put HIDs on your tCs, what is it that you used? Did you do any custom fabrication? I want to do this right for my car, so I need as much help as I can get!

Thanx in advance!
- Desi