55W HID'S OR 35W HIDS? BIG DIFFERENCE?

JoE'sMaX01 · 01-11-2009, 10:14 AM

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me which would be best to get. 35w HIDs or 55w HIDs? I know your spending about $25.00 more for the 55w bulbs but does it really make a big difference or is the light the same with both?

wyche89 · 01-11-2009, 10:18 AM

if you're hellbent on putting HIDs in halogen housings, then please go for the 35 watt.. it's going to make a big difference in blinding other drivers

unless of course you're just swapping the bulbs on a 5.5 or 6th gen with stock HIDs... in which case i don't know how bright the 55 watt replacement bulbs would be.. what year max do you have, and do you have stock HIDs?

JoE'sMaX01 · 01-11-2009, 10:48 AM

I have an 01 with stock halogen housings, I have HID fogs with 35W bulbs 6K color seem to be very bright compared to my stock halogens, but I was looking around and saw that 55w blubs are a little more expensive I just wanted to know if they produce more light or something?

wyche89 · 01-11-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoE'sMaX01

I have an 01 with stock halogen housings, I have HID fogs with 35W bulbs 6K color seem to be very bright compared to my stock halogens, but I was looking around and saw that 55w blubs are a little more expensive I just wanted to know if they produce more light or something?

i know they're brighter.. whether or not they actually put usable more light on the road? i'm not sure.. but i know that they're going to be harsher on other people's eyes.. are you familiar with the advantages/disadvantages of having an aftermarket HID kit in halogen housings vs. doing a projector retrofit?

IHAVEA2KMAXIMA · 01-11-2009, 11:43 AM

the answer to your question is yes, but its not a super big difference.

JoE'sMaX01 · 01-11-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyche89

i know they're brighter.. whether or not they actually put usable more light on the road? i'm not sure.. but i know that they're going to be harsher on other people's eyes.. are you familiar with the advantages/disadvantages of having an aftermarket HID kit in halogen housings vs. doing a projector retrofit?

I've done my searching around the org and on other websites and I know the advantages/disadvantages... To be honest I'm just trying to get more light for cheap.. Retro is a little out of my budget rite now and compared to my crappy halo housing I need to do some kind of upgrade that will give me more light... I've seen the difference with my fog's and I have to say that my fogs alone give me more light than my current halogen housings...

JoE'sMaX01 · 01-11-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IHAVEA2KMAXIMA

the answer to your question is yes, but its not a super big difference.

Thank you, just wanted to know if the difference was big or just a small amount.. I'll save myself the 25 bucks then and just stick with the 35w.

hi-tek22 · 01-11-2009, 02:33 PM

i put 50 watt HID's in my fogs, BUT I re aimed them

as far as the headlights.............like it was stated above if your gonna do halogen housing, then 35 watt.......50 watt would only increase the ALREADY PERSISTENT GLARE

JoE'sMaX01 · 01-11-2009, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi-tek22

i put 50 watt HID's in my fogs, BUT I re aimed them

as far as the headlights.............like it was stated above if your gonna do halogen housing, then 35 watt.......50 watt would only increase the ALREADY PERSISTENT GLARE

Thanx. Note taken I already ordered the 35watt bulbs..

Thanks for the info and heads up

M1RAG3 · 01-13-2009, 12:15 AM

In the last 1.5 years I have had both a 55w 6000k H3 kit in my projectors and also a 35W 6000K H3 kit. In my opinion the 55w kit was SUBSTANTIALLY brighter under the same aiming conditions than the 35w kit.

As far as putting a 55w kit into the OEM 5th gen housing, I would expect that since the housing is designed to for non-HID applications that there would be more glare than with a 35w kit. However, in a projector housing, there was ZERO additional glare as a result of the 55w kit vs. the 35w kit.

If the projector is aimed properly (ie. lower to the ground as opposed to higher) I do not believe that it leads to glare issues. IMO people that simply chime off "projectors with HIDs automatically cause glare" did not bother to aim their headlights and just simply expect everything to work properly without and adjustment or they just dont have projectors themselves and do not know what they are talking about.

You will be happy to know, however, that one of the main advantages of the 35w kits are that replacement parts are MUCH easier to come by and are MUCH more reasonably priced. My 55w kit blew a bulb after a bit more than a year and it was so hard to kit the right bulb (wattage & connection specifications) that I just bought a new 35w kit!

*sparks03max* · 01-13-2009, 06:56 AM

mirage... they were talking about the stock 5th gen reflector housings causing glare. lol

In any case he's already ordered, but let me second that the 55w (with 55w ballasts) are considerably brighter than the 35w setup.

dnozzle2789 · 01-13-2009, 03:15 PM

i put 35watters in my halogen housings...been infor about a month or two now...i havent been brighted or flashed at once...i mean atleast on my max. the driverside bulb facing oncoming traffic is well out of the way...aimed stock i assume hard and the right. glare is a diferent issue though...still no one has complained to me yet...
buddy of mine has 55 watt 6k and i have 35watt 6k...there is a difference..not huge...but noticeable

DJSARGE · 04-19-2009, 01:51 PM

jus like everyone is saying. HALOGEN HOUSINGS = HALOGEN BULBS! 55w just means u r gonna blind ppl like me faster and hear ppl like me curse u out quicker when i look into my mirror and feel nauseated

Mr. Blue Sky · 04-19-2009, 03:19 PM

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is that in most cases, the HID kit bulbs are just 35 watt bulbs that are being overdriven to 55 watt or whatever by the ballasts(if you don't believe me, then try the same bulb with a 35 watt kit ballast and see that it light up fine). Original 50 watt bulbs like the DL50's from phillips germany, that are built to run at 50 watts cost a lot more and last a lot less than 35 watt bulbs that can be overdriven to 55 watts. Another big issue is the heat that is created by them. From what I have read at hidplanet.com, Kit bulbs do not have the same thickness of the UV reflective glass covering the bulb, which can later cause the chrome of the headlight to get damaged.

If you are going to run it on reflector setups, there may not be as big an issue with the heat, since the bulb has some space between it and the closest part of the headlight, and is more open to the air. This issue becomes more of a problem in most projector housings(like the H3 halo lights for our cars), which tend to have closed in projectors and sometimes have small reflector bowls, which allow buildup of heat. That is why even though I am also running 55 watt, I am running a genuine phillips d2s bulb, with retrofitted projectors, which will cause less heat than kit bulbs. Just a thought.

Revs2Hard · 04-20-2009, 02:48 AM

I have the 50w hid's in my headlights and foglights. I love it cuz I can see everything and I have only had one person flash me there brights. I have had two gilrs flash me there boobs in the last week and yes they where vary nice. back on topic get the 50w for the headlights and fogs.

OhOhMax · 04-20-2009, 07:47 AM

If you get a true 50/55wat HID kit it will be a 50watt ballest and 50watt bulb. A lot of people sell the 50watt ballest with 35watt bulbs or 50watt bulbs with 35watt balests, so be careful about that. I just installed a 50watt 5000K kit in to my mothers '01 Celica and the output is amazing. Plus her car came with projectors from the factory so it works out really well.