[I335]

I see lots of threads about xenon headlight upgrades and everyone says "get these if you don't want to sacrifice brightness too much..." I'd like to upgrade my headlights to something that just has more light output so they light up the road better. Is there anything like that available or are the stock HIDs as good as it gets?

[buckshizzo]

I would have to say that it's as good as it's going to get. Replacing the bulbs won't do anything. We're actually limited by the projector that's in our headlight. The projector is responsible for light distribution and output. Unfortunately Bosch makes our projectors and Bosch projectors suck ass.

Stanley makes the projectors for the Japanese cars and their light output is way better. I've done multiple HID projector retrofits for my Honda. I used an Infiniti FX projector with a clear lense from an Acura TSX and it's sad to say that my civic headlights have a wider and more intense beam pattern.

I've looked into retro fitting better projectors into our headlights, but it's very difficult to find a bixenon projector that will work with our headlights. The adaptive headlight motor and the fact that we use D1S bulbs makes it difficult. Most HIDs will run a D2S bulb.

Going to a colored HID bulb will just decrease light output(i.e 6000K, 8000K). Our factory bulbs are rated 4,100K which gives us the best lumen rating(how much light the bulb is putting out). Plus, I think colored bulbs look tacky.

[Mike@F1 Autohaüs]

Stock 4300k would provide you with the best output since you need that hint of yellow for visibility. If anything I would recommend the Philips 5k D1S if you want a whiter output with minimal loss in visibility.

Another option would be some HID fogs

[I335]

So you guys are saying my assumption is correct - there isn't anything brighter available for our cars? Thanks for the help!