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10-13-2003, 02:01 AM | #1 |
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HID install (9007 kit in 2003 WRX)
Here are some pics from the installation of the Brightstar HID kit that www.importhookup.com is selling in my 2003 WRX Sedan.
link to a page where all the full sized pictures are: All Pictures First check the box and read the instructions. Make sure you check this DRL removal thread before proceeding. Double Check the plugs polarity. It should be the same as the one in the link pictured Remove the air intake snorkle thing, it will make the installation easier. All the plugs in the kit are one way, there really isn't a way to make a mistake. Unplug the stock headlight plug and remove the bulb. Put it away in the protective cases that the HIDs bulbs came in, just in case you need them later. I cleaned the HID bulbs with alcohol and a lint free cloths before installing them. Make sure you don't touch them, or otherwise get your greasy finger prints on them. This will cause hot spots and significantly reduce the life of your bulbs. Finding a suitable locations for the ballasts and igniters proved to be a challenge. I had originally planned on bolting the ballasts to the engine floor in front of the battery and ABS system. Unfortunately I couldn't get a drill down there, without taking out the battery and ABS system, so I just used the double-stick tape that came with the kit . I cleaned everything with alcohol before applying the tape. continued in part 2
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Last edited by Rapid_Roo; 04-14-2004 at 03:15 AM. |
10-13-2003, 02:04 AM | #2 |
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part deux
continued
Here is the kit installed. Unfortunately I didn't take pic as I was assembling stuff. Something about picking up my F707 and greasy hands that didn't mix. Driver side Passenger side this is why I removed the air intake first continued... Last edited by Rapid_Roo; 10-13-2003 at 06:27 PM. |
10-13-2003, 02:05 AM | #3 |
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part three
part three
This is the result, note I only ran these a few minutes. They seemed to be affected by burn in, thus getting brighter the longer they ran. HID HID w/ Hella 500s in driving light pattern Hellas alone Front view with different exposures (it was about 6pm) that it, hope that helps. RR |
10-13-2003, 02:13 AM | #4 |
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thanks Rapid_Roo, i'll be sure to refer to this once i get my kit
so how does it looks at night with out the hellas on? |
10-13-2003, 02:16 AM | #5 |
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I'll take pictures in complete darkness and let you decide. I haven't really composed a review of this product yet. Kinda beat. Check back in a couple days, need to get out and drive at night.
RR |
10-13-2003, 02:26 AM | #6 |
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10-16-2003, 02:27 AM | #7 |
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so, do any night driving lately? how do you like em?
also, in the installation, do you have to ground the kit to anything? like the battery, or somewhere in the engine bay? |
10-16-2003, 03:00 AM | #8 |
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not much time...
I did get out and do some night time street driving. To and from the Renick Meet. The lights turn on blue and get brighter. I estimate that they take about a minute to hit full brightness. I have been forcing myself to drive around with just the HIDs. One, to see the light pattern and two to test whether or not other people are bothered by them.
Here is my preliminary review. They are bright and not bothersome to other drivers. They are not as white and do not offer the coverage that the ones on my Lexus ES300 do, but they are certainly brighter than the stock bulbs as well as brighter than the PIAA Superwhites that I had in before this install. The dispersion pattern is fair. There is a gap in the middle, but the spread side to side is very good. I think that the gap is from the design of the reflector in the stock 02-03 headlight. One can't fault the HID kit for that. So far no one has flashed me for having the HIDs on, unlike my HELLA 500s which piss just about anyone that isn't blind off. There is also a very big difference in driving down black tarmac vs. grey cement. Driving on cement, offers up the relective potential of the lighter ground covering and basically multiplies the output. So they seem much brighter, but on the black stuff, they lose a bit of their edge. Driving in traffic, one notices that they are indeed brighter than non-HID type lighting. They light up the road just ahead of the car very well. They don't have the night time penetration that I was hoping for, but it is acceptable. I am a bit jaded in that I have a car that came stock with HIDs to compare it with. But in comparision to the way that they were before, it is an improvement. Comparing it to other cars with HIDs you can see that they are very similar, but you are reminded of that gap in the lighting pattern. Comparing it to those pseudo-HID lights, you know the ones that I am talking about ( the ones where they turn the reflector housing blue when they are off), they are brighter and less annoying. Personally I hate those things, mostly them jackholes in SUVs get them and end up blinding everyone else on the road ( I have an answer for them.. . 85w HELLA 500s ) I am still holding off final judement until I have a chance to do some canyon-running in the night. I am also holding off on taking pictures until I find a road that fits the bill. I am looking for something straight, dark, with some foliage on the side and reflectors and signs in the distgance so one can tell the difference in lighting... I am also waiting for my 130watt H3s for my HELLA 500s Back to the install: I rate this install at . In comparison: A headunit swap is And installing the HELLA 500s in the stock fog spot is at least to me. Hope that helps, watch this spot for further information. RR |
10-17-2003, 02:59 AM | #9 |
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10-22-2003, 03:04 AM | #10 |
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Final Review
Well, after owning the Brightstar Kit for about a week or so, I find that the kit does what it claims to be... a viable alternative to factory HIDs. They are certainly brighter and whiter than the stock 03 WRX lights that I had. They are even brighter and better looking than the PIAA UltraWhite lights that I had. They are only limited by the reflector design that does leave a bit to be desired, but nothing that the kit can address. They will never have the displacement or dispersion of factory HIDs from the likes of Lexus, Mercedes Benz or Infiniti. But they are better than some factory systems. They are brighter than the Honda units on the TL-s and S2000. It has better dispersion than a BMW M5 or M3. I basically drove around the entire WLA+Southbay area looking for factory HIDs and pulled up next to them and did a comparision (be glad I got bored and there wasn't anything on tv). I haven't had anyone flashing me, and cops ignore me for the most part. I did make one adjustment. If you note in the above review I mentioned I found gaps in the fill pattern of the lights that I was unhappy with. I gave each headlight 1 turn UP of headlight adjustment. Yes, I raised them from the stock setting. In my case, the front of my car is lower than the rear, by about an inch, thanks to my Hotchkis sport springs. I like the dispersion pattern much better now, and the gaps are less noticible.
The only other change is the use of 130watt generic H3 bulbs from the JCWitney catalog, replacing the 85w units from PIAA. They are noticibly brighter, but more importantly, they are not a soft white that the PIAAs were, but a clean, clear white that better matches the HIDs. I have only used them on deserted streets and on the FWY in the carpool lane, briefly. They are bright, and once I adjust them up farther, they will have incredible range New photos are available on my pbase page: PICTURES HERE Hope that helps RR |
10-22-2003, 03:06 AM | #11 |
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Timing is everything. These lights do take time to get up to their full brightness.
At 30 seconds After 1 minute I don't know if I managed to capture the blue-ness of the lights at start up. |
10-22-2003, 03:08 AM | #12 |
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hey rapid_roo, i notice that my right headlight points out a little further than my left, should i aim the left one up a little more?
would some hella driving lights be good since we lose the highbeams? i was thinking of gettin some hella 500 driving beams also to supplement the HIDs. i really like the kit a lot though |
10-22-2003, 03:10 AM | #13 |
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VIEWS
HID only from inside
HID only from outside HID + Hella 500s from inside HID + Hella 500s from outside |
10-22-2003, 03:14 AM | #14 |
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Looking the other way
looking back at the car, near ground level
looking back at the car standing up (i'm 5'7") Now with the Hellas |
10-22-2003, 03:16 AM | #15 |
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but wait there's more...
Here are side views.
okay that's it. time to go to sleep. RR questions, just ask. Last edited by Rapid_Roo; 10-22-2003 at 03:44 AM. |
10-22-2003, 03:17 AM | #16 |
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great pics!
yeah i notice it on your car too, how the right headlight points out a little further than the left. is that normal since our cars are LHD? how hard was it to hookup the 500s? and did you hook them up so that they come on when you pull the high beam or are they wired independantly? thanks |
10-22-2003, 03:26 AM | #17 |
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response
I think what you are seeing is the fact that these are LHD units and thats the way they are aimed. Hellas 500s can be a pain in the arse to mount and wire. I used the Kartboy mounting hardware, which may or may not have helped out the intall. The install was harded than installing the HID but not impossible if you take your time.
On a side note. People have complained about having problems with their fogs. I have no answer to this because mine are wired seperately, only using the stock switch to activate them. I got the higher wattage bulbs for the Hellas because I do plan on using them in place of my lost highbeams. I have a lightbar coming and I will be ordering some Hella 1000 Rally lights in "cornering" pattern. I will load those with 130w H1s as well (thats right 520w of aux lighting power at the pull of the stick ). I will be preparing a guide for wiring these with an aux switch as well as controlling them from the light control stalk (you know the stick on the left, here in the USA). But first I need about a dozen relays some 12 gauge wire and some more brain cells. So if you are interested, stay tuned, but you know me it could be tommorow or next month. hope that helps RR |
10-22-2003, 03:38 AM | #18 |
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addendum
For those of you wondering. The Brightstar kits are bright enough for street/night time driving. The reason I have such bright auxillury lighting, is that I do night time road rallies on a regular basis ( much like THIS ONE ). For these events, we are on roads that no one else uses, and the use of these "off road lights" are almost acceptable. I wouldn't suggest using these on a regular basis on populated city streets. Unless you are trying to blind SUVs with APC ultrabright headlights, then more power to you
RR Last edited by Rapid_Roo; 10-22-2003 at 03:46 AM. |
10-23-2003, 03:41 AM | #19 |
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Hey, guys and girls
I just installed this kit 2 days ago and one ballast went bad already. Are 2 fuses(20A) came with the kit for burned ballast? I called Tim and left message about this but no luck. He seems to be out of office cause no posting here and no respond email. What should I do? Thanks, Choi |
10-23-2003, 07:42 PM | #20 | |
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Quote:
I haven't seen him post anywhere, so he may be out of town. I wish I could be more help RR |
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10-23-2003, 08:26 PM | #21 |
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Are you sure it's the ballast that went bad? Have you tried the ballast or bulb on both sides?
Those extra fuses are for the headlight cicuits, if the stock fuses get blown due to the high start up current required by all HIDs. Check your fuses first, you may just have blown one. Aaron |
10-23-2003, 09:24 PM | #22 |
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Definitely swap sides to isolate which component is faulty. It could be the bulb, the ballast or the starter. My experience with HIDs tells me it is probably the starter. You should double check the fuse and the connections but chances are if it was working before and now is not, that something went bad. Hopefully Importhookup can get just the part in question under warrantee.
|
10-24-2003, 01:32 AM | #23 |
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Thanks guys for the helps. It's definately ballast because I swapped the ballast and the other side was working fine.
BTW, I got answer from John(Tim's co-worker) and he would replace bad ballast to new one under warranty. Hopefully it will not happen again. |
10-24-2003, 05:01 PM | #24 |
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Hey guys.. yeah sorry it seems we were MIA, but Tim had to leave the country on family emergency... he didn't give me the info to reply here on the forums until only a couple days ago... I also have 100+ emails on Tim's email account!!!
but yeah, if any of you guys are experiencing problems w/ the kits... feel free to contact me at [email protected] -John |
10-27-2003, 03:12 AM | #25 |
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hey rapid roo,
do the driving lights only come on when you pull the highbeam switch, or is there a way to wire it independantly? how long did it take you for installation? i'm going to be getting some next pay day. |
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