HID Comparison - Retrofit Vs. Stock

[LightWerkz]

Lots of people have been asking me for output pics, but the truth was I never really got anyone together for comparison shots since I have been really busy. Its too hard to tell in pictures what is better, and whats worse since pictures are deceiving these days because of photoshop and what not.

I setup this experiment to truely capture the real differences in light output, sharpness of cutoff line, color at cutoff line, and also distance. The experiment consists of all Subarus: 06 STi with stock headlamps, 05 STi with stock headlamps, 05 STi with '06 S2000 Projectors, and lastly an 05 STi with TSX Projectors.

These pictures are not modified in anyway. The camera was sitting at the EXACT location until we moved further and further back. Same settings on the camera throughout entire photoshoot as well, the only thing that has changed is the car.

Pictures arent the best, lighting was optimal either, but what do you expect at 36 degrees! It was freezing and I want to thank all the people that made it happen.... Steven - Mark - Berto - Myself !

Here we are at 15ft:


s2k

06 STi

TSX

05 STi

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[LightWerkz]

Moving back to 50ft:

s2k

06 STi

TSX

05 STi

[LightWerkz]

Alittle closer at 30ft:

s2k

06 STi

TSX

05 STi

[LightWerkz]

Now showing the distance

S2k

06 STi

TSX

05 STi

[eurospek]

Thanks for teh info! S2K FTW!

[rice h8r]

Esteaeye, why are your headlights adjusted so high? Hopefully you guys all had the headlight controller set at the same level...
what's with the little bit of "flare up" of the TSX'ed ones?
S2K's cut off is so clean and sharp but I love the purple color of the washer modded [I'm assuming] TSXs. Btw do the washers just angle the projector lense more to create that colorful cutoff?
man the stock 06 STI's cut off sucks. Almost looks like when people put in HIDs into the 06+ halogen projecters.
and of course, reflecter HIDs FTL!!!

btw, would you ever considering putting Q45 projecters in? Some Lexus ppl do it since it is so big and nicely fills in the stock housing, not sure how nice the output is though. regular projecters are so small in the 04/05 housings.
really quick, what are the best projecters you can buy? LS430s, TSX??

[LightWerkz]

I like how your bringin the original name back

Mine are adjusted correctly the others (05/06 STi are a tad low- stock)

Flare is 100% normal on the TSX projector, just part of the game when you add washers. Its always a compromise...

The washers bring the shield further away from the lens, closer to the bulb. The s2k retrofit has only 1 #8 washer in each projector.

06 ST cutoff is very very poor, you are right about that. In person its actually worse...

Yes no comparison to the poor 05 STi owner, he was sad when he left!

Q45 way too large, cant happen.

ls430 are the best single xenons out there (widest output ever), but the size kills it since they are hard to retrofit, esp. in the 04/05 housings. S2k comes in a top of the line single xenon that will fit into the 04/05 housings.

TSX is just good for the buck, thats about it. It does give the nice color and sharp cutoff but it lacks width and intensity. The TSX's are great for a person who doesnt have deep pockets but just wants a simple upgrade from reflector housing...

[Psybin]

Nice contribution to the board. And a hell of a marketing tool also.
Amazing the diff between your car and the other 05 STI.

[CVR STi]

^^ yea i no 06 cut off sucks .. ceaser is a beast though , and he will be working on mine soon .. anyone that needs work on there headlights HE'S THE MAN TO GO TO !!

[LightWerkz]

Thank you, mainly I wanted to do just the s2k retrofit vs. stock 05, but it adds alot more to the experiment when I decided to call up a few other buddies to get in on the fun.

Yeah the difference is pretty clear.

[rice h8r]

Btw what do you think about the Philips 6K Ultinions compared to a standard 41/4300K bulb?
Btw do 5000K bulbs exist?
haha one last thing, why are the Philips bulbs so cheap on eBay?? it's like $100 for two... Seems fishy to me even though a lot of the sellers have great feedback.

[wrxzboost]

i have tsx projectors in now...were the 05 sti headlights with stock bulbs?

i might actually be going back to sti headlights (last thing before being stock)

[LightWerkz]

Originally Posted by rice h8r

Btw what do you think about the Philips 6K Ultinions compared to a standard 41/4300K bulb?
Btw do 5000K bulbs exist?
haha one last thing, why are the Philips bulbs so cheap on eBay?? it's like $100 for two... Seems fishy to me even though a lot of the sellers have great feedback.

I sell both the philips 5000k, and philips ultinon 6000k. If interested, please PM me. How do they compare? Well its tough to see, but I have the 5000k, the result is a hint of blue, but more so a whiter output.

No set of philips ultinon go for 100 for a pair, they are most likely immitiations...

Got a link for the ebay?

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1148229

[LightWerkz]

Originally Posted by wrxzboost

i have tsx projectors in now...were the 05 sti headlights with stock bulbs?

i might actually be going back to sti headlights (last thing before being stock)

Yes all of the cars had stock bulbs, except for mine, have the 5000k, but its hard to tell a difference, unless they are all lined up in a row. I had take pics like this but they didnt come out as planned.

[wrxzboost]

thanks for posting pics...this has helped a ton.

[LastResort]

I never really had any interest in retrofitted HID's, but now I suddenly realize they are substantially better than a takeoff that would fit my application. Hmmm....my want list growith.

[sevendhappy]

Originally Posted by LightWerkz

Thank you, mainly I wanted to do just the s2k retrofit vs. stock 05, but it adds alot more to the experiment when I decided to call up a few other buddies to get in on the fun.

You should find a bugeye buddy. Sorry. Nice comparison though. The TSX projectors look like they shoot out wider than the '06 sti projectors. Maybe it's because it looks like the '06 cutoff dips down while the TSX flares up a little. That s2k cutoff is sharp! [Borat]"It's a nice!"[/Borat]

[Ghosthound]

aside from doing installs, do you sell tsx or s2k projectors as well as hid kits(bulbs, ballast, ignitors)?

[1SiKWaGoN]

How much do you charge to for the install of the s2k projectors in an 05 sti? Were the stock 06 s2k bulbs used with the projectors? If not, what bulbs were used?

[Handsdown]

that's awesome. best comparison i've seen on here yet.

it would be nice to get a (fairly underexposed) comparison between 06 sti and 06 H7 projectors with adapters and D2S, to see how the halogen bowl and fresnel lens affect beam width, pattern, focus, and cutoff.

maybe someone with a stock 06 would volunteer?

[sevendhappy]

Originally Posted by LightWerkz

ls430 are the best single xenons out there (widest output ever), but the size kills it since they are hard to retrofit, esp. in the 04/05 housings. S2k comes in a top of the line single xenon that will fit into the 04/05 housings.

Pics to help visual learners. Pics dug up from HIDplanet.com. Obviously the guy does not drive with these lights. He's just demonstrating the light output from each car's HID setup.





*Keep in mind that the LS430 uses a combination of projector/reflector to achieve that wide effect.*

[jezzy]

WOW.. that LS is wide ! An extra 5-10 feet on each side.. very impressive.

Great job Caesar ! I love seeing all the differences between all these projectors. I guess I'll sell off my 06 STI projectors now ! LOL

[LightWerkz]

Originally Posted by Handsdown

that's awesome. best comparison i've seen on here yet.

it would be nice to get a (fairly underexposed) comparison between 06 sti and 06 H7 projectors with adapters and D2S, to see how the halogen bowl and fresnel lens affect beam width, pattern, focus, and cutoff.

maybe someone with a stock 06 would volunteer?

Honestly I think the 06 could be ALOT better with a clear lens and some sort of shield mod...I will be experimenting with this soon. Just need to find a a used sti projector!

[LightWerkz]

Anyone have a single sti projector they could sell me?

[dchou]

Originally Posted by rice h8r

Esteaeye, why are your headlights adjusted so high? Hopefully you guys all had the headlight controller set at the same level...
what's with the little bit of "flare up" of the TSX'ed ones?
S2K's cut off is so clean and sharp but I love the purple color of the washer modded [I'm assuming] TSXs. Btw do the washers just angle the projector lense more to create that colorful cutoff?
man the stock 06 STI's cut off sucks. Almost looks like when people put in HIDs into the 06+ halogen projecters.
and of course, reflecter HIDs FTL!!!

btw, would you ever considering putting Q45 projecters in? Some Lexus ppl do it since it is so big and nicely fills in the stock housing, not sure how nice the output is though. regular projecters are so small in the 04/05 housings.
really quick, what are the best projecters you can buy? LS430s, TSX??

LightWerkz is corect the LS430 are huge projectors. They are one of the lsrgest projectors. And incredibly hard to retro, this is from experience. But the following picture illustrates why people say the LS430 provides the widest beam:


Here is the picture of how much I had to hack the housing to retro the LS430 into the 04/05 housing. The picture actually has a TL projector in there, but all that cutting was to accomodate the LS430.


How the LS430 looks once retroed into the housing. You can see the bottom reflector that provides the LS430 its amazing beam width.


These lights aren't done yet because I'm still waiting for my superflux LEDS to arrive so I can finish my turn signal LED retro at the same time.

LightWerkz- Don't mean to hijack your thread. Just wanted to show people the ridiculous amount of effort for a LS430 retro.