Sigh, I've been sitting around for a whole week now, trying (and failing ) to decide what temperature HIDs I want to put into the Lows and Fogs. My current HIDs have been giving me problems soooo it's time to change it up...

I have been thinking a 6000k in the lows, and 10000k in the fogs.... thoughts??? what about a 8000k in the lows.. and 12000k in the fogs???

SUGGESTIONS!!!!--- I need em!!!!

 

I have 10,000K in my Low's and my Fog's, Im OCD about things matching so I had to have them match lol. But If your looking for a blue tint, I would go 8,000K in both Low's in Fog's.

 

From what company are you buying? I wouldn't go anymore than 6000k, near all OEM vehicles with HID are 4300k.

 

You're losing light output with anything above 4300K. I got 5000K for my low beams because that's what was available when I was looking but I'd use 3000K's for the foglights.

 

I agree with Alzilla. My research said anything above 4300K is losing light. I personally don't like the blue tint - it looks too much like the cheapo ricers but everyone has their preferences. I was actually thinking of putting 3000K in the fogs as it give the yellow fog light appearance. Not sure if it's still valid but the yellow for fogs was suppose to be better in actual foggy conditions.

 

I am going to Test out VVME's new digitals for myself/friends. 6000k is good in the lows, but the fogs ofcourse dont need that much luminosity!!! right?

 

Hmm I dunno how right this statement is actually... O.o... from what I know, around 6000k you gain the highest visible luminosity (daylight is around this CCT, horizon is around 5000k or lower ).. Still this is a difficult question to answer since one must identify how our HID temperatures directly relate to the black-blody radiators that they attempt to compare with... 4300k should be a bit to the right side of the spectrum, and should create a more relaxing yet slighty less visible light. I'm not a physicist though! So until we get one here to explain the relationship between the spectral power distribution and color correlated temperature, we cant know for sure!

@ Eruby, hey if you look in this section (exterior and lighting) Grip installed some yellow fogs and we discussed them fairly in full... jump over if your curious and want help there..

 

This is what I found when I was doing my research before buying my HIDs:

Reference: Automotive Lighting tutorial – HID, Halogen, kits
Bulb Colors
Color selection is a big part of HID selection. Almost all factory (OEM) HID kits are 4300K but some manufacturers use 6000K. The higher the Kelvin or K rating on a bulb, the lower the light output in lumens. Many aftermarket companies offer HID kits of 8000K, 10000K or 12000K. In my opinion, the only reason one would buy a kit with a Kelvin rating of over 6000K is that they are misinformed or uneducated in the area of lighting. Many people will try to tell you that bulbs with a high Kelvin rating (the bulbs that are very blue or purple) are brighter than those with a color of 4300-6000K. That is 100% false. For visibility purposes do not buy a kit with an extremely high color temperature. You can see below how quickly light brightness declines as color temperature increases.
Here is a chart of K vs. lu
3000K = 4000lu
4300K = 3200lu
6000K = 2900lu
8000K = 2450lu
10000K = 2200lu
12000K = 1800lu

 

Hmm very interesting.. I was wondering if the color correlated temperature to a black body radiator (which is what the kelvin stands for on the HID bulbs) would also fairly correlate with the lumen efficiency. Seems that is doesn't

(Black body radiators increase luminous efficiency to 6500k and slowly drop as they increase further).

BUT there is still a question to answer... what percent of the light is visible to the human eye, and what light is best absorbed... Even if the 3000k lights have the highest lumens, how well can we even see the light (aka luminosity function). The same question should be applied to the 4300k and the 6000k. Just because the 4300k has slightly more lumens according to this research, it does not mean that the luminosity function of it is greater than that of the 6000k... Meaning that you might have more absorption of the 6000k bulb resulting in higher percieved light...

Obviously (and i never disagreed), the more blue you get, the less lumens you get and the less visible spectrum you see... but this is a good thing for your fogs. Our fogs do not direct light very well... using higher kelvin HIDs in them is probably a better idea than blinding oncoming traffic, especially if you have lost your fog lamp caps.

 

I have 5000k in my low beams and stock halogen bulbs in my fogs now and am VERY happy with the neutral white color. I probably will be using 3000k in my fogs eventually as they are supposed to be aimed down, but I'll verify before purchase.

I am also planning to get 30,000k bulbs for my high beams as I have not used them even a dozen times in the 5+ years I've had this vehicle. I want them to match my purple dash lights.

If our fogs bleed that much upward, then they are useless as fog lights anyway. Is anyone aware if they can be aimed? I have not really checked that myself.

 

i like the highbeam idea! and the fogs do serve their pupose, but in general they scatter alot of light elsewhere... i just think having tooooo much brightness in them is a bad thing. i have had 55w 8000k and 35w 8000k in them and the 55w was wayyyy too bright for oncoming traffic.

 

12000k ftw.. nothing else looks as good. PS don't use HID's in the high beams, they don't get bright enough quick enough.

 

I don't 'flick' my high beams, they are either on or off for a good period of time.

 

Depends on what wattage you are going for.

55w washes out the colors a little bit.

I.E. my 6000k 55w HIDS are bright white. Not blue at all.

People say 5000k is the brightest white you can get though.

If you want blue in your fogs, i'd go 6000k Lows, 10000k fogs.

Good luck

 

I ended up buying a 6000k 35W and a 10000k 35W for my lows and fogs respectively! i will post pictures of this color combo when they arrive and have been installed (~August 20th - after my MCAT). Hopefully the 6000k will provide sufficient visible light, while the 10000k wont blind anyone!!!

BTW... I decided to go back to the 35W after being flashed so many times by oncoming traffic..

 

looking forward to your pics.. b/c I've installed 6000k for lows (which look great) bu tim still undecided whether to get 8000k or 6000k for my fogs