BlahBoy

Absolutely. Get a pair of Osram Silver Star bulbs (50% more light) and let us know how they are.

Well, those bulbs are fairly cheap, but you've got pretty much no idea on their quality, and when you factor in their shipping fees, it's going to cost you at least as much as buying reputable bulbs from anywhere else. The website offers a generic warranty for 30 days, but you wouldn't be happy if the bulbs failed in 31 or even 90 days, so the warranty is basically meaningless.

Depending on the vehicle's design, changing bulbs can sometimes be an exercise in contortionism, but it will generally be straightforward and a whole lot easier than installing a HID kit... Your Nissan manual should tell you what bulb sizes are used, otherwise you can take them out and identify them by eye. You might even be able to do this without removing them, if they are visible from the front of your headlights. There are photos of bulb types both on PIAA's website and on Powerbulbs. Use your old bulbs as spares, and keep the glass clean. (Avoid touching the glass, and if you do, clean it with alcohol. Same goes for your new bulbs.)

Except that LG Electronics does not make light bulbs. Further searching reveals that the MegaLight name is usually associated with Tungsram, which is a General Electric owned company in Hungary.

I should mention that I strongly suspect that PIAA bulbs get their light by overcurrent - drawing more power than the stock bulb. This explains their strange statement of 110W of power from 55W. So, just beware, make sure your car's wiring can handle the increased current, and also of heat problems within the headlight. Reminds me of something that happened to a guy with big lights but stock wiring. After a night out, he was in his car while his mate or mates were taking a leak in a dark alley, so as a prank, he pointed the car at them, and hit the high beam. All of a sudden, his car horn and all of his lights were on, with no way of turning them off, the guys in the alley all lit up while taking a whiz, and everyone turning to look because of the car horn. The high current draw had melted the wiring harness and short circuited everything. Possibly an embellished story for the sake of entertainment, but absolutely plausible. Who makes this 'LG MegaLight Plus 50%' bulb? Beware of shoddy imitations.

I'm not sure, but I think halogen bulbs that can be used for both high and low beam should have two filaments, and H1 bulbs have only one filament. Looking at the PIAA range, the bulb types that have two filaments are 9004, 9007 and H4. If your car is using H1 bulbs, then your high beams should be in a separate bulb, meaning that if you installed a HID kit, you would replace your low beams only, and high beams would be unaffected. Otherwise, your options are losing high beam, or installing a bi-xenon kit. Installing a second HID kit for high beam does not sound like a sensible recommendation - HIDs take time to fire up, so you can't flash them, and rapid on-and-off usage puts heavy strain on the bulbs, ballast, and your electrical system. Also, just checking, you do realise those PIAA bulbs included in your GB aren't compatible with the HID kit? They're just fancy HID look-alike halogen bulbs. So, were they the bulbs to swap into your high beams, while the HID kit replaces low beam?

Thanks for the info Blade, I'll take it into consideration. I guess I am biased by some older info I have read, where PIAA bulbs didn't do too well, also some second hand information, you know, someone buying bulbs and having them go out after a few weeks. But it sounds like you are really happy with them! I'd love to check out photos of your headlights, when you post them. I'm actually about to purchase the proper HID kit from XenonDepot.com so I'm not looking around for halogen globes. Actually, looking at your group buy, I'm a bit confused, because I don't know what bulb types a Skyline takes. The HID kit would have been for low beam, what were the PIAA bulbs for?

I don't mean to sound argumentative, but that's not necessarily true. The PIAA bulbs might be decent, but I'm not convinced that they are good value for over $100. I would also strongly object to Philips being labeled as an imitation. In fact, Philips and Osram-Sylvania are likely the two biggest forces in automotive lighting. Their halogen products are simply the best, and for HID bulbs, they are the only two brands taken seriously. mindflux, if you want the best halogen bulbs available, go to Power Bulbs. The Osram Silver Star and Philips Vision Plus bulbs are the best bulbs by performance. If you buy from Power Bulbs, shipping is free, and you even get a free pair of Philips Blue Vision W5W sidelights - all for less than $50. (Check whether those sidebulbs will go in your car, otherwise you can sell them or pass them onto a friend. I have those and they are quite nice.) You might be able to get them cheaper locally, but it's a pretty good deal.

May I put in my 2 cents? Firstly, all OEM HID setups use 4100k temperature. As I emphatically mentioned, the blue tinge does *not* have anything to do with the colour temperature. Blade, sounds like you are very happy with your PIAA halogen bulbs. It is quite possible that they put out more usable light than your original bulbs, but I have seen objective testing where they put out less. It could just be that your mind perceives more light because of the whiter temperature. PIAA's website didn't tell me anything useful though, spouting nonsense such as getting 110W of light from 55W power. I have heard that PIAA are famous for creative advertising... From what I have seen, a properly done HID setup should be worth every cent, but like Blade, a lot of people are happy with halogen. HID's reputation is generally tarnished by the amount of dodgy gear on the market that doesn't perform. Regarding Blade's comments on having the correct HID bulb, this is also a tricky area with retrofitting HID. Properly rebased bulbs (such as those from XenonDepot.com) allow you to buy bulbs that fit without modification, while preserving focal length (situating the light source where the projector or reflector expects it to be). Although, having said that, I don't really know how much performance is dependant on this, and unless it is a very poorly done job, your bulb should be situated roughly where it should be, regardless of bulb and headlight brand.

Off the bat, the "HID look-alike" halogen bulbs that are available everywhere are generally junk. If you want to upgrade your halogen bulbs with other non-junk halogen bulbs, Philips and Osram are the best brands to look at. I have previously purchased from Power Bulbs. Everyone (yes, everyone) needs to read the following information: http://www.intellexual.net/hid.html There is a lot of information and misinformation on HID lighting, and also a lot of false advertising. If you are not one for reading, I will try to summarise what I feel are the most important points I have picked up. Firstly - colour temperatures above 4100k sacrifice light output. I will repeat that - colour temperatures above 4100k sacrifice light output. With higher temperatures, you go from white to blue and finally towards violet, to the point where there will be less light on the road than with run-of-the-mill halogen bulbs. Furthermore, blue light is fatiguing on eyesight, and also produces glare which will affect other drivers. The above linked page has pictures that demonstrate this very effectively. So why is there demand for these higher temperatures? Well, partially because a lot of people see the higher number and assume it is better (possibly equating it to light output) but mainly because people desire the blue/purple tinge that is present in OEM HID setups. This is the next key point - that tinge of colour is caused not by the gas discharge bulbs, but by the headlight structure itself, a projector arrangement, and can be seen only from certain angles. The light being put out by OEM HID setups is still pure white. However, when you use a high temperature bulb, you end up with that colour coming straight from the bulb - it appears blue/purple from all angles, and the light on the road will also be that colour. Remember, this is now at the expense of light output, and fatigue on the eyes of all observers. Building on that, the projector headlight is a strongly desired part of a HID lighting setup, either by obtaining headlight clusters for your vehicle that use projector optics, or by taking a projector/reflector assembly and fitting it into your existing headlight clusters. They are not necessarily essential, but without it, you may get an incorrect beam pattern, with hotspots and/or areas with no light coverage (commonly right in front of you, where you need light most). It might also be possible that your light will be incorrectly aimed and dazzle other drivers. I would regard that as the key information when considering HID lighting. I am fortunate to have projector optics as standard in my headlight clusters, so I need only install HID bulbs and ballast. I have decided to purchase from XenonDepot.com, as they have Philips ballast, professionally rebased Philips bulbs, and a good quality relay harness, in addition to being well priced - US$469 shipped. Further reading can be found in the HID section of the Automotive Lighting FAQ. If anyone has any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Hey, everything is going ahead, and I've received your emails, I will be replying when I decide to take deposits. Scotsman, can I put you down for one then?

Hey mate, It's all coming along great. Should be finished in a month or less. I was going to send out a mass email to let you all know, but email addresses aren't listed in profiles and the email function doesn't work. Makes it difficult not knowing who is checking in on this thread. But I do have the list of who has confirmed their order: sidewaymambo nismoman18 eriktufa Salps12 2crazy NRB Endorean Some of those guys have emailed me, so I know their email addresses, but not all of you. If you haven't, and you're reading this, it would be useful if you email me at blahboy AT iinet.net.au, so I can pass on my bank account details to take deposits and payment. Cheers!

Either tonight or tomorrow I am going to tally things up and do this as one lot. I'll let you know on payment, it would be helpful to get deposits. Sit tight, I'm on the case.

Um, thanks? There aren't that many details - if you'd like one, you let me know. Best guess, will be $70 for the package.

The whole thing is really easy to set up, all consumer still and video cameras have a thread on the bottom that is standard sized, which attaches to the thread on the mount. I'm afraid I still don't have any photos of it set up in a car, so here's an embarassingly cheesy sketch done by me in MS Paint in an attempt to explain: Obviously, the drawing is rough, but hopefully you get the idea. Depending on the car, the mount might be set up with the camera towards the rear glass rather than away, and if there's a real lack of room back there, then you would omit the tripod and sit the base of the camera mount directly on the rear parcel shelf. Leaving the camera hanging isn't recommended as you don't get a steady picture. Hope this helps!

I'm going to give this another few days, then I'll let you all know.

You can put it at the front of the car no problem. $60 sans tripod could be achievable, it's entirely dependant on numbers. Reason is that I can source the suction cup cheaply from a wholesaler, but there is a minimum order quantity. Otherwise, if I get them retail, it will be about twice as expensive, plus each unit carries a larger burden of shipping. So if you're interested but concerned about price, step forward, and I'll work things as best I can.

I've just gone through this thread and realised how long ago it was started - apologies to the people who were hanging out for this, PranK didn't really let on the full extent of what was happening. If all of the people who said they were interested still are, then please, let me know now, I think the price will be closer to $70. I also noticed in the forum rules I'm not supposed to ask people to post expressions of interest... so I guess I'm sort of taking orders. Please either post here again if you want one or email me, or send a PM.

Ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the wait - my thanks to PranK for raising some interest in my little project here. Without further ado, I present to you, pictures of the camera mount: I don't have any pictures of it set up in a car, perhaps PranK will provide some later, but these photos should give you a fair idea how things work. Typically, you'll have the suction cup attached to your rear window, and the camera standing on your rear parcel shelf supported by the tripod. So, your camera will see something like this: Initially I only made a few of these for friends like PranK, but seeing the interest shown here, I am prepared to do a 'production run'. My price to PranK was 'mate's rates' and not including the mini tripod, so price including tripod will be $80 each, less if I get plenty of orders, seeing as how this is a group buy. If you would like one, please email me (blahboy -at- iinet.net.au) so I can prepare accordingly. Cheers!