Headlight upgrade HID vs LED

[Matthew]

I was wondering what is the best way to go. I want to upgrade my headlights so they are brighter. I have two options.

I can either get a CREE LED headlight kit for about $80.
I can get a 9007/HB5 6000K WHITE BI-XENON DUAL BEAM HIGH/LOW HID kit for $40.

Being that Projector Headlights or aftermarket Headlight housings simply DO NOT exist for my car i have to use the OEM housing. Which is the best option that WONT requre aiming of the headlights as i have no clue how to do that?

Topic

[college man]

here are two ways to do it.

[Matthew]

perhaps you missed my point. i know HOW to install them im just asking which is better HID or LED

[kyiame]

I would say it depends on what you want. In my experience the HiD upgrades are superior in brightness, hence visibility, but tend to be a bit more complicated to Install properly. LEDs offer a good brightness improvement but are easier to install assuming they are direct fit to your halogen bulb’s specs.

So If you only want a reasonable brightness upgrade without much hassle, Go for the LEDs.

if you are after max brightness and don’t mind a bit more work installing go HIDs, but make sure they are a good brand kit ($40 seems way too cheap to me :s ) and since you don’t have projectors on your car I would recommend bulbs like those in the ETCG HID video above where the bulb has a shield which blocks about half the light emitted so you don’t blind other drivers when you install them in your reflector headlight housing.

[Matthew]

would it require re-aiming the headlights?

[kyiame]

I think either would require adjustments because of the greater light ouptut.

[Slobodan]

If the LED driver is designed correctly and if thermal design is also done properly, LED should last a long long time. But, if not, they will fail a lot sooner than claimed. The problem is that LEDs do not emit infrared-red light (basically heat), so all of that heat is concentrated in the little PN junction and it is difficult to cool.

HID is self-cooling, since it emits heat away from itself, but it is sensitive to ON/OFF cycles (unlike LEDs).

[Lorrin Barth]

I drive a car that came with HID headlights. Other than the look I can’t say they are any different than standard filament bulbs. They’re probably brighter but the eye doesn’t see the light as well. The eye is most sensitive to green and then progressively less sensitive as you move the color towards blue. In other words, the eye is more sensitive to the yellow light of a standard bulb than the white light of my HIDs.

Older cars had undersized headlight wiring. If you jumpered directly from the battery to the headlamp you’d see a significant increase in output. With underhood relays in the headlight system I doubt rewiring would make much difference anymore.

[Author]

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