I have the usual problem with my HID's. Which bulb should I use? It will be the D4R, but there are many different intensity's. From 3000 to 10000. Which is going to give me the best night vision? I am going to buy the aftermarket Phillips bulbs and do it myself. Just need to know which color to get. No way in the world will I EVER pay the Toyota dealer what they want to put in a light bulb..... OR the price they want for a bulb.. Please give me the lowdown on what is best.
3000 = yellowish light, best for fogs 4300 = most light output, a bit of a yellowist tint 5000 = next best light output, whiter light, a bit of a yellowish tint 6000 = a bit less output, blueish light basically 4300 or 5000K if you're concerned about safety. Most people like 4300 'because it provides the most lumens, but I personally like 5000's bluish tint but fairly white light in the dark. The higher the Kelvin rating after 4300K, the less lumens (visible light output) but the more exotic color. As in, 12,000K is all show, no light.
I put 6000s on mine. To me its perfect, does not look "ghetto" or too blue at all. Everyone says it looks normal. 10,000 is much too blue and will be too bright. Good luck
Which one is the factory bulb, 4300 or 5000? Whatever the factory bulb is, isn't great. I get a LOT better vision with my Camry Hybrid lights which are halogens and did with my Hyundai XG350L which were halogens also. I believe they are called "projector beams" in both those cars. I just want better lighting than I have. I am not impressed with the HID's for the usual reasons. Which bulbs will give me better light for the fog lights also. The fogs are virtually useless, they have a yellow look where the headlights have a more white look. The headlights are brighter than the fogs and do a better job. I just want something as good as I have had in the past. Thanks
Yes, projector beams as opposed to reflective lenses as you have now. Factory is 4300, but a 4300K HID light will look 3x brighter than factory halogen. Projectors get to focus the light in a smaller space so they seem to look brighter to me. If you want effectiveness, you do want a yellow light for th fogs. You won't see through fog with a bright light, and yellow's color characteristic enables it to help you see better. Just try driving with your high's in between fog and you'll know how effective they are.
The factory HIDs are actually pretty good, in fact, better than most cars. When I see a Prius behind me with HID headlights at night, it looks like an exotic car. Nevertheless, if you want to upgrade them even more I'd go between 5000-6000K.
I don't disagree with your choice of bulbs for a fog lamp provided it really will be used as one. I almost never encounter fog, but I do encounter situations in which I'd like more light in front of me plus some cast to the sides. In this respect, choosing the highest possible light output, rather than color for maximum efficiency as fogs, makes the best sense to me (I replaced had the original fog bulbs changed to PIAA 9006 Xtreme White Plus at 4000k). Then, one only has to overcome the limitations of the adjustment for fogs -- which, for all I can figure out -- don't have any real way to get them to cast some light to the sides. And, after adjusting the fogs upwards, they still don't put much extra light in front of me. Time to adjust some more. The fogs on my Sebring do work as I'd like. I'd conservatively say they've helped me miss two deer by seeing them sooner than I would have using just stock headlights. They've also helped me when going through subdivisions at night (which are almost never illuminated here). I use the low beams plus fogs instead of hi-beams because I can more easily pick up the kid or pedestrian nearby.
