2005 Chevy Cobalt

[waloshin]

I have a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, and I don't want to retrofit with projectors, so I am going to use the stock housing which I hear is really good.

I am having a hard time choosing between:

A) DDM 35 watt 4500k HID slim ballest

B) DDM 55 watt 4500k HID slim ballest

I want light output around here. Is this too bright?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qm9zHtolCc&feature=related

 

[John_Galt]

What you hear is wrong. Putting HID bulbs in a halogen reflector housing is neither legal, nor safe.

Also, even in a real projector, 35W is the maximum legal limit in the US.

The guy in the linked video has what appears to be a retro fit with projectors, as shown by the sharp cut off line. You will NOT achieve this cut off with a halogen housing, ANY halogen housing. Projectors and reflectors are meant to handle two very different type of light, and a projector/reflector designed for one will NOT work with the other.

Without doing a proper retrofit with real projectors, this modification is definitely illegal. Even retrofitting in a quality set of projectors is, from what I've read, still a legal "gray area," because it is illegal in the US to modify the OEM headlights in a vehicle.

Get the idea of HID bulbs in the halogen housings out of your head. It is ILLEGAL TO DO! You'll create lots of unnecessary glare for others on the road, lose a difference in aim and output from low beams to high beams, and generally be an *** to everyone else on the road...

 

[AnAppleSnail]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qm9zHtolCc&feature=related

"2008 Accord retrofitted with TFX projectors and 55W 4500K DDM kit. TFX projectors are a result using FX35 projectors mated with TSX lens. Special thanks to Lightwerkz for the amazing work!"

The youtube video specifies that he used projectors, which properly build a HID beam pattern and have a cutoff to avoid blinding drivers. See how the stop sign isn't glowing? One of my friends has a computer-controlled cutoff, and when hunting for a sign on back roads he'll pull it off the light. Anything reflective anywhere blasts your eyes with reflected light. If you don't have proper reflectors, your foreground light will be too bright, blinding you to whatever stray photons make it downrange.

4500K is a good color, but in reflectors you'll be disappointed, dangerous, and unable to see. Why spend any money at all for something that won't work as well as your current headlights?