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projector vs. HID

4K views 27 replies 20 participants last post by  63330  
#1 ·
Is there a difference? What is the difference?
 
#2 ·
The differance is about $1000.
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Projector lights use a standard bulb and 12 volts. THe lens is a projector type.

An HID is a special bulb, a transformer is used to boost the wattage and the give a bluish discharge. They are very expensive to convert the focus to true HID.

Thats all I can think of. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong.
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#3 ·
some wheres around $650.00 can get you the Mach Audio Focus headlights. Which are "true" HID. Which will be the same lights that will be optional on the SVT next year.

The HID is a much brighter & whiter light.

Mach HID Bible

ed.

[ 02-24-2003, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: Ed_Cloud9 ]
 
#4 ·
Anymore now, true projectors and the Mach HID headlights are about the same price range. Both sell for anywhere from about $550 up to about $650. I am going the Euro route and getting the ST170's. They do have RS(euro) HID headlights but I dont know how much they cost since the place that sells them says to inquire about pricing instead of listing it.
 
#5 ·
If you can convince or know someone who works for ford the MACH o.e.m lights are very enexpensive. I got mine for $338 shipping include the tabs where not broke and the aiming was fairly simple. One bad note I paid $200 to have them installed the guy owns a mercedes performance shop and warrants his work. Your best bet, find someone who works there and pay them a few bucks it won't hurt them and it will help you!
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#7 ·
Mach's will run you anywhere from 250-300 a side
and are very easy to install. Takes about an hour once you get all your wires setup.
CATZ makes an HID conversion for our cars and it isn't all that expensive under $800.

Catz HID

Our cars use the H-4k which is the same as 9003.
 
#11 ·
The HIDS would probably be cheap considering all you have to pay for is the headlights and install(optional). With the projectors you pay for the headlights, the painting, and the installing(optional). The painting alone , if painted by a true professional, usually cost about as must has the lights. All I know is that I have the Triple Bulb Morrette Projectors painted liquid grey like my car and it looks 100 times better than any HIDS I have ever seen. I love my headlights and wouldn't trade them for the world.
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#12 ·
Originally posted by SeymourS2:
The HIDS would probably be cheap considering all you have to pay for is the headlights and install(optional). With the projectors you pay for the headlights, the painting, and the installing(optional). The painting alone , if painted by a true professional, usually cost about as must has the lights. All I know is that I have the Triple Bulb Morrette Projectors painted liquid grey like my car and it looks 100 times better than any HIDS I have ever seen. I love my headlights and wouldn't trade them for the world.
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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">hey seymour, on ur triple morrettes, the projector-these are the low beams and are the bulb size h1's?? and the highs, they are h7's?? is this correct??
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#13 ·
Originally posted by Slane:
ST-170's are projector style lights.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">NO THEY ARE NOT...ST170's are not projectors, they are just a diff. design than the NA headlights...(same style as the 02 euros)...but i am upgrading my ST170's to HID from XenonDepot.com in the srping, i'll let you guys know how they look/perform...
-chris
 
#14 ·
Seeing how you're in Canada...a few things
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The projector units can be easily purchased through any Ford of Canada dealer. The Mach HIDs...well that's a different story. Canadian Focii owners have put a bounty on the person out East who complained that they were not directly plug&play. Then Ford of Canada realized they shouldn't sell the HIDs because of Daytime Running Light issues. That one person has ultimately screwed all of Canada in one twist
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The Hella projectors and Mach HIDs are both made by Hella.

Pricewise, Hella projectors and Mach HIDs are comparable, if you include wiring, painting, etc. A dealer connection told me Hellas painted and installed by the dealer runs $1,300 CDN. The HIDs would have run about $500 CDN per side, plus the additional under $100 CDN for wiring from VW, connectors, etc. Other projector companies may be less expensive.

I know that the Hella projectors and HIDs have the same "cutoff" beam pattern.

ST-170 lights are like the Euro 2002 (MK-2) and RS lights in being H1 & H7 bulb units. No projector units here.

If you get an aftermarket HID kit for lights, you must be very careful on glare issues. Bad glare can lead to collisions and/or tickets.
 
#15 ·
Whats up TurboCAT, to give you an idea how the projectors and HID work together, check out my homepage.

The projectors are curved lens units in headlamps that "project" the HID/halogen light onto the road. They create a very sharp cut-off as opposed to reflector based headlights, where the light source is reflected, instead of projected from a optical lens. That doesn't mean reflector-based HID headlamps (ie. Acura TL) aren't any good, but for lighting performance, projector units (ie Bmws, Mach Audio Focus) will always perform better and put more light down the road based on it's unique design and better beam pattern/cutoff. Not to mention there are halogen-based headlamps (both reflector+projectors) and there are Hid-based 'lamps (reflector+projectors) designed for their purpose to handle the correct lumenosity of light (Hid or Halogen).
 
#20 ·
Originally posted by SyNRG:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by SeymourS2:
The HIDS would probably be cheap considering all you have to pay for is the headlights and install(optional). With the projectors you pay for the headlights, the painting, and the installing(optional). The painting alone , if painted by a true professional, usually cost about as must has the lights. All I know is that I have the Triple Bulb Morrette Projectors painted liquid grey like my car and it looks 100 times better than any HIDS I have ever seen. I love my headlights and wouldn't trade them for the world.
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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">hey seymour, on ur triple morrettes, the projector-these are the low beams and are the bulb size h1's?? and the highs, they are h7's?? is this correct??
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</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yes that is correct. Again I love them.
 
#21 ·
Originally posted by Mtlca401:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by wrcfocus:
I'm confused. Are ST170 headlights HID or not? Cuz the last time i checked they were just regular halogens
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yes, someone needs to clarify this so their is no confusion.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The NORMAL ST170 lights are halogens (H1 and H7).

However, the ST170 can be *equipped* with HIDs, similar in styling to the Mach Edition HIDs...only they're E-code
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#25 ·
Hmm if you want to make them euro headlights DOT...maybe you can just slip by the inspectors by...

...using the headlight covers from the stock U.S. DOT approved headlights and slap them on the euro ones.
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[ 02-26-2003, 01:53 AM: Message edited by: Hi-Risk ]
 
#26 ·
Originally posted by NacronSE:
Last time I looked at the mach audio lamps there was no DOT stamp on them.
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