I've noticed that the HIDs on the Modena, Benz SL500/600 and Audis have a very distinct blue hue to them when coming at me from a distance on the road--really sweet looking. Like the S2000, they have that roundish, bulb-like housing.

But on the IS300 and some of the Acura models who feature HIDs, the light housing actually looks like any other halogen design. And they lack that distinct bluish hue to them.

Are HIDs created equally? I was wondering if the S2000 HIDs are as dinstinctly blue as the European cars.

 

from my experience, older Mercedes and even that Lincoln Mark whatever had very bluish tint to their HIDs. The Audis look really blue from different angles, but as it gets closer, it actually looks more yellowish (from the side of the car). The S2000's HID system is bluish, but on the bright and lighter side of blue.

 

My understanding is that there are only a few manufacturers of HIDs, Phillips being the main one.

That said, HIDs are said to have sort of a bimodal frequency pattern. The main pattern mimicks natural light, that of the sun. There is a lower intensity secondary spectrum that is in the higher frequency band, hence the bluish tint.

Anyway, my guess is that the differences among hids is purely the difference in reflectors from one auto to the next.

 

Indeed, HIDs with ellipsoidal lenses produce a different "edge" to the lights than HIDs within conventional reflector headlights.

 

i love how the HIDs flash and then resume its glow when first turned on.

from a distance, the HIDs on the audis are so blue... but even more so are the SL500/600s on Benzes. SO SWEET. The bluest I've seen is on the Ferrari Modena. Damn.

From what i've seen of the S2000... didn't seem nearly as blue, but then it might be because i didn't see them coming from far away.

gotta love it though.

 

The HIDs are extremely blue on the S2K. While driving on the freeway, I've seen many S2K's with blue lights coming at me from the opposite direction. The lights are very blue, and also, very low to the ground.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Vtec:
[B]i love how the HIDs flash and then resume its glow when first turned on.

from a distance, the HIDs on the audis are so blue... but even more so are the SL500/600s on Benzes.

 

Also another neat note about the HID's on our cars, don't know how many of you have noticed-

If you have the opportunity, get your S2K inside a perfectly quiet, closed space, such as a small garage with the door closed. Leaving the car's engine off, obviously, stand outside the car, reach in the open driver's window, and switch on the headlights. They emit an ultra-cool sound when initially energizing which goes away after a few moments, but it's almost like they're "singing" and it's a sound like nothing I've heard before, probably something about the xenon gas resonating as it reaches full excitement.

 

d,

I have never taken a look at a HID setup (so don't quote me on this), but the sound you hear is most likely the ballast kicking up the voltage to get the bulb to flash over (similar to a fluorescent). Once the gas has started to ionize, the voltage drops back a ways and no more sound.

The sound you hear when standing next to one of those huge power transformers is generally the laminations of the core flexing to the alternating current.

 

MacGyver- I stand here in obvious recognition of the appropriateness of your name! I'm sure you're correct about the origin of the sound I'm hearing, my attempt to explain it was completely unfounded speculation! But it really is an aural treat that we all need to experience!

 

yep, both our CL-S and S2000 make that noise, I'd guess its a trait of ALL HID lights?

Also, I notice this more in the CL-S than in the S2000, but if the HIDs have been off for a few days, the initial startup results in an almost amber color for a split second, then it changes to blue...

My favorite part about the HIDs is pulling up behind cars and being able to see SO CLEARLY underneath them