Borntorun04/17

Thinking of getting Corvette Mods HID headlight kit. My car is stock this will be my first mod . I would really like better lighting. Those of you that have this kit are you happy with the upgraded lighting ? Did you also get high beam and 55 watt upgrade ? Last when ordering resistor will that be already wired in or will I have to splice in my self. Thanks in advance for your help.

Vettmann17

I did the ACA projector upgrade about two years ago. The difference in light are night and day and they look great. Didn't upgrade the hi beams since I rarely use them. After installing them I had to put one resistor in (doesn't matter which side) for the buckets to close and re aim the headlights. Be careful before turning the golden rods and spray where the rod goes into the mechanism that turns with PB blaster and let it sit for a day before turning it or you will snap the rod. The only thing I am unhappy about it since there is a dramatic increase in light and a sharp beam cutoff there is a lot of light shaking when driving. Tried more than once to fix it but there really is nothing you can do about it.

P.S. if your going to do HID's you should do the projector lenses. The stock lenses cause a blinding situation for oncoming traffic since they don't aim the light, just scatter it.

john8642

The HID kits that uses the stock housings seems to have mixed results. Some people are happy with the results, some say that the light is scattered and interferes with oncoming traffic. Here's a thread I started a few weeks ago. I ended up using HIR bulbs in stock housings and the 4-Hi harness to keep all four bulbs on for high beams.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...eadlights.html

Here's another long thread that covers just about all the options for better headlights. It really comes down to how much you want to spend. The cost for my mods were about $125, and I am happy with the results.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...t-upgrade.html

rob-cyn

I did the upgrade using the stock headlight bucket. The difference is well worth the time and money and I have never been flashed by oncoming drivers.

alxltd1

This question comes up a lot and if you search you will find a ton of threads around this subject.

The main points are: if you just put HID kits in your stock lenses you will get an improvement, but as stated the HID bulb since not developed for the stock reflector type lens will scatter the light output and may cause blinding of oncoming traffic. Though to be fair a number of members have done this and not reported being flashed by oncoming drivers (indicating that maybe it is not an issue or that maybe they have their lights aimed low enough to not cause an issue).

Using a projector type lens like the ACA, which can be acquired from several forum vendors, will provide the type of lenses that HID bulbs are designed for and maximize their output. If you do get the ACA type units the low beam only is a projector lens, the high beam is still a reflector type lens. Also, unless modified, as one forum vendor is doing, the unit when aimed will align only the low beam as the low and high cannot be separately aimed.

Then there are the dual projector type (low and high) from some vendors that cure aiming issue and provide true HID benefits for high and low beams. All this gets significantly more expensive as you will find out.

I went with an ACA unit, modified to help the highs align better when the lows are aimed correctly. I use an HID bulb in the low beam projector and an HIR bulb in the reflector lens high beam. I also have the halo modification around the low beam. I also had a resistor that used to be available that was a plug and play type and did not require splicing any wires. It is no longer available from the forum vendor I got it from but I have seen it on the auction site. I was told it was discontinued because it did not always work, but it has for me. The difference over stock is an order of magnitude better and night driving is a pleasure. I also upgraded my fog lights to HID as they are projector lenses as they come from the factory. The difference there is also significant. Hope this helps more than confuses.

Borntorun04/17

Thankyou for all the responses and great info. I don't do a lot of night time driving , but would like better lighting with out a big cost factor. That's what got me thinking of Corvette Mods upgrade. rob - cyn did you do the low beam only or upgrade high beam and 55 watt ? What about resister was that already wired in ?

Mr.Bill

When I first bought my C5 I needed to do something with the lighting and bought some HID kits, After about 6 months and seeing my car coming at me while I was in a different car at night I said WTF, It was terrible what I saw, The lights splattered everywhere, I ordered a set of ACA projectors soon after and now they work as they should.
I would say save your time and money and go right to projectors.
Do the right thing.
Mr.Bill

Borntorun04/17

Thanks Mr Bill, Vettman , john8642 ,rob - cyn, alxltd1 .Maybe I will but a little more thought into this mod. Beside changing out housing on projector type is the wiring plug in type or is there splicing ?

Mr.Bill

Plug and play. Very easy to do.

Borntorun04/17

Thanks again

LoneStarLizzard

Mr. Bill's responses are spot on, including his comment on the ease of installing the ACA HID units (plug 'n play).

As the saying goes, you can do it right or do it twice. I have heard war stories about LEOs ticketing drivers whose cars have HID bulbs installed in stock housings. So in my opinion, strongly consider at the least doing the ACA HID upgrade. (The ACA units are stamped DoT, which means the US Department of Transportation has approved their use on US cars.)

Now if you REALLY want great nighttime lighting, do the Radioflyer upgrade. His is the premier projector lense-based HID upgrade, which includes both dim and bright HID lighting, although his units are about $300 more expensive than the ACA HID upgrade. Here is a link to his website:

http://shop.radioflyerinnovations.co...lights-015.htm

I bought my ACA HID upgrade kit, together with HID fog lights, from JW Motoring, as he had special pricing for the two upgrades if bought at the same time. He might do the same for you. Here is a link to his ACA upgrade:

http://shop.jwmotoring.com/JW-Motori...BLKHOUSING.htm

Be sure you study the "brightness/whiteness" of the various available HID bulbs before you decide which HID bulbs to buy. I bought the 6000K HID bulbs and am happy with them. Anything less than 6000K throws off increasingly yellow tints (and not as much light) and anything over 6000K throws off increasingly bluish tints and also less light. In my experience, the 6000K bulbs are not offensive to oncoming traffic.

Just my $0.02 worth.

The Lizzard

LoneStarLizzard

Mr. Bill's responses are spot on, including his comment on the ease of installing the ACA HID units (plug 'n play).

As the saying goes, you can do it right or do it twice. At the least do the ACA HID upgrade.

I bought my ACA HID upgrade kit, together with HID fog lights, from JW Motoring ($365 for the ACA kit), as he had special pricing for the two upgrades if bought at the same time. He might do the same for you. Here is a link to his ACA upgrade:

http://shop.jwmotoring.com/JW-Motori...BLKHOUSING.htm

Now if you REALLY need great nighttime lighting, do the Radioflyer upgrade. His is the premier upgrade, but also about twice as expensive ($650) as the ACA HID upgrade. Here is a link to his website:

http://shop.radioflyerinnovations.co...lights-015.htm

Be sure you study the "brightness/whiteness" of the various available HID bulbs before you decide which HID bulbs to buy. I bought the 6000K HID bulbs and am happy with them. Anything less than 6000K throws off increasingly yellow tints (and not as much light) and anything over 6000K throws off increasingly bluish tints and also less light. In my experience, the 6000K bulbs are not offensive to oncoming traffic.

Just my $0.02 worth.

The Lizzard

Borntorun04/17

Thanks LoneStarLizzard I was just on jwmotoring web site checking the headlights out. Thanks to again for all the responses and very helpful info.

mike_engr

In the past 24 hours I just installed a HID 9006 kit (supposedly 5000k slim 55W) in my stock 2001 buckets to improve the low beams and I also followed some on-line instructions to add a relay to keep the low beams on when the high beams are on. I did it all for about $40 - - the relay and fused-wiring was left over from an old foglight kit and the HID kit was new from EBAY!

Last night with just the HID portion and a little aiming it was an amazing difference! This is my first HID venture and I am stoked. Absolutely go for it.


I'm driving around with a TORX driver so I can continue to tweak the aiming at night including the fog lights (no one has flashed their lights at me yet!) but IMHO a HID upgrade of any type is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for C5 night driving!

PS: So far, the bucket closing is a little "hit or miss", It works sometimes and other times I've got to play with the HighBeams. I may have to add a resistor or small bulb to draw another amp or so to make the closings more consistent.

Mr.Bill

No matter how much you adjust them they will never be correct, The reflectors in the factory head lights are not designed for HID bulbs plain and simple.
Been there and done that... lol
Mr.Bill

TheRadioFlyer

something worth considering:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...at-doesnt.html

mike_engr

Yes, absolutely,
I did my research, and I know there are better specific C5 solutions out there (notably RadioFlyer's), but I had to remove my buckets anyway this weekend to lube & gently free up all 4 of the goldenrod-type worm-gear adjusters (two vertical, two horizontal), so I figured I'd slap in some 9006 HIDs and the relay at the same time.

I've only had my C5 for 3 months and I still enjoy the styling of the pop-up headlights, so, no worries, I'll probably soon put in a black housing projector kit of some type.

As I wrote, I'm just giving a thumbs up to an "HID UPGRADE OF ANY TYPE!" ....... Go for it.

rob-cyn

I didnt do the high beams. I went with 55w digital ballasts and bought the relays and the harnesses with the built in resistors. Everything was plug and play so the hardest part is securely mounting the ballasts and working in the tight area underneath the headlight buckets but take your time and enjoy the project. I switched my turn signal lenses to clear and bought switchback led turn signal bulbs so they match the headlights when the signals are not being used. Looks really cool.

alxltd1

ACA units with 6000K HID low beams, HIR high beams, 6000K HID fog lights and LED strip in corner lights. This was before getting the Halo mod done to the low beams. Picture is not the greatest.

Borntorun04/17

WOW all the info will take a bit to figure out what I want to do. Like I said I don't do a lot of night time driving so I just need to figure out cost verse amount of time used. I like the Radio flyer bi - xenon look and lighting. I like cost of corvette mods and lighting is brighter than stock lights. Thanks again for all the responses.