rtbiscuit Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 This question has arisen partly to do with my change in car and hence the change in headlights, but one i think is relevant for Zed owners as the headlights change between pre and post 06 350Z's what is the difference between HID lights and Projector lights; are they the same thing? i think its a quesiton lots of people wonder but never ask for fear of feeling silly; as i have no fear of my stupidity, i thought i'd ask. the question was also raised when i put headlight converters on for going to france, the instructions specifically pointed out that you fitted the stickers differently depending on if your car had HID's or projector lights. so the questions: Whats the differnece between HID's and projecotors? Are they the same thing? are projectors better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 I dont believe the 2 terms are exclusive... they're different things entirely. You can have HID or Halogen lights, and they can be of a projector or reflector type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 I dont believe the 2 terms are exclusive... they're different things entirely. You can have HID or Halogen lights, and they can be of a projector or reflector type. If you have HID's or xenons then legally you need projector lights. As HID's are brighter they neer to be projected onto the road like a rounf circle usually. If you have Hid's with reflecters then the beam will go everywhere and it will not be aimed or self leveled. They can also dazzle other users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 half way down does a much better explanation than me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted August 27, 2010 Author Share Posted August 27, 2010 Thanks so far for the information, i have found this all very interesting i didn't know the difference between bulbs etc and the delivery systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 Thanks so far for the information, i have found this all very interesting i didn't know the difference between bulbs etc and the delivery systems. I take it your car has normal bulbs and you want a HID kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted August 28, 2010 Author Share Posted August 28, 2010 Thanks so far for the information, i have found this all very interesting i didn't know the difference between bulbs etc and the delivery systems. I take it your car has normal bulbs and you want a HID kit? no mine has projectors, just been really impressed with the improvement over my old car, and was wondering partly why, i knew what they were, but then it got me thinking about what all the different terms meant, i'm a bit more clued up now. also come across some new terms like bi xenon etc. my understanding so far is that the facelift lights use 1 bulb and projector unit per side of the car, but have a shade/shutter that drops out of the way to give full beam which is apparently bi-xenon. the pre facelifts don't have a moveable shutter so in order to give you high beam they have the dipped and high beam as 2 different lights with 2 different bulbs per side. the HID part is the bulb they come in differnt shades from a very blue light to a very white light depending on the k value of the bulb. thats what i've learnt so far anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 You are correct Rich. The MY06+ models have BiXenon, which is a single HID bulb and projector for dipped and high beam, which uses a shuttler to operate the high beam funtion. Pre MY06 models have a single HID bulb and projector and a "normal" halogen bulb for high beam duties. I dont think legally HIDs have to be focused by projectors, but given the extra light output they offer, its common sense that manufacturers use them. They also have the advantage of making the light unit much smaller than an equivellant reflector unit and also a far far better cut off pattern. HIDs do however have to be self levelling and have a washing function. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo-R Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 I had an MY06 S2000 and the headlamp projectors was facelifted to the one you have. I find the S lighting far superior to the Zed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted August 28, 2010 Author Share Posted August 28, 2010 I had an MY06 S2000 and the headlamp projectors was facelifted to the one you have. I find the S lighting far superior to the Zed i've got an 02 model so pre face lift but the lights are still good, but looks to be a single light unit, so my guess is its bi xenon as well my zed was a pre facelift as well so had the old setup, i tried swapping the bulbs out to a higher k rating, think it was 6500k made the light alot more white (had the faintest of a blue tinge to it) but i never found the light dispersion on the zed brilliant, they worked; but i always noticed when travellign next to someone in the dark on a dual carriage way that their light pattern would go further that mine. always wished i had the facelift bixenons on my zed, they did look so much nicer as well. thanks everyone for the help, its answered alot of questions and put the terminology right in my head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo-R Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 I put 6000K bulbs in the S2000 and gave it a nice crisp light with slight blue I have 8000K bulbs in the Zed and its a prefacelift too. The lights in the zed dont light up as far as the s2000 regardless of what type of bulbs go in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narcotix Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 While on the subject of headlights ... How can you tell if you have the Xenon lights on a Zed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 While on the subject of headlights ... How can you tell if you have the Xenon lights on a Zed? all about pre/post facelift in 2006 post '06 are xenons I think ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccaman Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 I swapped my OEM lights for Bi-Xenon from Paul T & the difference is fantastic. Used to hate the light given off by the OEM's, especially on B roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkie34 Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 I had a set of the pre 06 lights fitted while Dreamcustomz moded my post 06 lights.I noticed the older lights gave a worse light output compared to my own. In fact a few times I had to check that I had actually turned them on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted August 28, 2010 Author Share Posted August 28, 2010 While on the subject of headlights ... How can you tell if you have the Xenon lights on a Zed? both are xenon, but the post 06 is bi-xenon, both use a HID type bulb as both require a ballast to run them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 While on the subject of headlights ... How can you tell if you have the Xenon lights on a Zed? both are xenon, but the post 06 is bi-xenon, both use a HID type bulb as both require a ballast to run them. Not all Z's have xenons, usually if its a uk and has headlight washers it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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