Then I take it you've got the OEM halogen projectors. I was actually able to get pictures of them and their OEM HID counterparts side-by-side in another post, but can't find it right now.
On to the differences: the OEM halogen projectors have a shorter body (contains the confocal polyellipsoid reflector suface, known as a "collector"). The Honda OEM HID projector is visibly longer. The shorter projector body is excellent for the halogen bulb as a light source with its axial filament.
If you put a re-based HID capsule into that shorter OEM halogen projector, you can actually get a tiny more light down the road. True, if I place a light meter at the extreme end of the beam pattern down the road, the HID does have the slightest edge in down-the-road light throw. That is the only plus, and it's a minuscule one at that.
The negatives:
1.) There is no industry standard for dimensions of re-based HID capsules. You may end up with two different light patterns, one on the left, one on the right. Indexing is only marginally helpful.
2.) The HID capsule doesn't give a nearly straight axial distribution of light, and the halogen projector's collector curvature is not optimized for that. Out of all the extra lumens that are being generated, most of them will end up "in your lap". In other words, the headlights become more like "puddle lights".
3.) You will get the appearance of more light, but in the wrong way. Most headlights of any sort still unevenly distribute too much light in the first quarter of the beam in terms of light thrown down the roadway. With an HID capsule in a halogen projector, most of your lumen increase ends up right in front of your bumper, worsening this already uneven light distribution. It ends up in the bottom half of your visual field, in your face, wrecking your dark adapted vision.
I work a lot with NVD's (night vision devices) for the DoD, and I've used them at work, a lot. I can tell you that this type of boosted foreground lighting greatly reduces your eyeball's dark adapted vision to detect distant objects, almost exactly in the same way that "skyglow" wrecks visibility of foreground vis in a set of night vision goggles while airborne. They are negative effects in different parts of the FOV, but identical in how the negative effect is generated, namely by too much light in the wrong place.
Yes, it looks cool, all that bright foreground light ahead of the bumper, but you're not achieving the goal of better light throw down the road as measured against light throw in the first major fractions of beam pattern ahead of the bumper. HID is supposed to be a complete system, namely the collector/projector (headlight) mated properly with the light source (HID capsule), and of course the power source. I'm not a fan of HID "plug and play" or HID "drop in" kits. None of them do what they promise.
A lot of guys on the Trans-Am and Firebird forums remove their old rectangular sealed beams, and retrofit Hella 60mm halogen projectors. Good stuff if they use the intended 9005 halogen bulbs, or immensely better, HIR1 halogen bulbs. Sadly, after all that hard work, many opt for re-based 9005 HID capsules, and the pictures of their beam patterns look just weird to me.
You've got an expensive, modern vehicle. I wouldn't put a cheap HID kit into it. Collect your $$$, take your time, and pursue a proper HID lightning system, if HID is your goal.
OF
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