hey was just wondering does any1 perfer a 4300k kit over a 5000k or 6000k kit. been trying to decide for months and cant figure out which to get can use a little help. thanks

 

I generally recommend the lower rated kits mostly because they offer more usable light output (lumen's,) are less hard on the eyes (eye strain) and draw less attention from the police.
Put in "blues" and watch 'em appear.
After 5000k the light output drops off significantly, and eye strain goes up exponentially.

Just my .02

 

I agree with Richard. I've had 8,6,5, and, now, 4300K in my car. I live out in the country, and the roads are dark. The 4300 have been the best for illumination. It mimics sunlight around noon. They are wide and project further. They are more yellow than the rest of the line up. The 8k were cool looking but tired my eyes out. The 6k were a big improvement over the 8's, but i wanted to go for the stock look, so i purchased 5k's. One of my bulbs blew, and i wanted to see if there was a difference between 4300 and 5000. There definitely was. You lose some of the blue cutoff color, but you get a more illuminated road.

If you are looking for the the "blue" lights, then go with 5000 or 6000k. Anything higher will tire your eyes and annoy other drivers.

Here's a link to a post where i put the different lights in. The only one i dont have on there is the 4300k.

https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/show...3593#post63593

 

I absolutely recommend going with a 4,300k. 4,300k offers the highest lumen output, and if you're upgrading your lights then I assume you want more actual light. Don't get me wrong a 8,000k HID lamp will still put out more light than a halogen lamp, however it still won't offer the output of the lower kelvin rating. Also bluer lights will tire your eyes out more quickly.

If you want the blue look then installing higher color temp lamps is not the way to get it. The blue along the cutoff is a product of the optics of the projector and lens, not of the actual color of the light. I suggest replacing your frosted stock lenses with clear retrofit lenses from theretrofitsource and spacing the lens out. That will give you blue along your cutoff while still leaving you with bright white light to see with.

 

im a volunteer firefighter and emt so im trying to find something thatll help me see better on the streets that arent well lit. it hard enough to see when you have emergency lights flashing on your car. thats for all the input.

 

Well then, you and "spots" should have a lot to talk about. He's an EMT also. A professional EMT, I believe.

Where are you at, Ted?

 

im out im monmouth county in nj

 

Like Richard said I'm a paramedic in NC. It's really hard to see, but in my sig there's a registry patch in the middle of it.

First HIDs. If you're looking for something to help you see better then HIDs will be quite the boon to you. As I posted above if you want brighter light to see better with then I recommend getting 4,300k HIDs. If you want to clean up the cutoff then swap out the lenses with clear aftermarket ones (I got mine from www.theretrofitsource.com), and if you want to add some of the blue flicker you see on some cars space out the lens. If you find yourself driving a lot off the beaten path or on unlit roads then you may want to consider going with 55w HIDs. Most kits are 35w. The 55w 4,300 kit will put out about 1,500 more lumens than the 35w kit so they can be very helpful if you're driving in dark areas a lot.

If you want an even cleaner beam with better light distribution you may want to consider upgrading your projectors to actual HID projectors. While halogen projectors work alright they don't compare with actual HID ones. You could do it the simple way by finding full HID housings for a 3 and swapping them, or by finding just the internals and swapping them. The hard way would be to retrofit in the projector from another car, but that would involve a fair amount of cutting, fabricating and time.

You mentioned it being hard to see with emergency lights flashing on your car...... Are you talking about lights from other vehicles, or lights in your vehicle? If lights in your vehicle what kind of setup do you have? From past experience with having emergency lights in my car you really need to work the setup so that the lights are not a distraction to you at all. Basically you should be able to tell they're on, but they shouldn't shine in your face, or reflect off the glass at you. What amount/type of lights are you allowed to have installed in NJ?