2plus4plus0EQ6

I've heard that the kouki headlights from japan are a little bit different than the ones from north america. or maybe.. is was the s15 headlights...

Anyone else heard the same or am I on crack? pics anyone?

Thanks

silviaks2nr

iTrader: (1)

yes the s14 kouki jdm headlights are noticeably different. the jdm low beam projectors are mounted further out towards the corner of the light, and the internals are quite different, as well as the imprints on the inside of the lense.

SoupBA

Are you asking about the s13 or the s14?

ka-tfresh

mostly likely s14...as usually kouki is associated with the s14's

usually...

is the fitment different though?

silviaks2nr

iTrader: (1)

no

usdm

jdm

-jdm lights also have a line in the chrome headlamp bezel

2plus4plus0EQ6

ya I meant the s14 kouki headlights. I am thinking about doing that front end conversion on my car. Are those headlights projector? Im not quite sure of what projector means..

I've taken a look at the kouki ones on clearcorners.com. Apparently they are tweaked for hid, but only come with low beam.

Does anyone have any closeup pics of both jdm and usdm? I couldn't find any

Thanks

2plus4plus0EQ6

oops sorry silviaks2nr.. didn;t see that pic of the usdm under your HUGE pic of your car lol

silviaks2nr

iTrader: (1)

lol. yes they both have halogen projector based low beams and reflective halogen high beams. the clearcorners.com lights have the low beam halogen projectors swapped (retrofitted) with hid projectors. kinda like my hid retro, but not as good

2plus4plus0EQ6

I have been doing a lot of research on this recently and noticed you reply to pretty much every thread that relates to anything being retrofitted hah

you should do a final write up.. it would make your job a lot easier lol

1. I also read on a post that you used the lexus projectors.. because they fit perfect or because they are the best bang for the buck kinda thing?

2. OK i got a dumb question. is the low and high beam thing have to do with the projector itself or the bulbs or ballasts? (im guessing the projector)

3. I've heard that the HIDs can't be used with projector headlights because they will melt the housing or something. Anyone else heard this?

4. To me, the signal lights on the jdm look more square than the ones on the usdm which look a little rectangular. I read on raceonusa.com that the lights are pretty much identical tho. Anyone else see a difference?

5. I am looking to get the jdm kouki headlights. Wouldn't a H1 bixenon HID kit work fine with this? (i think stock kouki are H1) instead of all of this retrofitting stuff?

silviaks2nr

iTrader: (1)

1. personal preferance, affordable projectors with nice characteristics

2. basically a projector lamp has a shield inside which blocks the light reflecting off of certain areas of the projector bowl, as the light passes around the shield and through the lense an image is projected, the beam, aka the "cutoff line". single xenon projectors have a fixed shield that only casts a low beam pattern image. there are bixenon projectors which have shields that change form as an internal solenoid is activated, changing the shape of the shield changing the pattern from a low beam
pattern to a high beam pattern... so it has nothing to do with the bulbs or ballasts, all about the projectors.

3. hid burners actually do not get as hot as halogen bulbs. so what you might have heard is a common misconception.

4. the jdm and usdm blinkers are different as are the bumper covers.

5. i would never advise anyone to buy a rebased hid kit and put into a halogen headlamp. you need to swap out the guts (projectors) and use oem hid parts alone to attain the best results. oem hid bulbs have a d2s base and can only be used in hid projectors. you really cant get decent results with a drop in kit without major modification, and rebased kits are made in factories with many inconsistant manufacturing processes, basically poor quality parts that won't last long.

please refer to my recent thread in the style forum which further explains the reasons why rebased hid "kits" should not be used in halogen based applications.

2plus4plus0EQ6

ahh interesting. thanks for the info. I will read up on that post in the style section. Might take me awhile since im used to picture books

heres the link if anyone else wants to read it.
click HERE