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Best Turnkey HID Projectors?

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Old 06-05-2007, 03:55 PM
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Default Best Turnkey HID Projectors?

Alright folks - the tC has been around for years and as far as I know, nobody makes replacement projector headlight housings that are built for HID. I know Umnitza came onto the forum promising to develop just that but AFAIK, nothing came of it. I know some people have retrofitted projectors into the stock housing and others have put HID in either the standard reflector housing or cheaply modified reflectors with cut-rate cutoffs.

Can anyone tell me where I can buy a high quality projector housing for HID on the tC? If it's out there, you know I want it!
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Old 06-05-2007, 04:24 PM
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High quality projectors?

They don't exist for the tC yet that I know of. It's sad, I know.
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Old 06-05-2007, 05:35 PM
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what about using the 08 projectors?
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Old 06-05-2007, 05:48 PM
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Yeah - it's pretty amazing that nobody is making them for the tC. I'm always surprised and that's why I posted this topic - I thought maybe someone came up with something!

As for the 08s, are you saying the tC will have them in the new model year?
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Old 06-05-2007, 05:56 PM
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Yea but they're only on the High Beams. Unless... RETRO!
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted by a_german_named_hans
Yea but they're only on the High Beams. Unless... RETRO!
So you're telling me the 08 tC will have HID projector highs but halogen reflector lows? That's ridiculous, but still enticing - got any more info on this?
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:06 PM
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https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=177827
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:32 PM
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Um, the projectors on the 08 are for the low beam. I can't find the press release... but that's where it said.

And it's yet to be determined if they're actually decent or not yet. If they are, I think you'll start to see a lot of them appearing in 05-07 models.
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:37 PM
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Does is say that they're HID? You can use projectors for either, so it would be good to know. I don't like the lump in the housing, but if they're putting HID in the lows, I'd pay quite a bit to get a piece of that!
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:41 PM
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Here's where I was reading it:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/01/2...ing-announced/

And no mention of HID. I wouldn't expect it anyways. But if they're decent projectors, you should be able to put a HID kit in and have no troubles - depending on the cutoff and beam.
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:41 PM
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I don't think the 08 will have oem hids.
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:43 PM
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Well throwing HID in projectors built for Halogen will probably work about as well as throwing HID in reflectors built for halogen. There is a chance that's not true, but I don't think projectors in and of themself are the thing we need - it's HID projectors. There are already aftermarket projector housings of at least some quality... what's so hard about hooking up some HID people!?!
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:52 PM
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Originally Posted by orangesuburban
what about using the 08 projectors?
Sorry, they're basically the same projectors on the 07 Camry... they're just projectors meant for halogen/HIRs - not HIDs.
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Old 06-05-2007, 06:55 PM
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Good to know, but sucks for us. If they're useful for retrofit purposes, that might be nice, but as it stands, I don't think this gets us much closer. I've always thought that Toyota wants to stay away from HID for Scion because of it's "cheaper" status (just like leather seats). Someone has got to know how to get HIDs into this car in a good way!
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Old 06-05-2007, 07:47 PM
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Originally Posted by paul34
Originally Posted by orangesuburban
what about using the 08 projectors?
Sorry, they're basically the same projectors on the 07 Camry... they're just projectors meant for halogen/HIRs - not HIDs.
2007 Camry cut-off...





Not too bad. I can't tell if those two hot spots are coming from the low beams or something else.
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Old 06-05-2007, 08:00 PM
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Yeah! That looks pretty nice, frankly. Is that with camry projectors retro'd into a tC or is that a camry in the shot? HID?
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Old 06-05-2007, 08:01 PM
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Those are actually 2 different Camrys, both with plug and play HID kits.
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Old 06-05-2007, 08:10 PM
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Not bad... not bad at all! If the 08 tC projectors look that good with HID, I think I could use it.
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Old 06-05-2007, 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by XtC2006
Originally Posted by paul34
Originally Posted by orangesuburban
what about using the 08 projectors?
Sorry, they're basically the same projectors on the 07 Camry... they're just projectors meant for halogen/HIRs - not HIDs.
2007 Camry cut-off...





Not too bad. I can't tell if those two hot spots are coming from the low beams or something else.
Yea I've been in a few at night. Nice cut-off, but I'm afraid that since its not specifically designed for the special needs of a HID bulb, that it will still be inappropriate.

Remember, one could argue that our halogen housings give a decent enough cut-off... but that still isn't good enough for HIDs. I'm sure its the same case here.

If cut-off was all that was needed, than I'm sure it'd be ok. But it doesn't work like that, AFAIK =(
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Old 06-05-2007, 08:24 PM
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Well I don't think that's truly the case. Reflectors do just that - they reflect light without much focus. The lack of cutoff and the different bulb positioning and geometry with HID really creates an issue. With projectors, you're focusing the light and you've got a cutoff in regardless of what bulb you're using. Swapping out for HID could definitely add hotspots and work in a less efficient (or horrible) way, but it probably will be pointed in the right direction and be cut off correct, so if that is true and the hotspots and light output are acceptable, I think it might be ok. Purpose built would always be better, but since that isn't an option, I might settle for something that is close.
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