Ebay Projectors, how bad are they? - Honda Prelude Forum

vile10 · 01-29-2006, 11:15 PM

many members here advise to stay away from them, i want to know just how bad the quality really is? does it not fit right? blurr? or easily crack?

those used to have them plz give honest review

thx

jinusean · 01-30-2006, 01:12 PM

I have seen a set on my cousins 4th generation prelude. I think they have the worst lighting of all when it comes to doing what they are suppose to do. If are considering of picking some up, you'd better make sure its a 9006 bulb. I know a few of them only run H3(fog light bulbs) and the lighting is so bad its like sitting in the dark with a flashlight. The 9006 bulbs work a bit better but they don't have reflectors like the OEM headlights and don't glare to get signs as well either. Hell, even the highbeam looks just like normal headlights. There is a few luders over on Honda-Tech that are running projectors from ebay and I know one has a HID kit and it doesn't look so horrible, just has a great amount of glare. I think they look too cheap to be on a prelude anyways, I prefer either OEM with retrofit, JDM, or JDM with a retrofit HIDs.

That is an honest opinion, hope it swayed you some way.

red92s · 01-30-2006, 01:57 PM

A lot of people find the output from the JDM blackhousing headlights severly lacking as well (myself included)

Ludster · 01-30-2006, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red92s

A lot of people find the output from the JDM blackhousing headlights severly lacking as well (myself include)

i totally agree.

petern101 · 01-30-2006, 03:53 PM

i figured.......dang but they look soooooooo good

red92s · 01-30-2006, 04:57 PM

The whole arguement in the initial posts is that the Ebay projectors are crappy because of their sub-par lighting quality. I agree that the JDM balckhousing headlights look far-and-away better than the projectors or USDM lights, but in my expereince the quality of lighting is significantly worse than the stock units and probably on par with the cheap projectors. Sure an HID projector retrofit gets you the best of both worlds, but then you are looking at $600+ in lighting and havent even touched foglights.

vile10 · 01-30-2006, 05:06 PM

i think all of you posted what i need to say, JDM looks good but it's as bright, i am thinking of going for HID but retrofit is just way too expansive, i want to know if there's alternative

petern101 · 01-30-2006, 05:11 PM

keep it stock? lol.........i already have my one piecers (haven't installed them) but i hope the sylvania silverstars will be okay........

vile10 · 01-30-2006, 08:13 PM

i am running on silverstar right now, it's bright, but not bright enough IMO

jinusean · 01-30-2006, 09:26 PM

Well I know that HIDs in JDM headlights do not work as well as normal H4 bulbs. I think if you run JDM 1 piece headlights and aim the H1 (high beam) down, the lighting is so much better. What I did before was cut off my 9006 harness and spliced on the H1 wiring and ran it with the normal headlights instead of cutting of my 9005 headlamps. I just wanted to see if it would work and it did work fine for a few weeks. After that I picked up an HID kit and settle with that and right now I am in the process of a retrofit.

Point, the H1 for driving lights were fine just as long as I aimed the a bit lower. I never got a flash for doing it so I don't think it was really distracting. Some may say different but I never got any flashes from doing it this way. By the way, the 9006 I had was spliced into the H4 and I used those for highbeams instead of the H1s in my JDM headlights.

95_5speed · 01-30-2006, 10:06 PM

Not to thread hijack here, but could somebody please tell me the sizes of my 1995 prelude low, and high beams?

9 double 0 what? I want to replace all 4 bulbs, and I would like to know which size both of them are. Thanks

Oh, and my opionion on the ebay projectors, they dont give off much light at all.. I dont know why but i saw them a while ago on someones car at a restaraunt, and they were about as bright, as lighting a match.

petern101 · 01-30-2006, 11:03 PM

9006 should be the low beams......and 9005 should be the high beams

i'm like 80% sure

95_5speed · 01-30-2006, 11:10 PM

Would you like to ask the audience, or phone a friend? j/k Thank you, based on the post above.. I do belive you are correct.. I just wonder also, why the heck would they use two diff numbers.. isnt the number just a code for a different way to plug the light in?

I found some GE Knighthawk bulbs, and tried them on my other cars. They are the brightest bulbs I've ever used. They made my silverstars and other ghetto random ebay lights look like trash. They are WHITER and BRIGHTER!! so I'm going to replace all my bulbs with them.

merlindavis · 01-30-2006, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 95_5speed

I just wonder also, why the heck would they use two diff numbers.. isnt the number just a code for a different way to plug the light in?

sometimes, but not always... there is no set pattern to determine what a bulb is from it's number, each bulb is assigned a name and that's that...

different bases, filament orientation, and a few other things that are sometimes unique to two bulbs that would otherwise be identical...

EDIT: in the case of 9005 and 9006. the 9005 doesn't have an opaque cap on the top, allowing more light out, and thus is used as the highbeam... the cap on the 9006 prevents any light from escaping directly out of the housing without first being directed, allowing for beam control...

95_5speed · 01-30-2006, 11:28 PM

Could I plug 9005 into all of the sockets and have some killer bright lights? Or would the 9005 not fit into the socket for the 9006?

Great explination by the way, that makes it easy for me to understand.

95greenlude · 01-30-2006, 11:32 PM

^^^ that would be a good idea to solve the JDM headlight problem....

**edit** nevermind....JDM's use different bulbs

merlindavis · 01-30-2006, 11:37 PM

you could, but you might severly fuxor any hope of a beam pattern and be flashed constantly...

i don't have any personal experience with the jdm one piece light pattern, but what i've noticed with my hellas is that i feel like i have less light on the road, even though i know i have more... it's just a matter of going from a US pattern, which puts light up a bit to illuminate street signs, to a european/jdm pattern, which doesn't allow for upward lights, except to the passenger side (driver's side with jdm lights on a US car) of the car to light up stuff on the side of the road...

if the pattern is controlled better, you can get away with running a higher wattage or partial xenon light without worrying about pissing off oncoming traffic...

UWNTSUM · 01-31-2006, 03:45 AM

I have HID on my JDM 1pc and it works fine. Very bright and i don't have retro fit. Ebay projectors suck, friend had em for 3weeks the housing started to melt due to heat from the bulbs and they were not sealed very well so it started to fog up and have condensation inside.

jinusean · 01-31-2006, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 95_5speed

Could I plug 9005 into all of the sockets and have some killer bright lights? Or would the 9005 not fit into the socket for the 9006?

Great explination by the way, that makes it easy for me to understand.

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm

Sorry the post looked a bit difficult to understand but here is a link that shows how to do exactly what you want. I am currently running silverstars 9005s in my 1991 Honda Accord and it does work better this way. I am running on 8 months with these silverstars and counting.

And I stated that HIDs and JDM headlights don't come off as well to me because it doesn't reflect as well as USDM headlights.

blk96vtec · 01-31-2006, 09:50 AM

I have PIAA HID bulbs with jdm yellow fogs with PIAA yellow H3 bulbs and I get better light that my sisters 05 celica with hids. The yellow fogs make so much difference its not even funny.