this is the rumor, and the petition, take the information however you want.

*note the petition is to KEEP HID kits. not ban them, on the other forum a few people signed it thinking they were getting rid of the kits.

basicily they are making it illegal to sell HID kits because their thought is that cars without them do not have the proper optic properties to have them. obviously the Z kinda blows this one away, but I doubt little exceptions will be made.

 

Its a good idea to ban HID kits. So the lowlives wont steal HID from other cars and try to make a quick $! Remember the air bags?

 

actually he is talking about HID kit, which if they stop selling them, more thief's will be on the street stealing the OE one. Since you can't buy the kit anymore..

 

Basically, the NHTSA is stepping in to remove all HID KITS from the aftermarket. This will include all kits consisting of HID bulbs re-based to fit halogen light housings -- thank god, its about time. This has always been illegal, its just that the NHTSA is starting to step in and enforce this law, finally. The good news is, this will not effect products like the Sylvania XenArc HID upgrades, which replace standard halogen sealed-beam light assemblies with DOT-compliant HID equivelents.

Is this a bad thing? No. I have always been against HID "kits" which are falsely advertised. IMO, its never been okay to take a halogen headlight and simply change the bulb to HID equivelent (rebased) without making further changes. There are only a FEW headlamps capable of using both xenon and halogen bulbs, but its a very rare thing.

As for the Z headlamp, I dont think a retrofitted halogen headlamp is on the same level as the OEM HID headlamp. Even though I have worked with both the HID and Halogen lighting assemblies, I have not analyzed them enough to say for sure -- but I have good faith in saying that retrofits on the halogen headlamp is not an "ideal" choice. Good to hear the NHTSA is stepping in to mandate better lighting, its about time. Now all they need to do is go after certain factory HID headlamps -- S2000, Range Rover, and Escalades.

- Mike / ClearCorners.Com

 

is the whole company closed down? or just here? (not in japan, europe...)

 

what whole company?

 

Unless the info is highly incomplete, it just doesn't make sense.

First, the NHSTA wouldn't ban an HID bulb merely because it doesn't have a filament...NO bulbs used in HID systems have filaments, it's an arc system. Maybe the guy just read the report wrong, so I'd like to read the report myself.

Second, a true HID bulb would not work if it was merely re-based and plugged into a standard halogen socket. There's no high-voltage ballast to give it that initial "kick", so the bulb would never fire.

Based upon what few facts that can be gleaned here, I would say the NHSTA is trying to ban the faux-HID bulbs, the ones that have a blue look to them, but are merely painted/tinted for the blue look.

 

At first I thought you were taking it to the soul too much and I was going to ask you to 'light'en up. But I remember the output of some of these cars with aftermarket HID kits and I couldn't agree anymore with you. They seriously BLIND THE FAWK out of you. I'm surprised the pigs aren't all of over it. Usually when it comes to mods, they're on you like a fat kid over cake. In my opinion, they shouldn't take measures to ban the products and fine the sellers; simply ticket those whose lights appear blinding.

 

macgyver what they are enforcing is the ban on hid retrofits into halogen housings. this means any hid bulb that isnt a d2r or d2s base. there are many kits like this that include a rebased bulb to fit a stock housing AND the ballast to make it work.

unfortunately i dont think those blue tinted halogens are illegal.

 

The ban is already in effect and a lot of companies have closed their doors cuz they can't sell their kits anymore.

 

5000k is good.. 350z has temp. around 4300k I believe.

 

Its not that these kits have all of a sudden gotten "banned," its that they are not DOT compliant. The laws have not changed, these "kits" have never been legal to sell.

When you take a product which is flawed by design, then take into account all the complaints the NHTSA has gotten regarding these lamps .. its easy to understand why the NHTSA has stepped up the rate of enforcement regarding these "kits."

Notice how NO MAJOR lighting manufacturer sells an " HID retrofit kit" in the US, and advertise it as "DOT compliant," this does not exist. If there was a way for a product like this to exist, large companies like Sylvania and Philips would be selling retrofit products geared to converted halogen headlight assemblies to use HID capsules. IF it was possible and legal.

What has happened, is that many smaller companies have compiled kits using Philips (or other brand) ballasts, and then created their own bulb which consists of an HID capsule which has been rebased in a halogen base. This allows any and everyone to take a HID bulb and insert it into a halogen assembly.

Of course, each headlamp is different. In most cases, these conversions result in a bright headlamp with flawed optics. As many people know, HID in general is very powerful technology and requires a good headlamp assembly.

A 35W HID bulb can emit just about the same light as a 120W halogen bulb. Problem is, the way it creates light is different than a halogen bulb.. so you need different headlamp assembly (or projector assembly). Some headlights take better than others, the Z is a fairly acceptable crossover headlamp but still, the bottom line is that its not legal.

So.. any vendor that sells such products should be careful, especially with the increased amount of enforcement from the NHTSA.

- Mike / ClearCorners.Com

 

That sounds odd. From my undertstanding you can sell or buy anything in this country and the only catch is that you have an intended use. For example, I currently have a 9000K Set of Hanabi HID's on my Toyota Tundra, hehe, but on the box it says that they are intended for off road use only. Maybe they can get away with selling them as long as they are not for cars that are being driven on the road. Either way, I already got mine...I am sure people will still be able to buy them from ebay.

Abel

 

yeah they can still sell it from another country through internet

 

SoCal350Z> That sounds odd. From my undertstanding you can sell or buy anything in this country and the only catch is that you have an intended use.

Incorrect. As far as the NHTSA is concerned, if a product has been manufactured to REPLACE or FIT a certain vehicle, then it must comply with the lighting standards. If it does not, then it is not legal for sale. As we all know, its REAL easy for a product NOT intended for street use to be on a street car. I can easily say that my car does not comply in MANY ways! hehe


SomeGuywitha-Z> yeah they can still sell it from another country through internet

Correct, but these items must also go through customs. I am sure if complaints get high enough, they can cap off which products are allowed to enter the US.

 

Yet another situation where if they don't like it they should enforce it at the bottom of the chain instead of the top. That's ALMOST (almost, not quite) as ridiculous as these yuppy mom's who want to ban any video game with a gun instead of getting of their fat minivan loving asses and being parents.