does anyone know where i can buy HID bulbs for my car? i'm sure there are a million places in bkk, but to be honest i just don't know where to start... any recommendations on the best brand? any shops with a large selection? thanks

I think I saw Autobacs on west Narathiwat Rd. not far from Sathorn/Chongnonsri intersection sells HID bulbs imported from Japan.

http://world.autobacs.com/store/sathorn.html

Nonetheless I would try vendors in Worachak area of Bangkok near Samyan (around Pathumwan Police Station) for any auto accessories new or used in Thailand.

If you want real HID with the ballast and igniters email this guy

[email protected]

Look on www.cbr1100xxforums.com to read a review of his products.

He sells a set of H7 bulbs igniters and ballasts for $195 shipped into Thailand from Hong Kong.

I keep thinking about buying them for my bike but I am too cheap.

If you want just the coloured bulbs that say they are HID most big department stores have them but they are just tinted bulbs.

What's HID? Is that Xenon lights? I have those, but I'm not sure I like them. Especially when installed in units not designed for them they end up blinding uncoming traffic, but there's another reason: They're so bright in front of the car that you see less well far in the distance with your high beams on in areas with no street lighting. The flood of light in the first 10 meters makes you see less well far into the distance.

I think I saw Autobacs on west Narathiwat Rd. not far from Sathorn/Chongnonsri intersection sells HID bulbs imported from Japan.

http://world.autobacs.com/store/sathorn.html

It might have been HID fog lamp and not the HID bulbs that I saw at Autobacs, Sathorn.

However, I know Autobacs in Japan sells HID bulbs and a lot of auto accessories they sell at Autobacs in Thailand are imported from Japan so I think there's a good chance they have bulbs too.

Here's their range of HID bulbs they sell in Japan.

http://www.autobacs.com/cgi-bin/inetcgi/sc...704&JudgeCode=1

And this link their HID fog lamp line-ups.

http://www.autobacs.com/cgi-bin/inetcgi/sc...112&JudgeCode=1

Whichever it was, I'm pretty sure one I saw at Autobacs, Sathorn was priced at over 30,000 Baht.

What's HID?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_discharge_lamp

The HID bulbs are not tecnically HID

HID = High Intesity Discharge. They require a ballast and igniter - normally take a few hundred volts or so to get the bulbs running. Once they are running though they take a lot less power to run.

HID XENON BLUE BULBS etc etc. Are just tinted bulbs with a little bit of Xenon gas inside them in theory - sometimes the power rating is increased to 100w from 90 to make them a bit brighter.

As I said have a search on CBR1100xxforums website and there is a good thread there about the difference and the improvements.

Out of curiosity, any idea which ones were installed in high-end Isuzu models, both previous model and the current one? It seems the Xenon bulbs in the older model were brighter than the current model, but maybe it is just a case of better designed light units that blind less.

When turning on the lights, I notice the color changes in the first second as it powers up. After the initial quick color change it's bright white (slightly blueish tone I suppose, but not artificially coloured really blue or anything).

From what I understand it is all about power rating.

4000k is the best light output but yellow.

going up the temperature range it gets blue-purple but less output.

The lights take a minute to warm up.

If you have ever grown stuff hyrdophonically you will most likely have used MH or HPS lights which took two minutes to warm up and change colours.