I have a 2001 Audi a4 2.8 quattro, I have HID 3k lights, can I buy 8k bulbs and install them, or do i need to buy the whole kit? Someone at a performance shop near my home said that I need to buy the whole kit, that i needed to use 8k install kit with 8k bulbs. Any advice???

 

They told you wrong, you can use any bulb on any ballast. People swap them out all the time for different colors.

 

Thanks, thats what I thought.

 

8000k bulbs are not going to give you much light output and the light that they do give off will be harder to see things. Please rethink it.

 

Thanks, I will. I really like the way the blue tint HID looks. How can I get that look and still get good light output?

 

The only way would be to increase the power, but:
-Blue lights glare more in general, just due to the way our vision works. Not just for headlights, but, again, in general.
-Increased power will make things more blinding for oncoming drivers. If your current housings are proper HID projectors (which are different than halogen projectors) then this is not as bad as some setups, but there are still situations where you're REALLY going to blind people, like if you're at the top of a hill, or if you hit a bump, etc.
-The only ballasts with > 35w are from crap brands. You won't find them from good brands like Denso or Matsushita.
-You will very much shorten the life of your lamps by overvolting them like that.


I can't stop you from doing it if you want to, but honestly, 8000k lights are terrible for driving.

 

My 6K's were cool and my 8K's were even better but, 12K's own I will never go back FTW!!!

 

Best that you don't listen to stupid advice like that, OP. Here's one chart I found about color temperature vs. lumens:

4300K - 3600 (lm)
6000K - 3400 (lm)
8000K - 2600 (lm)
10000K - 2400 (lm)
12000k - 2000 (lm)

And the higher color temperatures throw light that is much harder to see, anyway.

 

I was just trying to give you REAL world experience, that I have found buy using different bulbs unlike Dragon who just states what the books tell him.

Point is YES a 6K is brighter BUT is it that much brighter than a 8K IN THE REAL WORLD? NO

Is the blue look worth the minor light loss? IMO YES

Can you tell the difference between a 6K and a 8K HID side by side? Just get the look you want you will love the HID's no matter what...

 

holy crap beer mod, back from the dead haha. 6k is like baby blue but if you want real blue then go 8k. 12k is purple which i can't decide if i like yet because i've only seen it on a durango which seemed to be pretty bright. i have 6k and i love them. i personally don't like to draw more attention to myself since i drive like an *** already lol. OP where you from?