The Great Quest for Headlights

[pelotonracer2]

Actually, that was my original direction, but after looking at output from the small morimotos, evaluating costs, placement of two ballasts per side in tight spaces, and light output, I went with the larger Morimoto HIDS, with LEDs for the high beams. Cost was less, output is the same, and I painted my reflectors performance blue, with an LED strip attached to the running lights. See my previous post for photos.

Yes yours looks very nice indeed. I was hoping for more of a plug and play set up. The lighting is "adequate" especially if/when I get LED driving lights/fogs at some point. The Sylvania Ultra ZXE H11s were a big improvement over the stock bulbs, more than I really expected. I had factory HIDs in my Focus SVT and in my last car '11 Mazsaspeed 3. Love the HIDs but don't think I want to go full conversion on this car just yet. I had a really nice set of black projector headlights on my Infiniti G35 sedan back in the day. I just wish someone would come out with something plug and play but I understand this car is a FRINGE market when it comes to aftermarket products, especially with lighting. Lots of go fast mods, the rest is hit or miss (or hope the mod gods are listening.. LOL).

 

[eleven]

There is a rumor that a certain employee at The Retrofit Source bought a FiST, is taking them apart, doing R&D with the result hopefully being a plug and play setup specific to the FiST.

 

[blurred]

There is a rumor that a certain employee at The Retrofit Source bought a FiST, is taking them apart, doing R&D with the result hopefully being a plug and play setup specific to the FiST.

No, it's the owner and he's doing a koito bi-led projector swap for his new fist. There won't be a plug and play, ever. Every retrofit has to be custom because there is no market for a $2000 plug and play set of headlights
There's a build thread on hidplanet.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64257

 

[pelotonracer2]

Give me this but with black housings... mmmmnnnn hmmmmn

This is my 2003 Focus SVT

 

[eleven]

No, it's the owner and he's doing a koito bi-led projector swap for his new fist. There won't be a plug and play, ever. Every retrofit has to be custom because there is no market for a $2000 plug and play set of headlights
There's a build thread on hidplanet.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64257

I dunno man, I called and spoke with a tech and he said another tech (who was on lunch at the time) had bought a FiST, hated the stock output, mentioned it to the company and they gave him the go-ahead to do the R&D and pricing analysis to put together a setup we can buy made specifically for our car, just like these that they sell --> http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits/application-specific.html

 

[blurred]

I dunno man, I called and spoke with a tech and he said another tech (who was on lunch at the time) had bought a FiST, hated the stock output, mentioned it to the company and they gave him the go-ahead to do the R&D and pricing analysis to put together a setup we can buy made specifically for our car, just like these that they sell --> http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits/application-specific.html

Those retro quick kits are only plug and play for existing projectors to improve on the stock ones.
They don't work with reflector housings.

 

[pelotonracer2]

There is a rumor that a certain employee at The Retrofit Source bought a FiST, is taking them apart, doing R&D with the result hopefully being a plug and play setup specific to the FiST.

Stop! I'm going to have wet dreams tonight... hahahaha

 

[pelotonracer2]

No, it's the owner and he's doing a koito bi-led projector swap for his new fist. There won't be a plug and play, ever. Every retrofit has to be custom because there is no market for a $2000 plug and play set of headlights
There's a build thread on hidplanet.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64257

When I say "plug and play", for me specifically, I mean non HID "projectors" or just something cool and different. I rarely if ever drive at night anyways. For what I have in my FiST I could almost buy a low mile C6 Corvette. heh. This "toy" is getting expensive (whispers under his breath: "but I like it... I like it ALOT")

 

[TheStig]

Any kit specifically made for our car too will still require you tear them apart, cut into the reflector housing, cut other parts to fit. Then glue it back together fully waterproof and hide all the extra wiring.

So figuring out what works is all well and fine, but there is no "drop in" or "plug-n-play" kits. There will be fairly good DIY work on your part to make it work.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Any kit specifically made for our car too will still require you tear them apart, cut into the reflector housing, cut other parts to fit. Then glue it back together fully waterproof and hide all the extra wiring.

So figuring out what works is all well and fine, but there is no "drop in" or "plug-n-play" kits. There will be fairly good DIY work on your part to make it work.

oh I see a challenged being made. With my personality I would figure it out just to spite you. So hopefully they have the same attitude as me.

 

[westcoaST]

In order to have a plug and play system, you would need all the wiring pre-installed by the factory, which it is not. No matter who makes these HID retrofits, you will get a wiring loom, that you need to install, and plugs you need to insert together. You will need to figure out where to place this wiring loom.

The wiring loom will come with a trigger on the drivers side light, a relay, plugs for the passenger side ballast, a ground, plugs for the drivers side ballast. These plugs connect to the ballasts, which then has 2 plugs which plug into the HIDs. You will have the OEM plug, and if you asked for an LED strip, or angel eyes, or some other add-on, you will need to wire these up. It does not matter who you buy these HID retrofit headlights from. The only difference will be the cost of the retrofit, and the quality of the wiring loom.

 

[pelotonracer2]

Any kit specifically made for our car too will still require you tear them apart, cut into the reflector housing, cut other parts to fit. Then glue it back together fully waterproof and hide all the extra wiring.

So figuring out what works is all well and fine, but there is no "drop in" or "plug-n-play" kits. There will be fairly good DIY work on your part to make it work.

Why? What makes the FiST so special? I can understand doing all that for HIDs (unless they become available as an option from Ford). In that case you could buy the parts and it *should* be plug and play. There are plenty of plug and play headlight options for other cars and I don't see why that can't be the case for the FiST as well. I'm not really interested in an HID conversion. I wouldn't mind just having a few aftermarket options to replace the bland looking headlight assemblies like I have done numerous times in the past with other cars. If this (below) can be "plug and play" anything is possible... I understand that doing an HID conversion is not going to be "plug and play". I'm more interested in aftermarket projectors, mainly just for the looks and less for the lighting improvement.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I want to clarify I consider plug and play more no modifying structure. Splicing a wire to me is plug and play. Cutting plastic not plug and play.

 

[pelotonracer2]

You can't really see them in the above picture, but the driving lights on the Lingenfelter Z06 (fogs) provided much improved night time lighting than the headlights. They mimic'd HIDs but were only projectors. They were so bright I used to get people brightlighting me. lol. While the headlights totally sucked, they looked great and created MUCH less coefficient of drag than the pop ups at night. heh

 

[TheStig]

Why? What makes the FiST so special? I can understand doing all that for HIDs (unless they become available as an option from Ford). In that case you could buy the parts and it *should* be plug and play. There are plenty of plug and play headlight options for other cars and I don't see why that can't be the case for the FiST as well. I'm not really interested in an HID conversion. I wouldn't mind just having a few aftermarket options to replace the bland looking headlight assemblies like I have done numerous times in the past with other cars. If this (below) can be "plug and play" anything is possible... I understand that doing an HID conversion is not going to be "plug and play". I'm more interested in aftermarket projectors, mainly just for the looks and less for the lighting improvement.

Im talking about a projector HID kit, not simply an HID kit or different bulbs. If you can go for the best that would be what i would do. No offense ment but there is not nor will there ever be a "plug-n-play" projector HID kit. It will require a retrofit, that is just the nature of the beast.

If it was so simple then retrofitters would not really exist or if they did they would make FAR less. Most anyone can install bulbs, HID kit, aftermarket headlights. But actually tearing apart a factory headlight and having to precision cut the housing, aim a very bright LED or HID projector, then seal it together and not have it allow water intrusion is not in the same league at all.

 

[CanadianGuy]

You can't really see them in the above picture, but the driving lights on the Lingenfelter Z06 (fogs) provided much improved night time lighting than the headlights. They mimic'd HIDs but were only projectors. They were so bright I used to get people brightlighting me. lol. While the headlights totally sucked, they looked great and created MUCH less coefficient of drag than the pop ups at night. heh

hmm I never though of the fogs, but ya the diode dynamics I have are great for the road and easy to adjust (after I figured how) to get a good projection. Ah simple things easily come together when people share ideas. Thanks

 

[pelotonracer2]

Im talking about a projector HID kit, not simply an HID kit or different bulbs. If you can go for the best that would be what i would do. No offense ment but there is not nor will there ever be a "plug-n-play" projector HID kit. It will require a retrofit, that is just the nature of the beast.

If it was so simple then retrofitters would not really exist or if they did they would make FAR less. Most anyone can install bulbs, HID kit, aftermarket headlights. But actually tearing apart a factory headlight and having to precision cut the housing, aim a very bright LED or HID projector, then seal it together and not have it allow water intrusion is not in the same league at all.

Yeah, and that's exactly why I'm not interested in doing an HID conversion. Too many things can go wrong, especially over time and the cost is pretty rediculous, especially if you are going to do it the right way. I'd rather spend the money on other things. Don't get me wrong, HIDs are nice... I've had them on a dozen other cars (all factory offerings), including my last three: '11 MS3 with tech package, '03 Focus SVT and '05 G35 MN6. I want the looks of projectors with a black headlight housing. I don't even care about the lighting as long as it is as good or better than stock (and the H11 Sylvania Ultra ZXEs are a big improvement over that yellowed "I can't see the road cr*p that Ford puts in at the factory). It's not HID but I can certainly see a whole lot better, especially in the rain. With the stock bulbs I couldn't even tell if the headlights were on when it was raining. lol

 

[pelotonracer2]

hmm I never though of the fogs, but ya the diode dynamics I have are great for the road and easy to adjust (after I figured how) to get a good projection. Ah simple things easily come together when people share ideas. Thanks

You're welcome, anytime.

 

[TheStig]

Yeah, and that's exactly why I'm not interested in doing an HID conversion. Too many things can go wrong, especially over time and the cost is pretty rediculous, especially if you are going to do it the right way. I'd rather spend the money on other things. Don't get me wrong, HIDs are nice... I've had them on a dozen other cars (all factory offerings), including my last three: '11 MS3 with tech package, '03 Focus SVT and '05 G35 MN6. I want the looks of projectors with a black headlight housing. I don't even care about the lighting as long as it is as good or better than stock (and the H11 Sylvania Ultra ZXEs are a big improvement over that yellowed "I can't see the road cr*p that Ford puts in at the factory). It's not HID but I can certainly see a whole lot better, especially in the rain. With the stock bulbs I couldn't even tell if the headlights were on when it was raining. lol

I had a 2011 MS3 with tech package aswell. Love the headlight until they let water in and Mazda had the BEST idea where to put the ballasts, on the god damn bottom of the headlight in a non-waterproof adapter. Great idea Mazda, had to take the ballasts off, dry everything and use electrical "grease" on them. After that my lights worked again but the adaptive lighting motors would never work again.

Never again Mazda, never again.

 

[trsandrew]

I dunno man, I called and spoke with a tech and he said another tech (who was on lunch at the time) had bought a FiST, hated the stock output, mentioned it to the company and they gave him the go-ahead to do the R&D and pricing analysis to put together a setup we can buy made specifically for our car, just like these that they sell --> http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits/application-specific.html

Unfortunately that's just not possible given the Fiesta has reflectors. There just may have been some misunderstanding between yourself and whoever you spoke with.

I'm doing a retrofit on my Fiesta and I work at TRS. That's the only correlation between the two aside from the Type S LED fog lights fitting the Fiesta ST bumper perfectly.