You’ve decided that HID conversion is a great move for your cars. Not only for the performance of the lights at night, but to be safer knowing that you can see further into the darkness and that they make your car stand out. Tuners all over the world have been retro-fitting these lights to their cars for the past few years, yet anyone with the older halogen lights should be looking into getting a set too.

The problem is when you start looking for the correct kit for your car are all of these numbers and letters, such as 35w 5000k which denote what fitment they are for. It can be slightly baffling at first, but it is really simple.

Look through your owners manual, or on the back of the headlight casing, you will see the H number. Honda for example are H4 bulb fitment. The range goes from H1-H12. Then there is the wattage of the bulb itself. As HID kits run less electricity compared to the ancient halogen bulbs, you need to look for the W number. HIDs range from 35w-55w, compared to halogens which are rated at 55w and upwards.

Finally, there is the bulb’s heat rating. This is measured at what intensity and heat range the bulbs works at, this is the part which gives you an indication of what glow or color will be emitted from the kit. Most suppliers can offer HID bulbs of quite a few different colors. For instance, hidkits.net have eight different colors corresponding to eight different heat ratings. The heat is measured in Kelvin (K). For example, a halogen burns at 1600k and gives a yellow, less bright light. Xenon filled bulbs such as those in high intensity discharge kits can run at 5000k which is bright white to 9000k which starts to be a blue/purple color and onwards to 12000k which is a psychedelic purple.

Given this information, you can pick and choose your kit successfully and transform your car’s night-time performance and look.