VF Commodore revealed - Official details and pics - Part 4

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Originally Posted by Wonky

As many of us on here have done with VE etc with projectors. :goodjob: Len who used to be on here as SV8er also sells all in one kits (ballast built into the rubber section which mounts directly behind the headlight) on his www.ezihid.com.au site. I haven't used them (I've got separate ballasts) but have a few friends who have and they're quite happy with them.

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Thanks for the info Wonky.

For the spend would you recommend the HID upgrade from the std setup?

What is the typical cost for a quality kit?

Cheers

Absolutely 100% recommend going HIDs over the standard setup!! I could never go back to non HIDs now after 8 years of driving with them in my VZ SS and now two SSVs. Admittedly I've gone overboard as right from my very first car 41 years ago I've liked as much light as possible (EH with H4 upgrade and 50w Hella driving lights :)) so I've got 35w low beam HIDs, 70w high beam HIDs and 70w driving light HIDs! :eek:

You can get kits from eBay starting at about $80 but as on http://www.hid-lightsdownunder.com/page003.html some of the cheap kits, even those of supposedly high output, are inefficient. Plenty of people on here have the $80 kits and are happy with them. I paid $200 for mine 4.5 years ago (same guy I've bought about a dozen sets from for myself and others - very reliable) but unfortunately after 8 years or more he's no longer there. Guess he could no longer keep competing against the el-cheapo kits. :( The brand he sold were Kingwood, so if you can find a set of them you should be OK.

If you like I can try to find a video clip of my low beams? :confused:

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Originally Posted by Wonky

Absolutely 100% recommend going HIDs over the standard setup!! I could never go back to non HIDs now after 8 years of driving with them in my VZ SS and now two SSVs. Admittedly I've gone overboard as right from my very first car 41 years ago I've liked as much light as possible (EH with H4 upgrade and 50w Hella driving lights :)) so I've got 35w low beam HIDs, 70w high beam HIDs and 70w driving light HIDs! :eek:

You can get kits from eBay starting at about $80 but as on http://www.hid-lightsdownunder.com/page003.html some of the cheap kits, even those of supposedly high output, are inefficient. Plenty of people on here have the $80 kits and are happy with them. I paid $200 for mine 4.5 years ago (same guy I've bought about a dozen sets from for myself and others - very reliable) but unfortunately after 8 years or more he's no longer there. Guess he could no longer keep competing against the el-cheapo kits. :( The brand he sold were Kingwood, so if you can find a set of them you should be OK.

If you like I can try to find a video clip of my low beams? :confused:

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Thanks for the detailed reply Wonky. I reckon they are great value even for the more expensive $200 kits. I take it the $200 kit is for low beam only?

If you have got a link to your vid that would be appreciated.

Cheers

See http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?138391 for a previous discussion on HIDs in VE (and therefore now VF).

Yep, $200 was the price of my 35w low beam kit.

Video below - firstly coming along the road but whilst moving the camera doesn't fully capture how effective the lights are. Then pulling into home where you see better how good they are. All done on low beam because with 70w high beam and 70w driving lights (wired to come on with high beam) I'm a bit worried about heat so always go to low beam a way from home so as to make sure they're cooled with the air rushing past and not just let them cook when stopped.

Im pretty happy with the lights on the VF SSV Redline I have maybe worth upgrading for country drives dont really know yet. But its not one of my prioritys as there fine for me so far.

I live in the country and am very impressed with the brightness of the standard VF Redline headlights. I was originally intending to mount a couple of spotties on a light bar at the front but I don't think I'll need them. They're as good as, or even better than, the HIDs in my Evo 8.

That's amazing/puzzling. I assumed they were the same as VE but it would seem not???? :confused:

Holden website says projector headlights for the Redline at least. I never bothered to look into the VE so I dunno if that's the same or not.

VE Omega, Berlina, SV6 and SS missed out on projectors but the rest got them. VE SSV and therefore Redline had projectors.

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Originally Posted by offshore

Im pretty happy with the lights on the VF SSV Redline I have maybe worth upgrading for country drives dont really know yet. But its not one of my prioritys as there fine for me so far.

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And peace of mind you won't be driving around worrying about if your lights just randomly decide they don't want to work anymore, especially out on the country drives. Everytime I hear HID retrofits I hear problems, I've never one had to change a bulb let alone had any issues with any of my cars headlights, and it will stay that way.

In 8 years with HIDs (currently 3 sets) I recently had to change one globe - all of $30! It didn't fail outright either, just turned pinky-orange instead of white.

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Originally Posted by Wonky

See http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?138391 for a previous discussion on HIDs in VE (and therefore now VF).

Yep, $200 was the price of my 35w low beam kit.

Video below - firstly coming along the road but whilst moving the camera doesn't fully capture how effective the lights are. Then pulling into home where you see better how good they are. All done on low beam because with 70w high beam and 70w driving lights (wired to come on with high beam) I'm a bit worried about heat so always go to low beam a way from home so as to make sure they're cooled with the air rushing past and not just let them cook when stopped.

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Thanks for the post Wonky. Lights look impressive but will have to revisit after I check out the std lights after I collect my new SSV in the next couple of days.

I've walked past a couple of VF SV6/SS models in carparks etc in the past few days and for me, it's still not SS enough. Especially in a plain colour without the rear wing and the 18" base alloys, if you told me that was the VF Berlina (less bling than Calais, more than base model) I'd have no trouble believing you.

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Originally Posted by Marco

I've walked past a couple of VF SV6/SS models in carparks etc in the past few days and for me, it's still not SS enough. Especially in a plain colour without the rear wing and the 18" base alloys, if you told me that was the VF Berlina (less bling than Calais, more than base model) I'd have no trouble believing you.

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for the most part, I think tastes have changed such that the SS models don't need to be overtly sporty as they were in the past.

having said that, I did spend a bit of time wavering between the lip and big spoiler for my VF Redline and chose the big spoiler to make it more sporty.

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Originally Posted by Goggles

for the most part, I think tastes have changed such that the SS models don't need to be overtly sporty as they were in the past.

having said that, I did spend a bit of time wavering between the lip and big spoiler for my VF Redline and chose the big spoiler to make it more sporty.

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SS-V/Redline deserved some differentiation, it needs the blacked out tail lights ala. VE SS-V. It just looks so plain from the rear end.