Now the facts:
1. The test were not done on 2011 Jeep Compass
2. The test subjects were older cars probably non-confirming to today's headlight standards.
inconsequential. the tests were done on housings designed to properly emit a beam pattern from a hallogen headlight. the tests were to prove that such a housing cannot (and did not) emit a propor beam pattern with an HID bulb in them. a compass headlight will have similar results.
3. You wished they haven't aim? You serious? When you removed headlight housing, YOU definitely have to re-aim. Otherwise, results would not be accurate at all. When we swap HID light bulbs, hint bulbs, we're exchanging bulbs and NOT the housing unit.
not neccessarily true. you do not need to remove the headlight housings on all cars to replace the headlight bulbs (for example, in my 92 lumina you could just reach behind the housing). when you are aiming the headlight, you are simply adjusting the mechanism that holds the bulb itself in the housing (in most, but admitadly not all headlights, some do actually move the headlight, like my 98 neon). so my point was that by simply removing the hallogen bulb and replacing it with the HID, you are putting the new bulb in the exact same place in the housing that the old bulb was, thus showing the drastic differences that are truely there between a hallogen bulb and an HID bulb. i guess the government wanted to have the best possible results with the HIDs, which is why they aimed them.
The test failure, to me, is non-consequential. My perception of the new photometry with the HID kit is perfectly fine...it's brighter, it's clearer, and the signs, specially road signs and the lines on the roads are illuminated well. These can help finding your road alignment when driving on snow days...
the fact that you think you can see better with HIDs than hallogens is an illusion. your eyes are more sensitive to yellow light than blue light, so the HIDs are a problem there. they are brighter, yes. that is also a bad thing, because your eyes focus on the bright light right in front of you, hindering your ability to see long distances.
the illusion that you can see better is because the light is brighter, but it is only brighter up close. with an HID kit, what you wind up with is a lot of improporly aimed, bright light of a different color that is dangerous for a lot of reasons. it's dangerous to you because your eyes are not as sensitive to blue light as they are to yellow (green is the most sensitive color to the human eye, followed by yellow). and because all of that bright light is right in front of you, your eyes are focused to a brighter light, hindering your ability to see out of your peripheral vision, and also at a distance. it's also dangerous to other drivers because of the glare they produce by shooting bright light in directions it doesn't belong.
please don't misunderstand me. i'm not trying to get everyone in the world to remove their aftermarket kits. but they are illegal for a reason. the government doesn't just hate us, in this case, it truely is in our best interest not to use them. and the companies that sell them know this. that's why they're marketed as "off road use only" because they know that they're against federal law. do are certainly free to do as you wish, but you will do it properly informed.
please don't misunderstand me. i'm not trying to get everyone in the world to remove their aftermarket kits. but they are illegal for a reason. the government doesn't just hate us, in this case, it truely is in our best interest not to use them. and the companies that sell them know this. that's why they're marketed as "off road use only" because they know that they're against federal law. do are certainly free to do as you wish, but you will do it properly informed.
I'm sincerely grateful for your advice and concerns. It does make sense in many ways. Until I get pulled over, I'll stick with them...that's why I'm keeping my stock halogen bulbs, jic... hyeah:
You know, I find it interesting that those 3 links to the government test are all the old crappy headlight housings that had a smooth mirror backing and the front reflector lens. These I can definitely see how the light could be scattered all over the place because of the smooth reflective surface behind the light bouncing the light all over the place instead of the engineered compound reflector found in modern vehicles. If you notice, those vehicles I mentioned earlier with HID's in reflective housings all have compound reflectors BEHIND the light instead of in front. I don't know about you, but I have had a few vehicles that had those old headlights and they had horrible aim, cut-off, and light output anyway, so a nice bright light is going to make it substantially worse. That is why you never see those types of reflector housings anymore.
Most reflector housings today have a compound reflector behind the bulb that helps reflect the light much more accurately. That is why today you can see that there are lots of vehicles that have these reflector housings but still provide a really good cut-off on the light, just like the Compass.
I'm sincerely grateful for your advice and concerns. It does make sense in many ways. Until I get pulled over, I'll stick with them...that's why I'm keeping my stock halogen bulbs, jic... hyeah:
So I passed on the Grand Cherokee HID headlights. I like the look of the Compass halogen housings too much. I guess I'm weird haha, but I'm sticking with the stock housings.
But you can order the GC HID housings in the USA and they'll fit the Compass fine. Anyone interested DOES NOT need to order the European Compass version, not at all.
My mods I have done are new glossy black side pillars, chrome handles, and the chrome rear step pad that comes on the Limited (I have latitude), and rear LED blinker bulbs.
I can tell you right now: The glossy black side pillars make a huge difference.
I also bought a second set of foglight housings and dropped them off at a local shop to have them chromed.
I'll post pics tomorrow in a separate thread so I don't hijack this one (Chrome foglight housings won't be in the pics until I get them back, whenever that is)
But you can order the GC HID housings in the USA and they'll fit the Compass fine. Anyone interested DOES NOT need to order the European Compass version, not at all.
I also bought a second set of foglight housings and dropped them off at a local shop to have them chromed.
Are you ABSOLUTELY certain the GC HID housing will fit the Compass? I'm not concerned about the wiring but the exact fitting. Visual comparison between the two housing looks identical...but, all it takes is a couple of mm inch difference in engineering and fabrications and you're out of luck. Visual can be deceiving.
Unless you tried it yourself, got your info from a reputable source, or have confirmed with the dealership, I would not make such an announcement...because, I'll be looking at the GC headlights intently for the price to come down, and when it don't work, I'll have every Compass owners come after you and dogpile you... hehehee :rules: :eyebrows:
I'm also interested with the foglight chrome housing, post pics when they're installed... :eyebrows:
Are you ABSOLUTELY certain the GC HID housing will fit the Compass? I'm not concerned about the wiring but the exact fitting. Visual comparison between the two housing looks identical...but, all it takes is a couple of mm inch difference in engineering and fabrications and you're out of luck. Visual can be deceiving.
Unless you tried it yourself, got your info from a reputable source, or have confirmed with the dealership, I would not make such an announcement...because, I'll be looking at the GC headlights intently for the price to come down, and when it don't work, I'll have every Compass owners come after you and dogpile you... hehehee :rules: :eyebrows:
I'm also interested with the foglight chrome housing, post pics when they're installed... :eyebrows:
No, I'm not sure. Whoever does it first will be taking a slight risk.
I have eyeballed the mounting of the GC vs Compass headlights, including feeling underneath with my hand, and they seem identical.
Also, if you use a site like Mopar Parts Catalog and browse the 2011 GC and the 2011 Compass down into Electrical->Chassis Electrical->Headlamps->Composite Headlamps you'll see both the GC and Compass headlamps run $315, suggesting they're very similar, though I wish it gave part #'s.
Yes I can't wait to get my foglight housings back. At only $16 for the factory pair doing this mod just depends on finding a local shop that won't charge you too much.
Also, if you use a site like Mopar Parts Catalog and browse the 2011 GC and the 2011 Compass down into Electrical->Chassis Electrical->Headlamps->Composite Headlamps you'll see both the GC and Compass headlamps run $315, suggesting they're very similar, though I wish it gave part #'s.
i gave part numbers earlier in the thread. both the retail prices and the part numbers for the headlights are different between the grand cherokee and the compass. i've looked at them both on my lot and can't see a difference. however, much of the headlight on the grand cherokee is hidden behind a plastic cover and i cannot see as much of it as i can on the compass.
MUST use relay. Used without them and you'll end up with random lights-out or slight flickers. Ever since I installed the relay on my low-beam HID, constant sunlight...
Another relay is on its way for my foglight...forgot to order with it. Relay should be here by Tuesday.
EDIT: it's pretty much plug-n-play...the only challenge is getting to the cables to make connections...
What is the difference between the relays and "capacitors" as I have seen and heard of on ebay and such? From what I can gather, the lights on jeeps are monitored by the computer and it makes aftermarket HID's flicker.
My understanding of a "relay" is like it's a switch. Initially it's an open circuit but when it senses a small amount of current running through, it closes(or turn on the switch) the circuit allowing current to pass through.
HID needs a good uninterrupted, uncontrolled, or direct energy source system to prevent flickers or brown-outs.
In the HID scenario, you'd want to use relay to bypass the car's CPU and it act as an automatic switch to turn-on/off the HID bulbs when you turn on the fog light. I'd prefer this method over the capacitor.
As for the capacitor, it stores a small portion of energy. When the circuit needs additional energy supply, it gets it from the capacitor. This doesn't always work well in HID and sometimes, I'd still get flickers.
Cool! Well, I will make sure I have relays up front so that I don't have to worry about getting them after the lights are already installed. It is going to look so sweet when it is finished!:eyebrows:
Hey guys, any one find out where we can buy the projector housings from the EU compass?
I'm thinking about trying that OR possibly using the projectors from the fog lights (since they would be easy to order) and retro fitting them into the current stock headlight. I've got a lot of experience with retro fitting that I did on my 2008 civic. I used Infiniti projectors and a high quality HID kit.
Just buy the ones from the Grand Cherokee. Simple. The only reason the GC reflector housings and Compass reflector housings have different part #'s is because **ALL** cars that share parts receive new part numbers. This is so all parts needed for the car are grouped together with part numbers that go in order. So yes, there are multiple part #'s within Jeep for the same headlight housings. One part # for the GC version and one for the Compass version.
So just buy the GC projector headlights, they will fit. You might have to fit an ebay HID solution into it as I don't know of the importance of vehicle computer programming in relation to OEM HID but either way something will work.
So just buy the GC projector headlights, they will fit. You might have to fit an ebay HID solution into it as I don't know of the importance of vehicle computer programming in relation to OEM HID but either way something will work.
Good idea as well but just for kicks, I email a bunch of UK jeep part dealers just to see if they can get the compass specific headlights with projectors.
Also, the cheapest I can find the left/right headlamp of a GC is ~$850 for the pair. That is a lot of money, I maybe better off trying to find EU compass headlights.
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