Complete front light makeover: HID & Switchback install experience (pics)
I took the plunge and ordered the Morimoto HID lights, based on glowing reviews in other threads. Earlier the I had already added LED accent lights and rim lights. Up for an extra challenge, I also ordered the white/amber LED 'switchback' turn signal bulbs. The HID install was easy and can be done by non-engineers in one hour, but the turn signals are a serious PITA. Here is a not so brief report on my experiences in 4 posts.
Starting with the HIDs: Despite the back Friday special, the Morimoto's are still expensive. The unit are well built and do not look and feel that they are manufactured in a Chinese sweatshop. Service from the retrofitsource is excellent and their website is pretty (which is a nice change from the horrific LED webshops). Comparing the HID lights with the factory halos shows that the HID plasma is at the exact same spot as the lamp filament. So the optics and distribution pattern should be identical.
A rather large hole must be drilled into the lamp house caps to pass through a plug. That is easy to do, but best is to make the holes elliptic to minimize the opening and provide best sealing. The wiring consist of 3 pieces: the part with the HID bulb and a rubber seal, the electronic converter module that generates the AC power for the HID, and the 'stand-alone can-bus' module that tricks the Volt into thinking that nothing has changed. I plugged it in and laid it all out to test it (driver side):
On the passenger side things are tighter, but opening the air filter helps to gain access to the inside of the 'light house':
At first it did not work, but then I noticed the the polarity of GM's bulb plug is reversed. After turing the plug 180 degrees to switch polarity the HID lit up in full glory:
The asymmetric layout of the 9006 bulb makes that it only fits in one of 3 ways. It takes a little trial and error to figure out which. The Next challenge is to fasten the '30Five' converter modules using a (rather flimsy) supplied metal strip. There is not much room, but it it fits. On the passenger side there is a useful bolt on near the radiator to attach it without drilling. On the driver side I used the bolt of a ground connector of the Motor/Generator control module:
(with MG control and fuse box covers removed. Red wire: see this thread)
I first installed the driver side's module. I picked the 4300K OEM-like color, which is just a little whiter than the factory lights. The blueish hue of higher color temperatures may look cool (in two ways), but it wastes more light energy in the spectrum where our eyes cannot see.
The light house has a mechanical shutter that creates a sharp demarcation at the top edge. Switching to the 'big lights' lifts the shutter up with a loud click. Since the intensity of the light does not change, this means that the shutter is absorbing (wasting) over 50% of the light output in normal operation. This means that instead of 2x55Watt Halo lights, the Volt could have shipped ship with lower-powered HIDs of 15 x 2 Watts with the same light output. The savings would amount to about 1/4th of a mile more range in winter.
I could see an aluminium cool rib structure inside of the light house. Would that be for the solid state light switch?
I took the plunge and ordered the Morimoto HID lights, based on glowing reviews in other threads. Earlier the I had already added LED accent lights and rim lights. Up for an extra challenge, I also ordered the white/amber LED 'switchback' turn signal bulbs. The HID install was easy and can be done by non-engineers in one hour, but the turn signals are a serious PITA. Here is a not so brief report on my experiences in 4 posts.
Starting with the HIDs: Despite the back Friday special, the Morimoto's are still expensive. The unit are well built and do not look and feel that they are manufactured in a Chinese sweatshop. Service from the retrofitsource is excellent and their website is pretty (which is a nice change from the horrific LED webshops). Comparing the HID lights with the factory halos shows that the HID plasma is at the exact same spot as the lamp filament. So the optics and distribution pattern should be identical.
A rather large hole must be drilled into the lamp house caps to pass through a plug. That is easy to do, but best is to make the holes elliptic to minimize the opening and provide best sealing. The wiring consist of 3 pieces: the part with the HID bulb and a rubber seal, the electronic converter module that generates the AC power for the HID, and the 'stand-alone can-bus' module that tricks the Volt into thinking that nothing has changed. I plugged it in and laid it all out to test it (driver side):
On the passenger side things are tighter, but opening the air filter helps to gain access to the inside of the 'light house':
At first it did not work, but then I noticed the the polarity of GM's bulb plug is reversed. After turing the plug 180 degrees to switch polarity the HID lit up in full glory:
The asymmetric layout of the 9006 bulb makes that it only fits in one of 3 ways. It takes a little trial and error to figure out which. The Next challenge is to fasten the '30Five' converter modules using a (rather flimsy) supplied metal strip. There is not much room, but it it fits. On the passenger side there is a useful bolt on near the radiator to attach it without drilling. On the driver side I used the bolt of a ground connector of the Motor/Generator control module:
(with MG control and fuse box covers removed. Red wire: see this thread)
I first installed the driver side's module. I picked the 4300K OEM-like color, which is just a little whiter than the factory lights. The blueish hue of higher color temperatures may look cool (in two ways), but it wastes more light energy in the spectrum where our eyes cannot see.
The light house has a mechanical shutter that creates a sharp demarcation at the top edge. Switching to the 'big lights' lifts the shutter up with a loud click. Since the intensity of the light does not change, this means that the shutter is absorbing (wasting) over 50% of the light output in normal operation. This means that instead of 2x55Watt Halo lights, the Volt could have shipped ship with lower-powered HIDs of 15 x 2 Watts with the same light output. The savings would amount to about 1/4th of a mile more range in winter.
I could see an aluminium cool rib structure inside of the light house. Would that be for the solid state light switch?