HID Xenon Headlights: How to Get the Xenon Lights Look

Where they were once an expensive option on new prestige vehicles, they are now being offered as standard fitment on many mainstream cars, and it is easy to see why.It is easy to spot a car at night fitted with HID xenon lights as they produce the crisp powerful white xenon light, which seem to have a blue hue around them. HID xenon bulbs seem to flicker slightly when they are first illuminated and extinguish immediately when they are turned off,. A ballast unit is used to generate a high voltage current, around 20,000 volts, which arcs between two electrodes, this spark activates the xenon gas, which in turn activates the metal halide within the xenon bulb.

Once the gas has been activated the power output from the ballast unit stabilises at 85 volts. This method creates a xenon bulb that lasts up to ten times longer and draws considerably less power, around 35W, than a standard halogen headlight bulb. unlike ordinary halogen bulbs, which take a few seconds for the light to burn out when switched off.
The intense and powerful white light produced by HID xenon bulbs really illuminates the darkness like never before, and cars fitted with HID xenon lights are more visible and look more distinctive to other road users.