Team-BHP - 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quite a few members have indicated their desire to upgrade their Headlamps. I am one of them.

I was looking at the following options:

1. Upgrading the Halogen Bulb (Slight Improvement expected but cost-effective)
2. Upgrading to HID (Expensive but better)

While researching on the internet, I went through some DIY videos of upgrading to HID kit. Having separate High & Low Beams is actually making it easier for a DIY Upgrade.

Looking at the options of HID Kits, I came across a Osram HID conversion kit available on ebay.

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Osram-Xenarc-...-/251630076235

I went through some other websites outside India and it seems that Osram does make HID kits but not in India.

Being Osram Brand, I am guessing it should be good enough. Can someone highlight some other good brands for HID kits or if Osram is good, I will go ahead with buying this kit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harpreetsubhi (Post 3548307)

Hi Adarsh
Can you please throw more light in these filters ?
I do not have even a faintest idea about these devices.[b]

Check out this link:
http://www.knfilters.com

Even if you want to buy one, check with some experienced guys before you buy to see whether it will give the desired results. And also, if the warranty can get affected. Seems they haven't launched one specifically for 2014 City models.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tejas08 (Post 3549103)

I went through some other websites outside India and it seems that Osram does make HID kits but not in India.

Hello Tejas,

I came across a link a few days back where the city was fitted with projectors from Genome ( Made in India). They come with 1 year warranty and cost around 28K INR.

Please find the link below with more information and pictures of installation.

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/fo...n-brown-3.html

Cheers,
pdma.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdma (Post 3549497)

I came across a link a few days back where the city was fitted with projectors from Genome ( Made in India). They come with 1 year warranty and cost around 28K INR.

Thanks pdma.

I am not really looking to spend over 10K. Hence, looking at the option of upgrading to only HID Kit for Low Beam.

I find the projector setup a bit too much from the money point of view. I would rather be happy with the HID Kit in low beam and high beam in approx. 20K.

I went through some of the DIY videos and they are fairly simple and also checked up with of the accessories shop which said that HID conversion kit installation on the Honda City 2014 is just a plug and play job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tejas08 (Post 3549103)

This issue is with the high beam optics, they spread the light in a wide area instead of concentrating it in front of you.

HIDs/projectors will mean loss of warranty. You cant just use high wattage either as the enclosure is small and you risk melting it.

The stop gap solution I have done is upgrading to Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited high performance bulbs. They are of the stock wattage and being direct plug and play, the warranty remains unaffected. Priced at about 3500 a pair from powerbulbs.com.

Improvement in illumination, its not drastic but it certainly is there. Verified over multiple Delhi-Mumbai overnight drives. Also, the color of the light is such that the eyes dont get tired so easily. You can drive longer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain (Post 3549769)

Shreyans,

I went through a lot of forums here and elsewhere regarding the enclosure melting issue and could not find any case where someone has reported a melting due to the HID Kit.

What I came across was that the HID bulbs are actually similar or cooler in comparison with the Halogen bulbs. The problem comes if and when the HID bulbs sizes are longer than Halogen bulbs. The Kelvin rating that are indicated for the HID are the temperature it attains to give that specific colour that we opt for. It does not have any direct impact on the Headlight Housing.

One problem however is the High beams, since the casing of the high beams is smaller. Only in high beams would there be a slight chance of melting which is again not yet seen anywhere with proper HID Kits.

The melting issues that have been reported by some have been due to the "Simulated HID" bulbs being used which are practically Halogen Bulbs with a Higher rating (Like 90W, 100W etc).

From the warranty point of view, the HID kits that I am talking about are plug and play / use type. These do not tamper with anything related to the wiring or stuff. So there shouldn't be a warranty issue. I am going to confirm this when I go for the next servicing. Honda Genuine Accessories is also offering HID kits. Just need to check with Honda ASC whether while installing these kits they do change anything on the Headlight housing. If Honda ASC also does not change anything on the Headlight housing means that we are good to install Aftermarket HID conversion kits ourselves. In fact, its a pretty easy DIY thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tejas08 (Post 3549876)

Exactly my point. You have too keep the wattage within 55W, whatever you do. Any higher and you risk blackening or melting. This is why I could not take my preferred route of high wattage bulbs+relay for the headlamp upgrade. In any case, I always found the stock low beam to be adequate. My issue is with the high beam. And the high beam enclosure is pretty tight.

My Scorpio runs 135/175W Osrams and I would have loved to have the same on the City.

I had checked up with my dealer regarding possible warranty issues upon switching to HIDs or projectors. It was a blunt no from their side, electrical warranty goes if you do any of that. Since I had taken extended warranty, this idea was dropped.

PS: if you do go the HID way, I will suggest that you keep the color temperature between 3500 and 4500K. Dont go higher for that fancy blue light of 7500K.

Mods: Sorry for the consecutive post. I could not see the edit button to my earlier post. Request you to merge with the above post, since its additional information to the above post.

I checked up with the Accessories Manager at Arya Honda Bhandup for the HID kits. The HID kits offered by Honda are P4 brand (6000K H11) and they are just plug and play. I specifically asked if there is any changes required to be done Headlights housing and the person said no changes required to the Headlight housing. So I guess the aftermarket HID kits (Plug and Play type) should also be good enough to be used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain (Post 3550147)

The HID kits I am looking at are all 35W kits, no matter what the Kelvin Rating is (I will be going for 6000K which is the same as the one offered by Honda in their official Accessory).

I may be wrong on this, but from what I browsed through some of the articles on Internet, the 135/175W Osrams that you are talking about (On your Scorpio) are not part of an HID kit. These are simulated HID which I explained in one of the earlier post. To fit those, you will need a relay and some changes to the Headlight housing in the City.

With 35W HID kits, you do not need to tamper any of the wirings and neither change the Headlight housing. Sorry if I am repeating the points I posted earlier. I hope this will be helpful to the guys who are planning on upgrading their Headlights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aviator1101 (Post 3550536)

Looking for leather seat covers for ANHC. Will it be wiser to buy from Kolkata or Chandigarh? Please advise.

Hello aviator ,

I found the below links which has information from both Kolkata & Chandigarh , kindly check the same and it may be helpful.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-...e-kolkata.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...m-india-4.html

Cheers,
pdma.

Today turns out to be a very auspicious one for me. I am presently on leave in Kolkata and called up Deep Honda today to find out about my Honda City and I was told that it has arrived and is presently awaiting delivery at their stock yard. I was also mailed a few pics of my gleaming new Alabaster tinted City by the sales person whose attitude I found quite contrasting to the image of Honda dealers I have previously come across or those portrayed by other members. I even got a call from the showroom sometime later regarding the confirming of the delivery date of 19 October. I am now just keeping my fingers crossed and counting the days for 19th to arrive.