Is there a way just by looking at the headlamp to find out if it is HID or halogen. Im so confused. I understand the difference between the two but i never had to get inside of it to find out. Any help would be great.

 

halogen will be yellow and look like every other headlight on the road. HID will have a white color.

 

If your refering to your RX8, did it come originally with fog lamps and DSC (stability control)? If no, then they are Halogen. If yes, then they are HID.

 

Not necessarily if he isn't located in the US.



^ Headlights are HID and fog lights are halogen. You can clearly see the color difference.

 

From what I can tell, he is in New York state.

 

Hm ok I didn't notice that.

 

Not necessarily. Halogen is just the name for the gas that is inside the bulb. If you were comparing two bulbs then it would be difficult to tell. generally HID halogen bulbs are rated for higher temperatures so maybe the glass is thicker. But honestly I wouldn't want to take the chance if I was unsure and trying to buy some bulbs off of ebay or something.

 

If you are talking about looking at the bulbs themselves, the Halogen bulb will have a filament while the HID will have no filament
. If you're talking exterior, the HID units have a thick, almost hemispherical lens (aspheric, more likely). I would not expect a halogen to have that kind of lens. I would expect it to look more like the high beams, but then again I haven't seen an example of halogen low beams on the RX-8.

HID bulb - has a arc capsule instead of a filament




Halogen examples

 

alnielsen is correct. The easiest way to tell if you have HIDs (for US models) is by determining which trim level you have. Basically, everything but the base model has HIDs. The trim level/package that adds HIDs also adds fog lights and DSC. So, if you have fogs and the DSC switch, then you also have HID headlights. It should also be apparent by the color and amount of light put out by the headlights, but I've seen this asked so many time, I guess some people just aren't that observant.


Actually, the bulbs look very different. It's not just the gas inside, as halogen bulbs have a mixure of gas that can include Xenon (which typically denotes HID bulbs). HID bulbs don't have a filiment like a halogen, the light is produced by an arc of electricity through a medium of Xenon gas and assorted minerals (think a little lightening bolt inside the bulb). Here are comparison pics of an H7 bulb and a D2S HID bulb:

 

Ah! You beat me to the bulb pics!

The headlight housings look the same from the ouside. The halogen uses a projector that looks just like the HID housing, although the optics and cut-off shield inside the projector will be slightly different.

 

Nice, never knew

 

All these posts defiantly helped out. Thnx everyone

 

Defiant posts are our specialty.

 

Just turn on your lights, go near the headlights. If you hear a light buzz sound, then its HIDs

 

Huntington aint that far away from mmy home, maybe 20 minutes drive.

if u need someone to "Exam" your new ride. pm me. Im free most of the time