Philips Ultinon 6000k vs McCulloch 6000k

[Malibu Rapper]

Some of you will find this useful.

I had a chance to take a picture of my car side by side with a McCulloch 6000k kit. Both are rated 6000k. I run the Philips kit from HID-Online.com although there are cheaper places to buy it from but beware, there are a lot of fakes. This gives you an idea of the variation between the different brands HID bulbs. The Philips kit has a slight UV tint to it while the McCulloch has a blue/green look to it. I'd say the Philips bulb puts out a whiter more intense light and has a look to it that you know it's HID and not a halogen bulb. Standing in front of them and even in the pictures there is a clear difference. There's a lot of difference between the color temperatures of what different manufacturers will rate their bulbs at and this just gives you an idea. All of these links are clickable for a full sized photo.

Side by side, McCulloch left, Philips right.



McCulloch left, Philips right.



These were both SPOT ON shots taken seconds apart believe it or not. I aimed the camera where we saw the most intense light from the headlights. Same camera settings.



These are both similar shots from above.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Now hold a flat black piece of paper or cardboard in front of each light and tell me which gives you more usable light. I drive mostly on asphault which is black and I noticed that the hid kits which were closer to 6000k or higher did not have as much contrast when cast on the black road surface. Its easy to see the contrast between the two colors on a white garage door but try it on a dark surface and you will see a difference. I have the philips ballast but with osram bulbs 4700K. The phiilips ballast is one piece design and IMO the best on the market over the two piece design hid ballast/ignitor design.

 

[Hrant]

I have the philips ballast but with osram bulbs 4700K. The phiilips ballast is one piece design and IMO the best on the market over the two piece design hid ballast/ignitor design.


Ditto :wink:

And it fits right inside the pop-up head light. Have had one for about 2 years now with no problems.

 

[DarthMaul]

I notice that.. HID x000K rating are pretty subjective. you really have to look at the light output color to decide if you like the look or not.

Still Any HID system will perform way better than halogen in terms of light output.

 

[TrustJDM]

Based on those pics, the philips is hands down better looking than McCulloch in regards to output. I spoke w/Jen at suvlights.com whom worked for McCulloch awhile back and he even told me that McCulloch has terrible quality control. Their HID kits had serious problems and this was coming from a guy that worked there. So far, I've have only heard problems coming from the cheap Korean, Taiwan HID companies making crap, including McCulloch. If you want the good stuff, stick w/Japan and Germany.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

The pictures were just to show the color difference between two bulbs and how the other companies rate them as far as temperature goes. The other Philips ultinon bulbs I've seen were exactly the same color as mine so their quality control is great. The bulbs should work in either ballast.

If you do go with McCulloch, you'll want their latest ballasts as they have undergone several revisions.

Here's a shot of the Phillips ballast installed into the headlight assembly as Hrant has mentioned.

 

[D'Ecosse]

tsk tsk Bradley - clean that mess already!

Lights looking good however! I've been thinking of changing out my bulbs - mine are too blue for my liking.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

tsk tsk Bradley - clean that mess already!

Lights looking good however! I've been thinking of changing out my bulbs - mine are too blue for my liking.

Argh, I knew you'd catch me on that one! Next weekend, I'm gonna take the cover off, clean it, and hit it with some shine.

Here's a good link to learn more about bulbs and how to spot a fake Philips.

 

[Osiris_x11]

is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Is it safe to conclude that the variance in the particular hue/color of light between the McCulloch & Philip's 6000K HID's for the NSX is due to differing bulbs

The Philip's HID's pictured above almost seem to have a platinum halo to them! Very cool...

I have a McCulloch 6000K, and actually was considering getting extra HID bulbs of varying temperature (4700K & 8-9000K) just for different moods/needs.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Is it safe to conclude that the variance in the particular hue/color of light between the McCulloch & Philip's 6000K HID's for the NSX is due to differing bulbs

It's probably a safe bet to say that it's the bulbs. I know someone who bought the Ultinons for their McCulloch kit and was happy with them. I'll have to chase him down one of these days and compare. I read a lot about how people don't like their 6000k bulbs because they aren't bright enough and I think if they have this blue/green hue to them that could be the reason why. Mine light up the road as good or better than any other OEM HID system, projector(less), or color temp I've ever driven.

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Any difference in color will be due to the bulbs, as long as the ballasts are both certified to output the same volts and amps by a standards body like UL or CE. Electricity is electricity, but glass tinting and gas composition may vary from kit to kit.

So now that I've resurrected this thread... if I were to buy a 9006 Phillips kit, is the install fairly straight forward once I take off the headlight covers?

And how does one take off the headlight covers anyway?

Links appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike Hughes

 

[ediddynsx]

I have the phillps 4300k kit and I like them. :smile:

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Okay, nevermind, I actually looked in my manual and found all these answers

I think I'm going to get the 5300K McCulloch kit and install it myself. The weathercap/cover seems like it'd be easy to modify.

However.... the manual does not state what bulb type the parking lights are... I plan on replacing these with LED bulbs when I do my HID conversion - anyone know what type to get?

Thanks.

Mike

Any difference in color will be due to the bulbs, as long as the ballasts are both certified to output the same volts and amps by a standards body like UL or CE. Electricity is electricity, but glass tinting and gas composition may vary from kit to kit.

So now that I've resurrected this thread... if I were to buy a 9006 Phillips kit, is the install fairly straight forward once I take off the headlight covers?

And how does one take off the headlight covers anyway?

Links appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike Hughes

 

[redshift]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Any difference in color will be due to the bulbs, as long as the ballasts are both certified to output the same volts and amps by a standards body like UL or CE. Electricity is electricity, but glass tinting and gas composition may vary from kit to kit.

Not exactly, the potential difference between different ballasts' "bulb" circuits does vary (i.e. voltage). The current (read: amp) will depend on the particular bulb's resistance and of course the ballast's voltage (as mentioned above). For that reason you may see differences between different ballast and bulb combinations (due to the ballast's electrical properties). But yeah, I'm a dorky engineer being overly technical... you're pretty much right. :biggrin:

As far as color temp is concerned, I'm pretty partial to the Phillips 4300K kit. However, I haven't seen one of Steve's kits on anybody's car but I hear GREAT things about them. You should shoot a PM to whiteNSXs.

 

[760NSX]

I have the McCulloch 6k kit and man by the pics it makes me want the philips kit. IT looks like the Philips kit puts more blue on the cut and light then the Mculloch. Thanks for sharing. How much doe the philips unit run????

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Hah. Sorry, I do software.

Not exactly, the potential difference between different ballasts' "bulb" circuits does vary (i.e. voltage). The current (read: amp) will depend on the particular bulb's resistance and of course the ballast's voltage (as mentioned above). For that reason you may see differences between different ballast and bulb combinations (due to the ballast's electrical properties). But yeah, I'm a dorky engineer being overly technical... you're pretty much right. :biggrin:

As far as color temp is concerned, I'm pretty partial to the Phillips 4300K kit. However, I haven't seen one of Steve's kits on anybody's car but I hear GREAT things about them. You should shoot a PM to whiteNSXs.

 

[redshift]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

I have the McCulloch 6k kit and man by the pics it makes me want the philips kit. IT looks like the Philips kit puts more blue on the cut and light then the Mculloch. Thanks for sharing. How much doe the philips unit run????

I've seen their 6000K kits run from $600 - $750. I'm sure somebody can chime in with a link to a site with the best price though. I remember somebody telling me that Philips bulbs tend to be more accurate with regard to their advertised color temps... anybody care to corroberate or dismiss this hearsay?

Hah. Sorry, I do software.

:biggrin: ... Cool, so do I! My education is in both EE and CS so I did hardware design for a little while but have since gravitated into software.

Back to the HID discussion...

 

[D'Ecosse]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

... the manual does not state what bulb type the parking lights are... I plan on replacing these with LED bulbs when I do my HID conversion - anyone know what type to get?

<!--StartFragment -->

shame on you - 24 posts already & haven't learned to use the SEARCH feature yet. <!--StartFragment -->

OK, you're still under 30 days - I'll cut you some slack newb - all you need to know <!--StartFragment -->

& some you don't - like for instance that the front parking lights are NOT 1157's as the thread title suggests .........

 

[nsxsupra]

Thanks for posting, Philips looks a lot better imho, light appears to be more blue compare to slightly green McCulloch HID.

 

[Osiris_x11]

Philips bulb/ballast-igniter 4300K & 6000K HID kits...

Here you go women...

http://www.xenondepot.com/index.php
http://www.xenonking.com/

Philips 4300K: $379.99-$399.99
http://www.xenondepot.com/category.php?category_id=2
http://www.xenonking.com/philips_4300.htm

Philips 6000K: $444.99-$449.99
"Ultinon"
http://www.xenondepot.com/category.php?category_id=3
http://www.xenonking.com/philips_6000.htm

FYI: I have whitensx's 6000K HID kit for my '91 NSX. I've seen other kits, ie. Philips components, Hella components, Mcullough kits, EBay's Taiwan/ HongKong/ Korean/ [BJapanese[/B] kits... I feel whitensx's kit is the easiest to install. Specific DIY instructions, pre-drilled weather-caps, etc... all are directed towards the '91-'01 NSX. Not to say the other kits are all that difficult, but I feel the HID's I acquired are the easiest in terms of time & skill.

Now, when it comes to preference of the appearance of the light produced, everyone will have a subjective view (so to speak).

The way I see it, there are (4) choices for 6000K HID's...

- $450 for Philips components (Philips Ultinon bulbs, Philips ballasts-igniter unit)
- $400 for whitensx's NSX-kit (Mcullough ballasts, igniters, pre-drilled caps)
- $300 for generic Japanese kits
- $250 for generic Taiwan/Hong_Kong/Korea kits

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

I actually did do a search, and posted only after the information I found was fairly inconclusive. There were like 4 threads on this issue.

Nobody in the thread mentioned type 3652 automotive bulbs, which is what the Sylvania website I ended up at said, but only the "wedge XXX/YYY" moniker, which the LED site did in fact have, but not in white, for the time being. Maybe they're out of stock.

It's extremely hard for me to synthesize purchasing decisions from threads like these. Sorry, I got confused.

I think I may get Philips this time around... the last McCulloch kit I had on my supra had some quirks (the ballasts and igniters were separate units, one side would sometimes fail to light up, and both would sometimes fail to light up during a quick off/on cycle).

But either way... you can get McCulloch "new generation" ballast-equipped kits on eBay for less than $300 in all temperature ranges, which is what whiteNSX sells + the extra OEM caps modified. So from what I'm gathering, whiteNSX's price differential of $120 is for a) some instructions and b) modified caps?

Thanks.

<!--StartFragment -->

shame on you - 24 posts already & haven't learned to use the SEARCH feature yet. <!--StartFragment -->

OK, you're still under 30 days - I'll cut you some slack newb - all you need to know <!--StartFragment -->

& some you don't - like for instance that the front parking lights are NOT 1157's as the thread title suggests .........

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: Philips bulb/ballast-igniter 4300K & 6000K HID kits...

You forgot option 5, which is

5) $285 eBay 5300K or 6000K McCulloch kits, drill your own caps.

Personally I'd go with Philips after having owned the McCulloch kit previously.

- $450 for Philips components (Philips Ultinon bulbs, Philips ballasts-igniter unit)
- $400 for whitensx's NSX-kit (Mcullough ballasts, igniters, pre-drilled caps)
- $300 for generic Japanese kits
- $250 for generic Taiwan/Hong_Kong/Korea kits

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Ohhh, one of those CE types. No wonder.

I've seen their 6000K kits run from $600 - $750. I'm sure somebody can chime in with a link to a site with the best price though. I remember somebody telling me that Philips bulbs tend to be more accurate with regard to their advertised color temps... anybody care to corroberate or dismiss this hearsay?

:biggrin: ... Cool, so do I! My education is in both EE and CS so I did hardware design for a little while but have since gravitated into software.

Back to the HID discussion...

 

[D'Ecosse]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

Nobody in the thread mentioned type 3652 automotive bulbs, which is what the Sylvania website I ended up at said, but only the "wedge XXX/YYY" moniker, which the LED site did in fact have, but not in white, for the time being. Maybe they're out of stock.

My comments were tongue in cheek Mike - hence the <!--StartFragment -->

smiley after search comment.

While that thread may not have mentioned 3652 the thread was extremely specific about what kind of bulbs they are - it was repeated multiple times throughout that they are 194/168 (oft times in response to the fact that they are not 1157's) and that is the replacement style you should be searching for. It also stated (multiple times) that the WLED6 is the suggested replacement item at SuperLeds.
As it turns out 3652 is another designation for the "wedge" fitment, but this is more typically designated 194 or 168. Please trust the information that has been supplied by those who have done it (which is what you asked for originally)

I just received 6 of white WLED6 in the mail on Monday from SuperLeds so surprised they would be out of stock - extremely common application. If they do happen to be out of them, try here.

 

[Mike Hughes]

Re: is it all about the HID bulbs then?!?

D'Ecosse --

The item described in extreme specificity in the thread is nowhere to be found on the page.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR

WLED 6-LED bulb
12 VDC 6-LED Wedge Base bulb (194/168 type)
Our brightest bulb of this type
Non Polarized

Select LED Color

Red
Amber
Blue
Green


The only white wedge bulb they have is the "wide angle" unit with the 5 radially mounted LEDs.

And I notice you just edited your post re: the 3652 designation by Sylvania. "More typically" is a subjective term - every auto store, manual, and retail website I've been to has always designated them 3652, not wedge 194. This is probably due to different industries calling them different things. It looks like SAE likes to call it 3652, and some other standards body likes to call them the other thing.

See? It's confusing.

Also, don't be surprised that the common application is out of stock ... have you ever tried to buy a pair of pants during the holidays? The "common" applications are always out of stock. Inventory stock buyers are generally not that smart and always end up short on the mode.