Rollin Thunder

Hey AZINE,

Just thought I would let everyone here know about a new product I purchased and give a review of the product and the company.

I recently purchased a Digital Ballast 5000K 35 Watt 9006 HID kit for my foglights (2006 TL). I searched for several weeks on HID kits and came across a company called Retro-Solutions (www.Retro-Solutions.com). The owner is a member on the .com Forums. After reading through 47 pages of post I decided to purchase a kit for $160.00 Shipped. Received the kit 3 days after placing the order.

Now onto the product. The product came shipped in a aluminum metal case packages very well. After removing the front bumper I mounted the ballasts where appropriate, installed the bulbs and plugged in the harness to the factory plugs and turned the fog lights on. The light ouput compared to the Halogens I was using was a night and day difference. The color of the output is pure white, no hint of yellow or blue. Besides the significan't light increase, it would be really hard to tell these are HID's because of the pure white light.

The onwer of Retro-Solutions stands behind his product. Reading that 47 page post and seeing how satisfied everyone who has purchased a kit from this manufactuer I took a chance and couldn't be happier. The digital kits come with a LIFETIME Warranty on the Bulbs & Ballasts.

Retro Solutions offers a Digital 35watt kit as well as a Digital 55 watt kit.

Anyone looking to purchase HID's should consider looking into this company.

Tripnbeats

this is probably a stupid question but y did u remove the bumper?

Rollin Thunder

For ease of access to mount the ballast and keep them hidden rather than mount them in the engine bay. Was only a personal preference and wanted to have more access to mounting ares.

Tripnbeats

I see.

Rollin Thunder

The posts were on the C L U B R S X . C O M forum under lighting without the spaces.

cKHyper

Trip thanks for the tips i got my bulbs put in
they look great!

csmeance

thanks for the heads up. Now I can afford quality HID kits for my fogs on both cars so I can see better in fog.

Does anyone know weather 2K Yellow or 3K yellow bulbs will be better for dense fog?

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

I don't mean to be an ass, but I checked out the site and the "digital" ballast HID kit didn't impress me. I just want to be honest and tell you that it's just like the $80 Chinese HID kits you get on Ebay, nothing special. Not that there is anything wrong with them. I have them on my car too, they work good and they'll last. The company did a good job of marketting and they have good feedback. I just think you paid too much for them. Double as much to be exact.

The difference is you got the lifetime warranty.......and I have a 2 yr warranty. Well I don't plan to have my car a lifetime; do you?

Integra

i bought a set from him when i had my rsx(the old xentec kit) there on my friends rsx now and they are still running with no problems. for about a year now. just my 2cents.

subbuzz

Yes, yellow is def better for fog conditions. matching the fog's to hid looks great, but def go yellow if you want function.

Rollin Thunder

I understand your responce. But I don't think $160 shipped for a kit that has had numerous reviews and not 1 single failure could be the same as the rest of the $80 Chinese HID kits you get on Ebay. I have used and been through numerous HID kits ranging from $600 to $300 and I am more than pleased with this kits as I was with the other kits I have used. The 80$ kits you see on ebay are mostly manufactured by a company called vvme.com. Numerours threads and websites raved about these kits because they were and are so cheap. Yet the same threads and websites also raved about there failure rating. I'm not arguing, are saying your opinion is wrong or right.

I only opted to put my review on here and my opinion. To each there own. Simply stating anyone maybe looking for a Kiaxen substitue or any other HID substitute because they don't want to or cant spend a lot of money should look into this kit.

Rollin Thunder

The 2000K bulbs will be more deeper in color than the 3000K bulbs. The light output willl be close to if not the same. The more yellow the light the more visibility it will add in foggy weather. Yellow light always helps cut through fog rather than create more glare and causing less visibility like a white or blue light.

Tripnbeats

all ballasts are digital by the way. otherwise you wouldnt be able to turn them on n off quickly without the bulb exploding. that was one of philips biggest problems in development of HID units for cars. It took them 5 yrs to develop a system that wouldnt take minutes to turn back on and doesnt have to cool off in order for the bulb to ignite again like on those 1000watt warehouse HIDs. But it has a safety as well that will burn the ballast before it lets u burn the bulb.

Rollin Thunder

Thanks for the info, didn't know that.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

Don't want to start an arguement here but I can back up what I was saying......The Ebay guys do a lot of switcharooing with labels and "brands" but I did a simple search and here's what I found:

Here's your kit. Look closely at the ballast and bulbs......tell me if you see them again in the following pictures.



look familiar? $75 shipped. Look at the ballasts. Same ballasts.


The bulbs are obviously standard fare. They're all over Ebay. I should know, they're the SAME ones I have on my car! The Ebay guys use them on almost any kit. Look at the bulbs on any of these $80 Ebay kits and compare them to retro-solution's kit. (these are from 3 different auctions.)




Again, it's not that I think the components are bad. I have those SAME bulbs in my headlights AND lower fogs in 8000ks. I LOVE them!! I can give great feedback on them. But I paid $35 for my bulbs and $80 for my fog kit......that's it.

Slick marketting. I'm a buisnessman, so I gotta give it up to retro-solutions. They have a nice website and built a strong customer base and they are giving a lifetime warranty which is unbeatable. But it's in the cloak of a nice website and slick repackaging.

And after paying $160, all you are benefitting from is a lifetime warranty. Where's the value? (what you get vs. what you pay) I might not have that kind of warranty but I have the same HIDs all on my front end and I paid $115 all together. If a bulb burns out in 2 yrs. I'm not too worried......$35 again and I'm still ahead of the game. (BTW lifetime warrantied HID kits are starting to become a standard on Ebay with kits starting at $100, better, thin ballasts: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Super...spagenameZWDVW)

Sorry to drop the ceiling on this. I got nothing to lose here so I'm just telling you the truth. And the truth hurts that you paid too much. And I hope nobody else does too. Anybody that dosen't believe me, do a simple search. I did my homework.

Tripnbeats

rocky ur right i agree.... in reality theres 4 companies that produce a megaton of ballasts n bulbs and sell them off to other people who then sticker the product and so on n so forth. NOT PHILIPS though.....whether u get the kit for 80 or the kit for 160 its really the same stuff. people think they are getting different things from ebay when its all from the same place. even the ballasts in the TL say MATUSHITA..... in other words made in china with new sticker

Rollin Thunder

Ok then. Guess everyone who has purchased this kit has been had.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

That's right. Hella also used to make ballasts. Years back I bought an HID retrofit kit for my BMW for $350 and it had genuine Hella ballasts and Phillips bulbs. Hella is an OEM supplier for BMW and considered one of the best in the world. They were heavier, better made and the connectors were different, not like the "AMP" connectors you find universally on the newer HID kits. My Hella ballast still conked out though. (goes to show even the best quality is no guarantee) Regardless, Kaixen, Phillips, Hella, definitely show a difference in quality over the Ebay brands, you get what you pay for.

The ballasts coming from Asia nowadays may not be the very best in quality but they still have quite a low failure rate. I know many people running them for awhile now and they are fine, particularly if you take the extra precaution in proper wiring and semi-waterproofing them (they say you can submerge them underwater......yeah OK!) But they have totally undersold the Japanese and European competition. Those companies are sticking to the OEM market. (Not to mention that non-OEM applications of HID systems is technically illegal.) Asian companies are still churning them out for the worldwide market. Prices have come down dramatically. I don't see prices going much lower than the minimal profit prices of $75.

Lately they are cornering the motorcycle market with really small thin ballasts which are just what the bikers need nowadays. Looks like they are just going to get better and better at this. As of now most people are skeptical and cautious about quality but more and more people are buying just because the price is so low.

RSX-CT

Hello all, I am the owner of Retro-Solutions, LLC and I am here due to notification from a customer (thread starter) that people are making false claims in regards to our product and other product on the market.

I want you to take a look on ebay and see how many VVME kits show up at people's doors with dead equipment. Or even worse, missing equipment! Real quick fact, VVME and the el cheapos on ebay are not full digital control ballasts, and certaintly no way near as reliable. Think about it, if they were the same thing and just as reliable, why would they not offer the same lifetime warranty? They can't, and in fact they charge up to $35 for a part to be replaced dead out of the box! Go ahead, read their feedback, try ebay seller "flashplus" and read them all.
Another fact... our production costs are more than the el cheapo's cost to your door, now you tell me how that can be the same materials and the same quality product at drastically different manufacturing costs? Many items look similar, but take a closer look... How many of those ballasts indicated here to be "exactly the same" have screw hole mounts on the ballasts and a horizontal input plugs, not a single one. Even the common manufacturers offer different grades of product, the more reliable and better performing cost more than the other grades. Most sellers on ebay only want to edge out competition with the lowest price and false promises of quality. They don't care what happens after you loose your money, if they did they might actually sell better equipment.

Go ahead, check out our statistics on the website. There you will get a real idea of quality as we put up our stats, VVME stats, and previous stats from our OEM Matsushita ballasts and Philips bulbs. Who else does that?

If you think you are getting the same quality, longevity, and performance from something costing half as much, guess what?... you fell into their trap!

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

False claims? Where? I gave some evidence to backup what I was saying, pictures that tell it all and the source. Anyone smart enough can check it out and know the truth.
OK I am sure there are a few DOAs out of 1000s but I personally have not heard of such a story. Most of the Ebay guys actually have feedback in the 100s or 1000s and have above 95% feedback. As a matter of fact many have 99% feedback! That wouldn't be happening with so many DOAs, defects, slow shipping, missing equipment or false advertising.

How many acurazine members have had premature failures on their Ebay HID systems? Speak up. I'm sure there are a few, but I think it's rare. Mine are still running strong.

I commend you on giving a lifetime warranty, definitely a good thing and inspires confidence, but like I said this is slowly becoming the standard even on Ebay. How? Because after selling 1000s or units you can afford to cover a few failures.

And almost all of them are full digital control ballasts nowadays, nothing special. It's true that there are better grades of ballasts that the ebay guys charge more for particularly the slim ones. Your ballasts look like the standard ones though. Again nothing special.
So are you suggesting that you are making these HID sets? Where do they come from? Are they made in the US? C'mon man we know they are coming from overseas. What production costs are you talking about? Shipping? That nice aluminum box they come in? Actually some of even the most cheapest HID systems are presented and packaged quite nicely, I have never seen them come in a cheap cardboard box. They always send them out with impressive looking cartons or packaging. $160 USD equates to a lot overseas so there is plenty of room for profit and "production costs" claims.

You want to say the ballast is not the EXACT same...OK even if you are right, one thing is proven here. As trippin rightly noted above, ballasts can come from anywhere and there is label switching/branding etc. that goes on. Explains as to why there are similar ballasts with different labels and similar labels on different ballasts. How come that label is identical? You can admit that at least right? So that shows that they come from a common source at some point.....Maybe not at the original plant but there is a middleman somewhere that put that same label on. And there are no regulations over there. Man, I've seen some of those labels jokingly even saying made in the USA or made in Germany.....Yeah right they think Americans are stupid! The labelling is a joke!

And you're right, the Ebay guys do try to edge each other out by even $1 because they can get listed on top of the other guy. They play those pricing games because they have to to survive. It's the reason the price has been driven down to bare profit prices. What are they making after shipping? $10?

They are honestly all selling very close to the same thing. There are a few middle quality brands that are better like McCulloh but the rest are lower quality. You are not in that cut-throat realm of competition and so you can name your price and don't have to play their pricing game.
You didn't address anything about those bulbs in that kit, you know they are dead on the same ones in those pictures. That Rainbow "HID" logo is a dead giveaway they come from a common source. I have the same labels/instruction manuals with my Ebay kit!

Some of your other products like your Phillips bulbs etc. are good stuff. I am not knocking them. Proven track record, high quality, I don't need stats on that. And your prices are not the cheapest but OK I guess. I am just picking on that HID kit pictured above, that's all.

I think your buisness game plan was smart and you built up a great customer base, a nice website with good feedback and convincing stats and lifetime warranty. Props to you.

I'm not here to defame your buisness. I say what I say for the good of the acurazine community. You're not cheating anyone or anything, your kit is a decent one. You have the right to sell your kit for $1000 for all I care. I just want people to do their homework before they buy an HID kit and see the competition and decide for themselves where the value is.

Tripnbeats

Yea false claims.... I think not.... ive read everything on HIDs from a thesis specifically focused on automotive HIDs to company projects on HIDs from philips and hella and documentation from those comapnies as well.....not to mention I have a shop that I get hundreds if not thousands of installs a year....when it comes down to it.... we are pretty well informed

mikiTL

Actually, Matsushita is a Japanese company, you probably know them as PANASONIC or as NATIONAL (yes the rice cooker). Matsushita Denki is well known as one of the first companies to create lamp socket connectors. They are one of the pioneers in electrical enginnering R&D for consumer electronics and heavy industries.

Now, whether they are manufactured in China, I do not know. But the actual electrical and technology is engineered in Japan.

Tripnbeats

u ever rip apart a broken ballast??? I have.... everything says made in china on it.... thats like saying we have jap cars but they are built here. to me the tl is an american car with japanese features.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

thanks man.

miki we're clear on Matsu, Panasonic and National as being the same company. Some asian countries don't even have the Panasonic name brand, they have the same products rebranded as National.

But the point here is that the bulbs here are not Matsu, GE, Kaixen, Osram, Philips or any other reputable bulb maker that are used in OEM applications. The ones in the kit mentioned above are one of the no-name ones. Or let me correct that....."rainbow HID" sorry.

mikiTL

What is your problem? The bulbs? Then go buy Phillips bulbs! Oh, but wait, they only make D2S, D1S, D4S bulbs, and not cheap rebased/rewired 9006.. (tho you can find them on ebay, rebased by some other company). Sure, Phillips and Osram make quality bulbs. Kaixen is a well known CHINESE brand that seems to have a decent reputation. Of the Japanese brands that are reputable- Koito, PIAA, and Xetronic(which makes rebased kits).

So what if you ripped open a broken ballast? So what if it says made in china on every single part? What are you trying to get at?

The problem I have with your comment is that you seem to act so "knowledgeable" about HID ballasts/bulbs and then go on to generalize that even TL HIDs are "Made in CHINA w/a Matsushita sticker slapped on" units. While they may be MANUFACTURED in China, they are not Chinese designed/developed products with a Matsushita sticker slapped on. I am merely clarifying an implication that your generalization may cause to some readers.

If you're going to be adamant about NOT making false claims, I suggest you refrain from saying things that make you sound stupid:

"thats like saying we have jap cars but they are built here."
First off, please don't say Jap. It's Japanese. WWII was more than 50years ago.
Acura IS a branch of Honda, a Japanese Company. The TL engine and many of its internal parts(transmission, I believe) are FROM Japan. The parts are shipped to the US and assembled and mated to the unibody/frame in various factories(worldwide).

"to me the tl is an american car with japanese features."

An american car with japanese features? What is a japanese feature? Submissive wives? Small breasts? Slanted eyes?

Tripnbeats

wow man sounds like you take stupid shit personally.... oh well. not my prob....oh sorry problem... im expressing my point of view about a couple of things and abbreviating... let me start typing "laugh out loud" from now on because your pussy hurts. and what am I implementing that most products regardless of who develops them suck? yea kinda, if u really knew what this crap was made of. but then again you probably do.

SLAKERZ

Tripnbeats

slackerz is that dark emerald pearl?

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

WHoa it's clear which button you pressed trippin.....



damn that was hardcore.
then in the next post:

wtf? lolz!!! where the hell is this thread headin?

Slakerz, me too.

SLAKERZ

It's Noble Green Pearl. haha. You know what... In light of the elections coming up, debates and such have become a lot more interesting. Now just hug it out BeyoOtch.

Well anyways, to stick somewhat to topic, what does Acurazine have to say about these H.I.D.s I happened to come across on the ClubLexus forums...
http://clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328937

TLAdvanced

iTrader: (4)

Tripnbeats

$229!?!?! bananas but they look cool....i love how the guy integrated the infiniti q45 lights in the IS

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

On that aacstyle.com website that guy on clublexus shows, they are developing an "oracle halo kit" for 04-06 TL's.......its on their site

SLAKERZ

^^^ Yeah, I noticed that too. It looks sick on his IS. I'd be all over it if I owned a 3rd gen. There's so many options he can do with his lighting on one car.

RSX-CT

sure, and they will charge you over $200 for a ccfl kit they buy for less than $10! We use the same manufacturer for the CCFL angel eyes. I suggest that you take that knowledge and barter with them to get a more realistic price.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

Touche! Interesting........

mikiTL

STHU you retard... if you had any bit of intelligence you would know that an abbreviation of Jap would be taken offensively by someone. And why do you have to sucumb to making tasteless remarks... btw the word is implicating, not implementing. You ought to realize what you say. This is a public forum of automobile enthusiasts, professionals of the industry, and potential customers. You're boasting about selling/installing hundreds to thousands of illegal HID kits and claiming you know what they're made up of simply by opening and tinkering with defective units? Let's get real here.

The only good advice one can give the original poster is that he shouldn't be installing HIDs in his fogs in the first place.

SLAKERZ

Tripnbeats

"implementing" "implicating" sue me.....Im sure everyone knew what I meant.... I could care less about how offended people get because of a few words. Good advice is not installing HIDs? Nah no thanks I'll keep recommending them to people only because I look at as a safety thing and then i look at it as a style thing. and Im actually claiming to know what goes on in them (ballasts) because I am an electrical engineer....and have been for quite some time.... I could understand if I was an english teacher and I was telling u whats up with em (them, so u dont get confused with my abbreviations) and u (you) get pissed but im not. keep it tight...peace. the mods (moderators) are probably loving this right now.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

+2!

Most cars from the factory come with "fog lights" Oh yeah? Why aren't they yellow then? Because most people don't use their fog-lights only for fog and others don't use them even when it's foggy. They are really there for style anyway and aren't that functional. (Old skool Mercedes used to take them seriously though, that's about it.) Most manufacturers put them in because picky buyers ask why the competitor's car has it and their's dosen't. Not that it matters because they won't use them anyways.

We do we put HIDs in our "fog lights"? They are more like driving lights and most of us want it as a bit more fill-in light/auxillary light. (I live in the boondocks in the forrests with no street-lighting.) The "fogs" really fill in the periphery when my high-beams are on.

And the primary reason as mentioned is style. It's 2008, only HIDs will do. It just looks freakin hott as hell especially when you roll at dusk with just your parking lights and fogs on. If you don't understand that, you never will.

I'm done. I'll go chill with slakerz