From Nissan 350Z & 370Z Wiki
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2003-2005 Headlight Housing
The headlights of the 350Z are a reflector/projector design. This means that the light coming from the lo-beam bulb is reflected onto the road from the chrome in the housing as well as projected through the round lense, this helps to illuminate as much of the road as possible while minimizing glare for oncoming traffic (this is important because the HID bulbs give off much more light than regular halogen as explained below). The hi-beam function of this type of headlight is taken care of with a separate halogen bulb that does not make use the projector.
2006+ Headlight Housing (Bi-Xenon)
In 2006 Nissan made the design change to the headlights of the Z on all trim levels. Instead of the halogen or xenon reflector/projector combined with a halogen hi-beam bulb, there would now just be a single bi-xenon projector to serve both functions. This altered the look of the headlight but also improved the overall performance and light output that the headlights provided.
How Bi-Xenon Works
A bi-xenon projector works in much the same way that a HID xenon projector works, except for one key difference. In a bi-xenon projector headlight, there is no separate halogen bulb for the hi-beam function. The cutoff shield in the projector is attached to a solenoid, that when activated flips the shield down to allow all the light to pass through the projector, therefore giving all the output of a hi-beam.
HID Lighting
HID stands for High Intensity Discharge, and describes the type of bulbs used in a car. In this type of lighting the HID bulbs are powered by ballasts which produce a large voltage at startup to begin the burning of the xenon gas inside the bulb. After start up a constant 35 watts of power is supplied to the bulbs which is considerably less than the regular 55 watts a halogen bulb requires. This type of lighting produces approximately three times a much light as a regular halogen bulb, therefore making it much safer to drive at night.
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Bi Xenon, HID, Halogen, Headlights, Headlamps, Projectors, Front Lamps, Low Beam, High Beam, Housing Housings |
