Lightforce HID Lights - Performance Lighting
Australian company Lightforce has spent the past 20 years in the field of precision manufacturing and has forged an international reputation for innovative 12-volt professional lighting equipment. Lightforce exports to more than 50 countries and supplies products that are designed and manufactured to deliver high performance in the most hostile conditions—from the frozen Arctic tundra to the scorching heat of the Australian Outback—so we figured a few of its lights would be a nice addition to this '09 GMC. We chose the 210 Genesis 35-watt HID lights.
But first, just what is an HID light? HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. HID lights require three components: a bulb, an igniter, and a ballast. Instead of a filament, HID is a xenon gas-filled bulb with two electrodes. Applying a high-voltage 20,000-volt pulse (via the igniter), a plasma arc is formed across the two electrodes in the bulb. Once ignited, the ballast takes over, keeping the bulb running at a constant temperature. HID lights take approximately 15 to 25 seconds to reach a stable brightness, a fact not all people are aware of prior to purchase.
Compared with incandescent bulbs, HID lamps have higher luminous efficiency, since a greater proportion of their radiation is in visible light as opposed to heat. They also give a greater amount of light output per watt of electricity input and use about 50 percent less power. They are cold to the touch.
The 210 Genesis comes as a spotlight but uses a modular clip-on filter system for tunable light control (wide asymmetric pattern or a combo), and a handy, four-position mount allows for multiple installation options.
Follow along, as we document 4 Wheel Parts Performance Center installing a few 210 Genesis lights on this pickup.
