Seeing the Light

[917_Langheck]

I thought I would share some visual evidence of what a lighting upgrade looks like on the road. Frequently, such lighting "upgrades" as marketed show a "scene" under the "old" and "upgraded" lighting conditions, but the reality is that the "new" condition is merely the "old" setting photoshoped to be brighter, and whiter.

With that in mind I took a series of photographs with my Sony A7RII using a fixed white balance, a fixed aperture, fixed ISO, and a varying shutter speed until I found a resulting photo that matched my visual frame of reference that was reality - that is, the photo matched what I was seeing on the ground, and in color temperature.

The photos below show the original halogen lights, then the unaimed upgrade lights I bought from John Audette (https://911bestinclass.com/collections/h4-halogen-headlights/products/hella-h4-conversion), then the same lamps aimed. The unaimed photos are representative of the need to reaim when switching from the halogen to the H4s.







While the Halogens had a decent reach, the color and brightness are just no match for the H4 beam and +120 lamps.

Hope this helps anyone looking to make the switch.

[88911coupe]

So about how far is the "edge" of the light?

[HarryD]

FWIW, I switched to the Hella E code lamps years ago with the 45/55W bulbs. I also installed headlight relays to improve the current path to the lamps. The improvement was dramatic. I have yet feel the need to upgrade the bulb wattage.

If you go to higher wattage bulbs, you should seriously consider installing headlight relays to reduce the current flow through the falser stalk.

[917_Langheck]

Thanks, but I should have mentioned that relays are installed, and switchgear on steering column clean and in spec.

[917_Langheck]

Originally Posted by 88911coupe

So about how far is the "edge" of the light?

That is a good question. I don't have a quantifiable answer, but it can be manipulated with some aiming. As part of this project I stopped at the same place for the two photo sessions, so the relative spread in the photos are the differences that I saw on the road.

[Damon88]

Thanks for posting! they even ship to Canada. perfect upgrade.

[917_Langheck]

For me, the difference in nighttime lighting, not that I do much, was the difference between dawn light and late morning light. It was significant and confidence inspiring. And as well all know, the old cars can use all the light they can just to be seen....

[917_Langheck]

Originally Posted by Damon88

Thanks for posting! they even ship to Canada. perfect upgrade.

If you don't need them now, John occasionally puts these on sale. I opted for the upgraded bulbs, but bought those separately on the site as that was $20 cheaper that way.???

[Showdown]

I’ve been running the megalight ultra +120 in my car with a classic retrofit fuse panel with integrated relays and even with yellow lenses they’re very impressive.

Driving in Chicago there’s almost never a need for headlights given how lit up the city is, but even out in the country they do very well.

[Damon88]

Originally Posted by 917_Langheck

If you don't need them now, John occasionally puts these on sale. I opted for the upgraded bulbs, but bought those separately on the site as that was $20 cheaper that way.???

Ok that's great, thank you for the info. I will keep checking his site.cheers