Headlight utopia?

[Tim Walsh]

I know there are lots of you out there that just can't get enough light out of their headlights and I ran across some interesting information. Anyone ever tried the PIAA 180/135w h4 bulbs?

http://www.piaa.co.uk/bulbs/bulbshow.asp?ID=halogen

Also my roomie showed me this which is interesting. Looks like he built a voltage regulator for his h4 powered flashlight to bump the voltage up to 16v and got 3x the (measured) light out of it.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=625755&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Wow, suddenly my 30 amp relays don't seem so overkill anymore

[jpnovak]

Tim have you read this? Look at the tech section.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/
Some very good points are made.

Those PIAA bulbs are a bit expensive, nearly $90 each. I think I will stick to the stock bulbs for now.

I don't think that those boosted bulbs will last very long. There are many things you can overdrive with I or V. Most of the limits given by the manufacturer is based on a certain lifetime. Back in my bike racing days it was common to boost a 12V headlight to 13.2V and get more light out. The bulbs had but a fraction of their normal life. Unfortunately there is always a tradeoff.

[masraum]

Yep, read and re-read daniel stern's site. Tons of good info.

[RoninLB]

as per Dans recommendation I use Narva bulbs, Cibie Euro lens, Bosch high current bulb sockets, etc.

[dtw]

FAQ temporarily unavailable

Anyone got a copy?

[Emission]

Best upgrade I ever did to my 911 was the H4 and 80/100W bulbs (plus relays).

[UK Carrera]

Read some of the magazine bulb tests. My recollection is that PIAA come out really badly.

I remember one fairly recent review in www.autoexpress.co.uk.

I think some of this is available on-line at the website.

[Rufblackbird]

hmm...I had a set of H4 PIAA Super Whites when they first came out and I loved them..

[look 171]

Hey Emission, where did you put the relay? Between the head lights and the switch? Thanks jeff. By the way, smog check go ok?

[RoninLB]

An easy test is to drive as the only car at night on an unlit straight road and see if you can see down the road far enough to safely stop at 80mph if you came across garbage imo.

[Tim Walsh]

Look,
Not sure where emission put the relays, but I took the existing headlight wire and wired it into the control side of the relay then wired up the slave side of the relay into the headlight straight from the battery, to a fuse, into the relay and from there into the headlight.

[Jim Richards]

Tim, RoninLB has the hot setup. His headlights don't p-off oncoming traffic and yet I've never seen such great visibility at night. Give Ronnie a shout.

[Early_S_Man]

The PIAA ultra-expensive 'enthusiast' bulbs are all hype and aimed, so to speak, for the ricers' market. The claimed light 'output' is testing gimmickery, and probably just a normal 130W/100W or 140W/100W H4 'true' power bulb with hyped ratings to 'justify' the ridiculous pricing!

Hella has the two highest power H4 bulbs on the market in their normal halogen line ... not even grouped in the blue 'Xenon Premium' or 'Yellow Star Premium' lines!

#78141 140W/100W H4

#78173 165W/100W H4

[Emission]

Originally posted by look 171
Hey Emission, where did you put the relay? Between the head lights and the switch? Thanks jeff. By the way, smog check go ok?

I honestly forgot. There is a thread about it somewhere on this board. The relays prevented the switch from taking the power, so I'd imagine I put them between the lights and the switch. It was very simple and inexpensive. I put one for HIGH beams and one for LOW beams.

(Thanks for asking. I have't had time to address the smog issue as I've been very focused on a huge project at work - I am self-employed. This weekend, I need Porsche car time for a stress relief.)

[look 171]

Emission, Thanks for the tip on the relay.

Self employment is the greatest. You neither work to death, or looking for work. The good thing is that you can take a day, or at times, weeks when the project permits.

Put a another lic. plate on the 930 for stress relief this weekend. Good luck, just don't get in trouble. Jeff

[Emission]

Originally posted by look 171
Emission, Thanks for the tip on the relay.

Self employment is the greatest. You neither work to death, or looking for work. The good thing is that you can take a day, or at times, weeks when the project permits.

Put a another lic. plate on the 930 for stress relief this weekend. Good luck, just don't get in trouble. Jeff

Try this (for $25 delivered it is worth it):

http://members.rennlist.com/msucro1/relaykit.htm

[Craig 930 RS]

Real world experience:

I tried the 100/150 Hella bulbs - no rice bulbs, just good high wattage German jobbers. Installed a PIAA relay - did it all professionally, a nice install.

Kept burning out bulb$, about 1 per month!
Went back to the standard bulbs.

FWIW,

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by Craig911
Real world experience:

I tried the 100/150 Hella bulbs - no rice bulbs,

Hella doesn't make bulbs.. to gently reply to Hella bulbs.

[Emission]

I've never had a single issue with my 80/100W bulbs (never replaced any either).

[Craig 930 RS]

Hella does make bulbs:
http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaPortal/WebSite/Internet_usa/ProductsServices/Performance_Lighting/Performance_Lighting.jsp

I had the Hella 100/150 bulbs -