Yellow headligts

[kavadarci]

So before I can afford 1000 plus for led headligts I thought I try yellow.
Some will like it some will not, I think it looks good.

[Lyle O]

Very French...

[Major Dad]

As in abandoned by the French in the 80's cos they did not work.

[darrin]

Kavadarchi -- looks like your 911 was already upgraded from original sealed beam headlights (with poor lighting) to H4 euro-spec drop in headlights which should, if properly adjusted, etc. have VERY nice light output/focus. I've been running similar drop-in headlights in my '86 carrera for quite some time (I use high wattage bulbs in conjunction with headlight relays that allow the headlights' current to bypass -- and avoid melting -- the turn signal's high beam switch) and find the light output/focus to be better than the HID lights in my '04 vw touareg.

You might want to consider:
a) cleaning the insides of the lenses and reflectors on your existing headlights -- mine were fairly dirty when purchased and really benefited from a nice cleaning -- I used alcohol and uncooked rice to get stubborn deposits off of mine and then rinsed and dried 'em in the sun

b) installing headlight relays -- our host has a nice kit manufactured by JWest that's pretty inexpensive -- to minimize the circuitry the headlight current runs through and make sure the headlights are getting full power/current,

c) potentially replacing/upgrading the h4 bulbs to higher wattage bulbs, and

d) (MOST IMPORTANTLY) -- make sure your headlights are properly aimed. Like modern car headlights, european h4 housings have a very sharp top cutoff that does a great job lighting up the road when properly aimed -- if they're aimed too low, the cutoff will occur too close to the car and make the lights seem artificially dim -- too high and the headlights won't even be focusing on the car. There are a number of good, easy, tutorials on the web on how to do this -- same issue would also apply to any replacement headlights you might purchase.

Finally, while I'm still running them, I'm not the biggest fan of our sugar scoop headlights looks. European delivery 911s came with a much more integrated, 911-specific, H4 headlight design. If you find that any combination of the above helps make your lighting output acceptable, these h4 headlights can be had for a fair bit less than the $1k custom options discussed in other threads and could well solve that issue too.

I also concur with Major Dad's comment on yellow headlight filters -- like sunglasses, they're reducing the amount of light passing through the lens by

[Trackrash]

They are not legal in my neck of the world.

Yea, high wattage H4 bulbs and relays and you will have amazing night vision.

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by Major Dad

As in abandoned by the French in the 80's cos they did not work.

Yes, they worked just fine for the reason they sure implemented in the beginning of WW2: for civilian cars to not be mistaken for those of the enemy.

It was the early '90s when they did away with the yellow lights to conform to the standards of the rest of Europe. Interestingly, if a vehicle was first registered when the yellow lights were still in use, they are still legally permitted.

[Canada Kev]

I think the OP isn't trying these to get better vision - at least I hope not, because they won't provide that. He seems to be just going for a different look. To me it looks like a recipe to have the OPP bothering him with a traffic ticket..

[hank911]

Sport em as long as your enjoying them...you have both!
I do!

[356911930]

Fyi,

Your headlight washers are mounted on the opposite side that they are designed for.

Rahl

[High Life]

To address the comments, I pose some scientific reading.. See links to academic studies and books on yellow lighting in this article.

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

Also as far as the WWII story - from D Stern..

Why and when did France require selective yellow light?

A number of folk explanations have long been in circulation for the French yellow-lights requirement that started in the mid-1930s. Some say it was a tactical decision at the urging of the military, to facilitate identification of the nationality of a vehicle at night, useful during the war. Some say it was because French road pavement had peculiar reflective properties. Some say it was nothing but market protectionism. And a particularly persistent myth holds that yellow light "penetrates fog better" because blue light scatters more, as evidenced by the sky being blue. The sky is indeed blue because of Rayleigh Scattering—short-wavelength light such as blue, indigo and violet does indeed scatter more—but only in droplets and particles equal or smaller than the wavelength of the light. That's much smaller than the particles and droplets that make up ground-level fog, rain, and snow; there is no Rayleigh Scattering happening to the light from a vehicle's front lamps, and whatever blue light those lamps might be producing does not get scattered by the fog, snow, or rain more than other colours of light.

The fact is, in late 1936 lawmakers in France put forth legislation requiring road-illumination lamps (headlamps, fog lamps, etc.) on all vehicles to emit selective yellow light. This legislation was based on advice from the French Central Commission for Automobiles and Traffic, which in turn was based on experiments done by the French Academy of Sciences, concluding that selective yellow light is less glaring than white. Here is the decree, published in the 5 November 1936 edition of the Journal Officiel de la Republique Française—Official Journal of the French Republic, like the U.S. Federal Register or the Canada Gazette.

This decree translates as follows:

The Minister of Public Works, in view of the decree of 31 December 1922 laying down general rules on traffic and traffic regulations, as amended by the decrees of 2 September 1925, 21 August 1928, 5 October 1929, 19 January 1933, and 17 January and 1 October 1935, and in particular Article 24; with regard to the Ministerial Decree of 28 July 1923 and that of 10 October 1933 amending the decree in question and determining the conditions to be met by the provisions of automotive lighting; and with regard to the opinion of the Central Commission of Automobiles and Traffic dated 9 January 1936; on the proposal of the State Councillor Director General of Highways,

Be it enacted:

Article 1: All road illumination lamps mounted on a vehicle registered after 1 April 1937 shall produce selective yellow light and shall comply with an approved photometric standard. This provision shall apply to all motor vehicles as from 1 January 1939.

Article 2: All provisions contrary to the provisions of Article 1 of this Order are hereby repealed.

Done at Paris, 3 November 1936.


France maintained the requirement for selective yellow car lamps for almost 60 years. As late as 1988, French lawmakers were responding to citizen queries by saying the selective yellow lights were safer because of less glare and less light scatter with equal driver seeing ability.

However, in the drive to remove trade and travel barriers by commissioning vehicle technical regulations throughout Europe, the requirement was quashed in 1993

I prefer the yellow headlights myself, but I did notice it messes up the oncoming drivers thinking I need to turn my lights on...

[Koizumi]

Wish they were legal in Cali. Reminds me of my childhood in . Got my yellow fogs wired up as daytime DRL

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by High Life

Why and when did France require selective yellow light?

A number of folk explanations have long been in circulation for the French yellow-lights requirement that started in the mid-1930s. Some say it was a tactical decision at the urging of the military, to facilitate identification of the nationality of a vehicle at night, useful during the war. Some say it was because French road pavement had peculiar reflective properties. Some say it was nothing but market protectionism. And a particularly persistent myth holds that yellow light "penetrates fog better" because blue light scatters more, as evidenced by the sky being blue. The sky is indeed blue because of Rayleigh Scattering—short-wavelength light such as blue, indigo and violet does indeed scatter more—but only in droplets and particles equal or smaller than the wavelength of the light. That's much smaller than the particles and droplets that make up ground-level fog, rain, and snow; there is no Rayleigh Scattering happening to the light from a vehicle's front lamps, and whatever blue light those lamps might be producing does not get scattered by the fog, snow, or rain more than other colours of light.

The fact is, in late 1936 lawmakers in France put forth legislation requiring road-illumination lamps (headlamps, fog lamps, etc.) on all vehicles to emit selective yellow light. This legislation was based on advice from the French Central Commission for Automobiles and Traffic, which in turn was based on experiments done by the French Academy of Sciences, concluding that selective yellow light is less glaring than white. Here is the decree, published in the 5 November 1936 edition of the Journal Officiel de la Republique Française—Official Journal of the French Republic, like the U.S. Federal Register or the Canada Gazette.

Well, ya learn something new every day...

[kavadarci]

Originally Posted by 356911930

Fyi,

Your headlight washers are mounted on the opposite side that they are designed for.

Rahl

Amazing responses. Thank you very much.
Yes, I was going more for the looks and don't drive much at night nor far.
I do like the euro h4 look better than what I have.

The washers are mounted the opposite? Do you have a pic of properly installed washerrs?
Thank you.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by kavadarci

Some will like it some will not, I think it looks good.

YES SIR !

[turbobrat930]

Yep, I have been rockin the yellow lenses for several years now....

20170917_135036 by Brad, on Flickr

[Joe Bob]

U now need popup white surrender flags, 5 reverse gears and halogen back up lights.....

[fiminod]

Yellow bulbs? best of both worlds?

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by Trackrash

They are not legal in my neck of the world.

I wondered about this

[clutch-monkey]

no idea if legal here. never been bothered

[jferrante]

Love the yellow - have them on my 996 and on one of Magnus'