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General Information => Upgrades (non engine related ) => Topic started by: camboscams on November 24, 2011, 06:18:57 pm
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So I'm planning on upgrading my headlights with these bad boys http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744 (http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744) I looked into getting these a long time ago and I talked to the owner and he suggested a set of bulbs(which I can't remember) if I didn't want to upgrade my wiring but I'm ready to bite the bullet and add the required relays and wiring to make it handle some high wattage. I can't get ahold of anyone to ask them this question due to the holidays. So my question is do any of you all have any experience with any of these bulbs or e-codes for that matter?
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I would think any of those bulbs would do fine. I have H4 bulbs but I cannot remember what wattage I ended up getting. I think I got the 100/55 or something like that. There is a discussion on these in the General Section. CRSMP5 or some similar name has given tons of info on it.
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ive used 200mm hella e codes for years... my 1st car had them.. then they were put into 2nd car.. then into my caddy... and now into my toaster.. :D
but 1st things first.. relays.. even on sealed beams increase light 80%... every 1v of voltage drop reduced light by ALOT thinking something silly like 40%
so add the relays... and GOOD GROUNDS close to each light.. you will kick yourself when you do this... and see the results..
now for the h4.. the stock 60/55 is a OK thing.. set of silver stars are good upgrade..
100/80w.. they are pretty impressive... BUT life is alot less then the stock wattage bulbs... also if you live in a ranny place with black top.. 100/80w bulbs reflect right off the wet blacktop.. ya there is light.. but gets sketchy vs a 60/55...
stay away from blue tint if you got blacktop also... blue great on concrete.. but crappy on black..
hid conversions.... your linked place no way no how sells.. will not as its not "proper" so do not even mention hid with them... but my toaster has hid conversions in the 200mm squares and i like them most of all the bulbs ive tried... up in general section is a hid topic that covers that...
i wish hella would do the 200mm squares like they do the 165mm ones.. aka the ff version.. those would be tits with hid i think... i really need to buy a set of them still to play with on a mk1 jetta...
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I wish hella would do the 200mm squares like they do the 165mm ones.. aka the ff version.. those would be tits with hid I think... I really need to buy a set of them still to play with on a mk1 jetta...
What are the "ff" versions?
I too have run hella e-code setups for many years on several different vehicles and swear by them.
I'd wait until Monday and talk with the guys at susquehannna, they'll set you straight on what the best setup is for your particular situation. In any case the lights aren't going to ship until Monday at the earliest so why not?
They won't sell you hid stuff to run in your e-codes because the e-codes are not the right type of housing, you'll blind people have massive amounts of scatter and be no better able to see than with a good h4 bulb. Hids are for ricers.
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Beware! Hella are second rate lights. Do yourself a favor and buy the Cibie E codes. The reflectors are shinier. The lens is clearer and more sophisticated than Hella. Back in the day SEV Marchal and Cibie were for serious drivers. Hellas were sold to kids by Top Auto. (The K Mart of auto parts.)
The really "tits" set up was the SEV Marchal AMPILUX. They were all E codes back then, BTW. They had a separate H1-100 high beam inside a 7" round light. They turned light into day. SEV Marchal is sadly, no more.
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The cibie's are nice and all but not worth twice the cost of hellas imo.
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someone should develop a light with the red, blue, and green all in one deal. That is what the old tv's used to use in them to make all the colors and my pal who was an artist used. He would paint paintings with 3 equal powered and spaced lights shinning down on his canvas and it would look 3d. He said it changes the way our eyes look at stuff. I have no clue on the science behind it, but it was neat to see. I think the same could be done with our headlamps if they had equal coatings on the bulb to change the light a tick. Another idea if someone had unlimited resources and time they could try for me.
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The cibie's are nice and all but not worth twice the cost of hellas imo.
If you ever owned a set of Cibies you would not say that. They are worth EVERY PENNY. There are several Cibie dealers on line that will sell them for $75 a light for 7" rounds.
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html
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someone should develop a light with the red, blue, and green all in one deal. That is what the old tv's used to use in them to make all the colors and my pal who was an artist used. He would paint paintings with 3 equal powered and spaced lights shinning down on his canvas and it would look 3d. He said it changes the way our eyes look at stuff. I have no clue on the science behind it, but it was neat to see. I think the same could be done with our headlamps if they had equal coatings on the bulb to change the light a tick. Another idea if someone had unlimited resources and time they could try for me.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Orbitron_front.jpg/800px-Orbitron_front.jpg)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbitron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbitron)
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The cibie's are nice and all but not worth twice the cost of hellas imo.
If you ever owned a set of Cibies you would not say that. They are worth EVERY PENNY. There are several Cibie dealers on line that will sell them for $75 a light for 7" rounds.
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html
We're talking about 200mm rectangular lamps, $200 a pair for the cibies, $100 a pair for the hellas. Not worth it in my opinion and I've run 5.75" round cibies never the 7's or any of their rectangular lamps.
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the 200mm cibies ive ever seen were crap... they have a glass cone to cover the bulb to keep it a "sealed" beam and do not have a cut off like a hella does for road signs and such... but i could be wrong.. maybe there is a better version ive never seen...
the 7" round with 2 bulbs... yea those are tits.. but they dont make that in 200mm square..
165mm ff http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=4251
if anything like the old 550ff vs 550 fogs.. there should be a huge amount of light differance..
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ive used 200mm hella e codes for years... my 1st car had them.. then they were put into 2nd car.. then into my caddy... and now into my toaster.. :D
but 1st things first.. relays.. even on sealed beams increase light 80%... every 1v of voltage drop reduced light by ALOT thinking something silly like 40%
so add the relays... and GOOD GROUNDS close to each light.. you will kick yourself when you do this... and see the results..
now for the h4.. the stock 60/55 is a OK thing.. set of silver stars are good upgrade..
100/80w.. they are pretty impressive... BUT life is alot less then the stock wattage bulbs... also if you live in a ranny place with black top.. 100/80w bulbs reflect right off the wet blacktop.. ya there is light.. but gets sketchy vs a 60/55...
stay away from blue tint if you got blacktop also... blue great on concrete.. but crappy on black..
hid conversions.... your linked place no way no how sells.. will not as its not "proper" so do not even mention hid with them... but my toaster has hid conversions in the 200mm squares and i like them most of all the bulbs ive tried... up in general section is a hid topic that covers that...
i wish hella would do the 200mm squares like they do the 165mm ones.. aka the ff version.. those would be tits with hid i think... i really need to buy a set of them still to play with on a mk1 jetta...
been there, done that.. the relay upgrade is AMAZING!!!
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Just talked to Jack i think it was at Susquehanna he said that the only difference between cibies and the hellas is the cutoff line, he described it as a clock, the hellas start it 9:00 and go to the center and then turn towards 2:00 and continue on and the cibies continue in the same as hellas until its across from about 2:30 and then goes horizontal. But Hellas do it at half the cost! 8) As far as bulbs from their list go, basically more wattage is better, and blue tinting on the bulb just filters it to produce a whiter light, which i would think as counterproductive as it is FILTERING some of the light. But after some more internet scouring i have turned up some good and bad reviews for each bulb, so anyone here have any experience with any of the bulbs from the list?
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I run the yellowstar 55/60 wattage I believe. Very yellow, I like them a lot.
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the 200mm cibies ive ever seen were crap... they have a glass cone to cover the bulb to keep it a "sealed" beam and do not have a cut off like a hella does for road signs and such... but i could be wrong.. maybe there is a better version ive never seen...
Those are DOT approved "BOBI" style Cibies NOT E codes. Cibie makes DOT approved lights, but ALL DOT lights suffer from the "drop 2" problems.
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Just talked to Jack i think it was at Susquehanna he said that the only difference between cibies and the hellas is the cutoff line, he described it as a clock, the hellas start it 9:00 and go to the center and then turn towards 2:00 and continue on and the cibies continue in the same as hellas until its across from about 2:30 and then goes horizontal. But Hellas do it at half the cost!
Well, Jack is trying to sell you his inferior crap, now isn't he. If you hold a Hella and Cibie E code light in your hand at the same time, you would never believe the Hellas are "just as good". The Hella lens is yellow tinged the Cibie is CRYSTAL clear. The reflector on a Hella is kind of muddy greyish, the Cibie is bright silver. If you do not have the money, Hellas are better than sealed beams, but not nearly as good as Cibies.
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Yea i hear that from him and read stuff saying on the internet that there's not much difference and then i see this comparing Cibies and Hellas http://dastern.torque.net/Photometry/isocomparo.html (http://dastern.torque.net/Photometry/isocomparo.html)
I guess i have to decide what i'm willing to pay
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I think you need to look at the diagrams again. The Z beam Cibies are a DOT light and not an E code so they don't count. If you look at the last 2 diagrams The ECE (E code?) Hella 7" round has a Luminous Flux (total light output) of 463. The ECE Cibie 7" round has Luminous Flux of 695. That is 1/3 greater light output with the same bulb at the same voltage. Only you can decide how important your life is. I have been saved several times in my life by great lights that let me see stuff that I would have run headlong into with Hellas.
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I think you need to look at the diagrams again. The Z beam Cibies are a DOT light and not an E code so they don't count. If you look at the last 2 diagrams The ECE (E code?) Hella 7" round has a Luminous Flux (total light output) of 463. The ECE Cibie 7" round has Luminous Flux of 695. That is 1/3 greater light output with the same bulb at the same voltage. Only you can decide how important your life is. I have been saved several times in my life by great lights that let me see stuff that I would have run headlong into with Hellas.
all i did, were fix my adjusters on my aero lights, throw good bulbs at them, and relay them..
im happy now 8)
i was considering HIDs or some other options before this.
AERO lights are bright as hell with good bulbs and voltage..
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First of all, for the sake of EVERYONE in the car hobby, do NOT do an HID conversion of any non-HID light. This kind of irresponsible behaviour is what draws unwanted attention from LEOs to us - and in this case for good reason. The NHTSA is investigating now.
Between Cibié and Hella, the debate rages on. Compared with anything else, they are light years better (please forgive the lighting pun), but if you are trying to get all that you can from incandescents, then Cibié lights should get then near-$100.00 nod. Definitely add a set of relays to get the voltage to the best it can be (and don't forget to actually measure it - some regulators are very different from others and rob the system of EMF).
Personally, I prefer 80/100s with CLEAR globe. Incandescents of any kind - even halogen filled - emit longer wavelength than full spectrum (i.e. red shift). The nonsense of blue tint "correcting" them is pure fallacy. You can not add colour, you can only subtract by filtering, and blue tinting filters out some red to give the APPEARANCE of white - but now you have a spectrum missing some red and some blue. You can not see at night what you do not reflect back, so if you don't send those wavelengths out, you don't get that part of the image back.
Before you feel too bad about spending $300 for lights, bulbs and relays, and remembering that in the USA, those extremely good H4s are actually not legal (but nobody will likely ever call you on that if you don't do anything stupid - such as convert to HID or not aim carefully), consider that the next step in getting fully DOT legal and full spectrum white 5 x 7 headlamps are LEDs - that will set you back over a grand a pair. But, GEEZ, are they sweet.
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Being a cheapass, I bought a set of Indian made Autopal 200mm's for my Caddy and relay'd them, ran them with the included bulbs and some Osram 80/100's. For the $50 or so I had in them, with the upgraded bulbs and the relays i had laying around, it was well worth it. I can't speak to Hella/Cibie, but the horizontal cutoff is excellent, not blinding drivers and not blinding you from road signs. I wish there was a little more side spill of sorts, but it's still a world or three better than the sealed beams.
They reach out there pretty good on high as well. e-bay money well spent if you are on a serious budget. A large part of the reason I went cheap is the frequency with which I get a rock that cracks my sealed beams, I can't count how many times. Roger Brown I think has some grills over his to protect them. New adjusters were nice to add too. :)
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Being a cheapass, I bought a set of Indian made Autopal 200mm's for my Caddy and relay'd them, ran them with the included bulbs and some Osram 80/100's. I wish there was a little more side spill of sorts, but it's still a world or three better than the sealed beams.
Amen, these are my 90/100w Autopal E-code lows. They have a perfect horizontal cutoff, with some good side splash.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm307/J_holubek/84%20Jetta/2012-03-20202444.jpg)
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Being a cheapass, I bought a set of Indian made Autopal 200mm's for my Caddy and relay'd them, ran them with the included bulbs and some Osram 80/100's. For the $50 or so I had in them, with the upgraded bulbs and the relays i had laying around, it was well worth it. I can't speak to Hella/Cibie, but the horizontal cutoff is excellent, not blinding drivers and not blinding you from road signs. I wish there was a little more side spill of sorts, but it's still a world or three better than the sealed beams.
They reach out there pretty good on high as well. e-bay money well spent if you are on a serious budget. A large part of the reason I went cheap is the frequency with which I get a rock that cracks my sealed beams, I can't count how many times. Roger Brown I think has some grills over his to protect them. New adjusters were nice to add too. :)
I have about the same setup and they are totally worth the money.
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I had never heard of autopals before but for 25ish dollars that seems like a no brainer. Especially after several good comments. anything should be better then the stock setup. I'm looking at this setup here,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330397528585?item=330397528585&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4ced3a3209&autorefresh=true#ht_2924wt_1185 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/330397528585?item=330397528585&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4ced3a3209&autorefresh=true#ht_2924wt_1185)
I would probably ditch the bulbs that come with them or use them till they blow and get some Osram hypers 85/80w
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That is the exact seller I bought mine through. His name is Rishii Gupta, and he is one of the best ebay sellers I have ever dealt with. I had a bulb peal off the inner reflective coating because it developed moisture and then my best guess is boiled it off from the 100w bulb.. but he replaced it no questions and on his dime. I was 100% satisfied.
I went with the ~$6 upgrade to the 90/100W Ultra Blues, I have had them in there for just over a year now. Relay'd and all that good stuff so they are seeing the full ~13v of the alternator... And they are still super bright. Run em till they blow and then put whatever bulbs you want in there :)
HOWEVER! I would suggest against the "crystal" look, they look like they belong on a HaunDuhh. lol. But there is scientific reason not to run them lol. From what I have seen the stepped looking reflector, doesn't do well in the aid of getting the light out there like a flat smooth surface does. Plus aren't the crystal ones a "DOT" standard? meaning the lenses will have the sithty diffusers?