Realrammstein

well, one of my headlight bulbs blew out this morning. And I am looking for a new set to replace both. They are H4 size and I am kind of liking the slight blue color. but most important is DOT *Looking* brightness. Obviously, I want to replace them today(so I dont; drive to work in darkness tommorrow). After reading an article in Overboost, I noticed them complaining that most light replacements give off less light than OEM. I know My Hella Xenons gave me more light than stock(but they definately didn;t have that blusih color). Any real happy success stories guys?

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spigidygak

Blue is bad bad bad. Its one thing most of them blow up after a few hours of use. But the worse problem is that they give out less light no matter what 'cause they're blue. Blue wavelengths of light are much smaller. The problem is mainly on the cheapo ones with a blue filter. These are bad since they're halogen bulbs which don't produce much blue light as it is and then they put a blue filter making it worse. You can lose about 70% of light from a regular halogen. Also beware. If the bulb says "DOT approved" its kind of false advertising. Because DOT does not approve bulbs. And for the legal ones, that you mentioned you had, don't really appear too blue because there is no blue filter on it. But companies like PIAA that claim a 55 watt bulb acting like an 85 watt is somewhat of a lie too. Physics does not allow that to happen. What PIAA does is concentrate the beam of light tighter to have a higher lumens rating similar to an 85 watt bulb. But this ends up decreasing your true visable area. For truly best performance avoid the bulbs with the blue coloration of any kind. They just plain do not perform better. They give out less light and cause more glare for oncoming vehicles. I recommend you get Sylvania Xtravisions or Philips High Visibility. Those bulbs will be the brightest possible light you can get. Basically blue is just for looks and not for safety or better performance. Its for people that like the idea of having something like xenon's when they don't perform anywhere near xenons. Physics just does not allow it to happen.

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SpeedEng

I dont think thats true at all I have a pair of blue Hyper whites on my car for over 6 months now and they work fine they are for sure brighter than the oem that came on my car.

epoxi

mmm...brighter or more whiter?

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SpeedEng

Brighter

coleslaw

I can't wait until anti-glare polarized headlights are developed. The light coming from the headlight would be polarized at a 45 degree angle. Also, car windshields would have this same polarization. With both mechanisms in place, there would be virtually no glare at all.

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TommyBoomfiger

yep, dont get any of those cheap blue hid wannabes, they lose so much of thier light with that blue color. but im not so sure about your explination of piaa's claims of thier bulbs. i dont know how well piaa's lights actually perform, but i do believe that there are ways to get more light with less power. piaa says that with thier bulb powered by 55 watts can produce the same amount light as a traditional halogen bulb running on 85 watts. piaa just makes more efficient use of the power with different materials and gases. saying that its not possible to do what piaa claims is similar to saying that all 200 hp cars get the same gas mileage or all 4.0 liter v6 engines get the same horsepower. now that i think about it, that same explination says that H.I.Ds wont work because a lot of them use only 35 watts and they dont concentrate the light in a narrower area. they just are different technology

spigidygak

Well no you aren't understanding it. . . hehe. The piaa's concentrate the beam intensity to a smaller area. So technically they are making a brighter light, but it is not as effective since it does not spread enough light as a 85 watt would. Get it sorta now? Not sure how I can explain better. . . anyhow about real H.I.D. and the 35 watt rating. Thats the beauty of xenons they use low wattage, but the voltage is super high is how they are brighter. They're like 10,000 volts I think. . . or maybe drop off a 0. Anyhow its ridiculous how much more power you need for a xenon system. Thats why a conversion and factory kits are soo expensive. You're not just buying a housing lamp and bulb. You need ballasts and a volt converter since the car only runs off of uh *can't think* like 12 volts or so.

TommyBoomfiger

ok, i dont see how concentrating light in a smaller area is safer, if piaa does that, theyre stupid. xenon hid lights run on 12v/35w just like all other bulbs, but but it takes a super high voltage around 10,000 volts or something like you said to turn them on.

hapoo

which means you dont see the on-coming headlights at all, now that doesn't sound too good, its a tad risky.

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coleslaw

No no no, light will still pass through the glass of the windshield, but only in the same plane that it is being trasmitted from the headlights. You will see the headlights, however, there will not be any glare at all.

Realrammstein

Hmmmm...well I stopped by a friend's place(who drives an MZ3). He was sporting J-spec PIAA Hyper. They did seem slightly brighter than most stock lights(and had a slight blue haze). However, they diffused light a LOT more than OEM ones(while still not illumiating as much side area). So guys with euro light pattern may like them. I changed my light pattern over to Euro spec. And frankly, I decided to go back to the Hellas. Here's something i noticed. I lowered my car and noticed lighting was totally off. Anyone have any idea how the heck to gauge what height x distance lights should be set at?

spigidygak

Not that I know of. . . you just get to tinker with it. . .

Apex

It should hit the road up to 300' in front of you (so just slightly down from horizontal).

Realrammstein

Thanks Apex. I know there had to be something I was shooting for. Now where can I find a 300' tape measure....