Best H4 bulb?

dean1484 wrote:

Swank Force One wrote:

dean1484 wrote: What ever these were this is what I got and they are MUCH better than advertised. http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/lights.php

Was this for a 90-97?

I actually used them in my 87 Porsche 924s but they were H4 bulbs. I got them with a pair of Ecode glass. FM had a group by / pallet sale on them

Gotcha. Yeah that's a little different than what i've got going on. I had a similar setup in the 95 i just sold, but here's the headlights i have now. Not much i can do to truly improve pattern short of paying a huge amount for some JDM pimpness Craft Square headlights, updating to 01-05 front end, or a real HID retrofit. The only cheap things i can do is 1) get some good bulbs in there and 2) get both fogs working.

My old 2000.

New 2000.

84FSP wrote: Kicking around some of the retrofitted H4/HID setup for the Rabbit. It seems like there are some pretty nice setups cheap... Haven't made any decisions yet, so reading with interest.

I will recommend against this. With HID's in a single bulb H4 housing you either buy the bulb where one half is blocked giving you only low beams or worst case scenario you get an open bulb that means you are driving around with your now ultra bright high beams on all the time (AKA being the biggest dick on the roads)

I have seen some retrofit bulbs with the little shield that flicks out to cut the beam for low use, but they require a separate control.

With all the nice halogen bulb upgrades out there just eschew the HID thing.

There is a popular myth that E-code lenses are OK with HID's but they will still be either low beams or high as well.

What about a bi-xenon conversion kit? Would that be shiny and happy as well or is it a solution to high beaming everyone all the time?

carbon wrote: What about a bi-xenon conversion kit? Would that be shiny and happy as well or is it a solution to high beaming everyone all the time?

That's new to me! Details please?

Running xtravisions here. They last way longer than silverstars in my experience. I burn one out maybe once every 2 years..I leave my headlights switched on constantly while driving. 2+ hours a day commuting plus whatever other driving. A lot of hours of run time.

The bixenon kits have a servo actuated shade that diverts light for low beam mode. It's how a fair amount of oe manufacturers did bixenon setups. Seems like a legit solution to me, I think I'm going to do them on the commute attack spyder and see how they are. They're not cheap but I'm ok with that if it keeps me from being the a-hole that's high beaming everybody with my junk hid kit. I hate that guy.

If i go hid, i'll get the H1 kit from The Retrofit Source.

I don't think I still have the box's for the H4s but I don't think they were anything special. Sylvania of some sort maybe? I would give FM a call and see what they are selling. What ever it was it has lasted a very long time and continues to provide excellent light / brightness.

Anybody know anything about LED replacement 'bulbs'? I just got an email newsletter from SuperbrightLEDs this morning. They're ~100/pr.

Edit, less relevant to this thread b/c they don't have an H4, but still curious.

Also curious about the LEDs which seem to be popping up everywhere. Some look like complete E36 M3, others seem like they're decently put together.

I'm planning on doing new bulbs in the Z06 when I pull it out of storage in a few weeks. We're taking a road trip to Columbus end of March and I'd like to have it taken care of by then. Low beams are 9006 and high are 9005s. Was looking at the Phillips HIR 2011/2012s as a replacement.

Cheap HID kits are a dime a dozen, but I don't want to be a huge shiny happy person putting light in other people's eyes. I also want something OEM looking and don't want to do a retrofit or go to exposed lights. The E-Code H4 conversion might be an option down the road, but there are better ways for me to spend $600 on the car.

As far as H4s go, Hella overwatt bulbs: http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H4-130-90W-Halogen/dp/B000VUB4CW

From what I can remember in a bike application, they do not mix too well with plastic lenses. Wiring almost definitely needs to be upgraded. They also don't last as long as a standard bulb. YMMV, though.

There are good H4 LED bulbs out there but they suffer the same problem as the cheap HID kits - without a projector housing, you'll be blinding oncoming drivers.

Peterson also has an LED sealed beam replacement (the PM701C) but at $229 CDN per I'm thinking I'll let someone else go first and see if it blinds oncoming traffic.

pjbgravely wrote: Every car I have gets Sylvania SilverStar Ultra headlight bulbs. They are very bright and they seem to last a long time. I never had a problem with the stock wiring but I usually have Fords.

When my wife had her '03 Eclipse, we bought these just to replace a burnt out low beam, but it was a night and day difference. The output was so much brighter than the stock bulbs.

Silver Stars seem to burn out in less than a Year in my cars. I will never use those POS bulbs again. I also see that there is a class action suite against Silvania that has to do with they faked the test results and they are no better than standard bulbs. New bulbs are always brighter than old ones so people think they are getting a brighter bulb when in reality they are just getting a new bulb. IT is also a known fact that most people will think something is better because they paid more for it. Perceived value. I keep getting mailings about it as I registered a set a long time back.

Really irritated me!!!! Basically I got hosed and thought I was getting a better bulbs when I really was getting new bulbs and I paid about 2x what I should have.

http://www.law360.com/articles/556866/sylvania-to-pay-30m-to-settle-headlight-false-ad-suit

Link to