More watts or HIDs?

My amazing new daily driver is almost ready. Got an 87 audi 5000 quattro with 57K miles this month. Just finished the repair issues, door handle, power steering pump, timing belt and it is ready for the road. But the headlights on these things are terrible, You can drive with the high beams and people still think you only have parking lights on. So time to upgrade. In the past I used a relay kit and went up about 10 watts in bulb power. But now the option of HIDs is only 10 bucks more than that upgrade. Please help with the decision. Not sure which way gives me better night driving visibility.

Ebay HIDs in stock housings usually give crap light distribution, especially with the nasty blue wavelengths many of them have. Personally, I would stick with brighter lamps in the housings that were designed for them.

porschenut wrote: But the headlights on these things are terrible, You can drive with the high beams and people still think you only have parking lights on.

That's because DOT headlights from the past 10 or so years are WAY TOO BRIGHT.

Good headlights (like these older German cars have) don't light up the road, they light up what's down the road. It's a little unnerving at first, but then you realize lighting up the road makes you stare at the bright spot 40 feet in front of the car, instead of actually looking down the road.

This is also why the instrument cluster lighting is so dim - doesn't screw up your night vision so much.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/ has good information and sells upgrades for headlights.

indeed.. one of the best things I did for my Ti was to upgrade to E code projector headlights.. put very little light on the road ahead of me.. but I could see WAY down the road and still not bother people coming the other way.

My Volvo, with it's stock headlights, seems to do a good job too.. my saab, not so much

First, I would recommend defogging you're headlights to see if that makes a difference and then go with a decent aftermarket bulb (+100%) for the low beams, leave the high beams alone and buy Harbor Freight auxiliary off-road lights (the 100W ones). I think they would give the Audi a nice rugged look to. Alternatively you could purchase an LED lightbar. They come in all different shapes, sizes and illuminations to fit you're vehicle and your lighting requirements. To give an example, you can purchase two 37W 4000LM led light bars off of eBay for $180 and they should last nearly forever (30,000hours). For comparison, each Xenon bulb puts out about 3,000LM and each OE halogen bulb puts out about 1,000LM. Be sure to verify that the seller is advertising actual output rather than theoretical output.

EDIT: A low end halogen bulb puts out about 15-18LM per watt. So in theory, the HF lamps should put out about 3,000LM.

Headlight glass is perfect, and no thanks I am not hanging other lights on it because the stock ones are weak. I will go with the relay kit and more watts. Sounds like the HID stuff would not be as good.
Interesting comment about the lights being too bright now, anyone that has driven an audi from the 80s and early 90s comments how poor the lights are. The voltage actually getting to the bulb is usually about 10V!

porschenut wrote: The voltage actually getting to the bulb is usually about 10V!

That tells you where the problem is.... Most of the time the problem is a cheap crappy headlight switch is sucking off some juice to the lights. Relay the lights for a full 12-14V and they will improve.

In reply to Ranger50: Or the wiring, alternator or battery

indeed.. that 10v means you need a relay so that you get the full 12+ voltage from the battery. That should brighten up your world.

Also, how old are the lamps that are in there? Working as a theatrical electrician, I can tell when one of ours is getting near the end of it's lifespan.. they start getting weaker and weaker as the filament is mostly burned away

In my case.. a 750watt lamp can look the same as a 575 (HPL if there are any theatrical people about) when it is about done

I vote OEM HID retrofit, that is with the projectors/cut off included. With out the projectors the HID is a waste, and the extra light mostly just blinds oncoming drivers.

I am a hypocrite though, I just put $30 Ebay HID bulbs in the Camry. (On the other car I do have OEM projector retro fit setup) After I bent the metal ring inside the housing out of the way of the bulb, and aimed the lights down the light output was a little better albeit blue On more thing to upgrade later on I guess