Bulb Upgrade

[pod1069]

Hi all

Apologies if this has been covered before but I want to upgrade my bulbs to something less akin to a candle

I was planning on getting some HID bulbs

Any suggestions welcome

Thanks

Pete

[Murph7355]

It has been done before - check out the "the griffith pages" thread for a post by me and there's a link in there.

General posts fall into two camps:

1) Do the HIDs.

2) It's illegal so don't.

(1)s outweigh the (2)s but personal choice I guess etc

[pod1069]

Cheers

Site is down at the mo so will take a look again when up

[Murph7355]

pod1069 said:

Cheers

Site is down at the mo so will take a look again when up

The thread's on here and within it is a link to the same sort of info on PH

[pod1069]

I think I might be dumb!

Where is the link on here?

[shpub]

Unless you want to turn your car into a bonfire... do not run higher current bulbs on the standard wiring. If you do want to this, use the existing wiring to switch a relay with new power cables.

There are higher efficiency bulbs that have a brighter output with the same power/current. These are the ones to use.

[Barreti]

I wrote the article for Simon to put onto TheGriffithPages

What do you want to know?

[lazyitus]

shpub said:

There are higher efficiency bulbs that have a brighter output with the same power/current. These are the ones to use.

Can you name them please, Steve ? I feel it is about time I changed my bulbs. The current ones are diabolical.

[pod1069]

Barreti said:

I wrote the article for Simon to put onto TheGriffithPages

What do you want to know?

Just trying to understand my options on making the headlamps brighter (without blinding anybody heading towards me)and whether it is a headlamp or bulb replacement

Also seen the Lupo conversion carried on some Chims and was wondering if something similar had been done to a Griff

[Del 203]

pod1069 said:

Barreti said:

I wrote the article for Simon to put onto TheGriffithPages

What do you want to know?

Just trying to understand my options on making the headlamps brighter (without blinding anybody heading towards me)and whether it is a headlamp or bulb replacement

Also seen the Lupo conversion carried on some Chims and was wondering if something similar had been done to a Griff

Dont know about that but the 7" conversion is like comparing night & day

[spend]

There are later larger reflectors available, don't overlook that many 'crap' TVR headlights are down to the reflectors getting tatty.

If you want 'top' lights I would advise getting a pod conversion done that incorporates the twin Hella light fittings. They are of a design that is suitable for HID bulbs. At least that way you have installed them to similar specs that the Factory did. Well that was the moral logic that I used anyway

I think Steve's warning was mainly about the 100/80W bulbs - that many of us have discovered in our cars from previous lives. Occasionally the wiring does need to be upgraded to get the HIDS started, but there have been diverse opinions / experiences on this. Joo had fitted quite a few before I got mine, and by default he said he fitted a relay, so I just did it anyway

[MPoxon]

pod1069 said:

Hi all

Apologies if this has been covered before but I want to upgrade my bulbs to something less akin to a candle

I was planning on getting some HID bulbs

Any suggestions welcome

Thanks

Pete

This is quite a good thread:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


This has already been mentioned in this thread and I know a few people who have been very pleased with the results of Sportmotive 7" upgrade who were previously considering HIDs:
http://www.sportmotive.com/parts03.html

[Wildfire]

Current options are:

Brighter Bulbs - As shpub says if you go with 100/80w without upgrading the wiring, you run the risk of the wiring melting/catching on fire. Fire+GRP=Bad. You can get other bulbs that are 60/55w which are brighter.

7" Conversion - These are bigger units installed in new pods. Available from Sportmotive, they are very good and retain the original look of the car. I believe they are H4's rather than H1's so you get more main beams, or you get Fog/driving lights depending on your wiring.

Twin Hella Conversion - Small twin projector style lights, these are replacement pods again, but are quite pricey. I would have liked these but cost was prohibitive.

HIDs - These are not straight bulb replacements. You remove the bulb and connect up a ballast pack. They are very bright and give a good output. They're available on fleabay for quite cheap. Plus sides are they are cheap and perform well. Plus you get that "white" look. Cons are they are illegal, and do not work well as main beams. Because the burners need to "fire up" you can't really flash with them. they are available in 35W or 55W versions.

I have used HIDs for around 3 years and never had a problem with MOT or the law.

It is worth rewiring the car so that both lights get a true 12V feed.

Hope this helps.

[Englishman]

I upgraded my dipped beam bulbs (H1's) to Osram Night Breaker's about 18 months ago. These came second only to Philips X-treme Power bulbs in various tests, but the latter were not available in H1's at the time.

A definite improvement over the standard bulbs and just about adequate for those drissley dirty nights, but compared with lighting on most modern performance cars they are still poor.