S Series Bulb Upgrade

[Knowler]

Chaps,

Knew the S Series, had Chims before but same old problem with rubbish lights.. want to change my bulbs which i am pretty sure i did for my Chim and they were fairly standard H4's. Can anyone recommend a type, i have been told to go for 100W Halogens H4's but then when talking to the local spares guy he told me these were illegal for on road use and i should go for 55w.. also t'internet has them at around £4 and he wanted £19??!! Whats the difference??

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Cheers

Knowler

[Gerald-TVR]

Knowler said:

Chaps,

Knew the S Series, had Chims before but same old problem with rubbish lights.. want to change my bulbs which i am pretty sure i did for my Chim and they were fairly standard H4's. Can anyone recommend a type, i have been told to go for 100W Halogens H4's but then when talking to the local spares guy he told me these were illegal for on road use and i should go for 55w.. also t'internet has them at around £4 and he wanted £19??!! Whats the difference??

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Cheers

Knowler

Halfrauds do some rated at plus 125% but still 55w and so legal. I did try the 100w bulbs a while ago and while the light level was good I didnt enjoy the smell of over heating wiring, soon took them out!!

[Griffinr]

Gerald-TVR said:

Halfrauds do some rated at plus 125% but still 55w and so legal. I did try the 100w bulbs a while ago and while the light level was good I didnt enjoy the smell of over heating wiring, soon took them out!!

It’s a good idea to check the wiring, connectors and earths before you start changing stuff as these commonly reduce the effectiveness of the head lights. If that doesn’t work then changing the headlights to the free form type makes a big difference along with good quality bulbs. Not expensive either if you shop around.
Rob.

[Knowler]

Thanks chaps,

The Halfrauds mentioned bulbs seem to be what the chap at the local parts place was trying to sell me... are you happy with the light they give you? Is it noticeably better??

Knowler

[Julesprivate]

You don't need higher wattage bulbs - a decent 55/65 XENON bulb will do the trick. Look on eBay but beware - some sellers advertise XENON but send Halogen.... If they are a good seller you should be able to select the temperature you are after, that temperature will show up in how "pure" the light output is (the colour).

I have Xenons in mine and the lights are great..

[Griffinr]

These make a big difference and check out the price!!
http://www.ukclassicparts.com/products/lighting/fr...
Rob.

[Gerald-TVR]

Knowler said:

Thanks chaps,

The Halfrauds mentioned bulbs seem to be what the chap at the local parts place was trying to sell me... are you happy with the light they give you? Is it noticeably better??

Knowler

Yep got them in the z4 big improvement

[orange_dodo]

Measure the voltage at the bulb. I did and was getting something like 6 volts. As brightness has something like a squared relationship with voltage every little bit of resistance in the circuit reduces the voltage and massively reduces the brightness.

I went round the entire lighting circuit from battery, fuse, switches and down to the bulbs checking all the connections and cleaning everything up. My fuse was dropping about 3v on its own and at the same time I found my ignition fuse had such a high resistance it had melted the fuse holder.

Now I have just under 12 volts at the bulb and it is too bright to look at compared to the faint glow that allowed you to stare directly at the filament I use to get. Adding some shiny reflectors on behind it which are around £70 and you will have the same light as most modern cars.

Alternatively fit a couple of high current relays right by the lights and use the current circuit to switch them. Then you get the full battery voltage going to the bulbs. You'll have to unplug your dim dip module though.

[magpies]

orange_dodo said:

Alternatively fit a couple of high current relays right by the lights and use the current circuit to switch them. Then you get the full battery voltage going to the bulbs. You'll have to unplug your dim dip module though.

+1 This WILL work.

[davidh2905]

Can you just unplug the dim dip relay without affecting anything else?

[techbotics]

davidh2905 said:

Can you just unplug the dim dip relay without affecting anything else?

yep... :-)

[Julesprivate]

Griffinr said:

These make a big difference and check out the price!!
http://www.ukclassicparts.com/products/lighting/fr...
Rob.

Cheers Rob - they are really well priced, and so are their chrome rings etc, thanks for the info.

[Sandgrounder]

Julesprivate said:

Cheers Rob - they are really well priced, and so are their chrome rings etc, thanks for the info.



Can you please let me know if they are a straightforward fit. I thought there was something TVR specific about the chrome rings, but may not be a problem if you are replacing the whole light assembly.

If it's a straight swap for the originals, I will be investing as I have a cracked headlight and two rusting Chrome rings.

Thanks

[Griffinr]

Sandgrounder said:

Julesprivate said:

Cheers Rob - they are really well priced, and so are their chrome rings etc, thanks for the info.



Can you please let me know if they are a straightforward fit. I thought there was something TVR specific about the chrome rings, but may not be a problem if you are replacing the whole light assembly.

If it's a straight swap for the originals, I will be investing as I have a cracked headlight and two rusting Chrome rings.

Thanks

The rings are the same but the retention method is different, you need a small metal tag to hold the ring at the bottom which then takes a screw into the fibreglass below the light. You will have some on your existing rings or they are easy enough to make if they are missing or corroded.
Rob.

[Knowler]

Cheers Rob...

"These make a big difference and check out the price!!
http://www.ukclassicparts.com/products/lighting/fr...
Rob."

Yep i'd be interested to know if they are a straight swap easy fit replacement... for that price might as well tart the whole lighting system up....

Knowler

[BountyHunter]

orange_dodo said:

lternatively fit a couple of high current relays right by the lights and use the current circuit to switch them. Then you get the full battery voltage going to the bulbs. You'll have to unplug your dim dip module though.

had to put relays onto the headlights of both VR6 corrados ive owned due to voltage drop, but never had to unplug anything on those iirc.
So I just wondered why you needed to unplug anything on the S, and what the side effects are

[Griffinr]

BountyHunter said:

had to put relays onto the headlights of both VR6 corrados ive owned due to voltage drop, but never had to unplug anything on those iirc.
So I just wondered why you needed to unplug anything on the S, and what the side effects are

If you put relays in and leave the dim dip module in the relays can chatter. Anyway with relays in you won't get dim dip.
Rob

[whitewolf]

Use two relays?

1 to run the dip beam (feed from one side to relay then relay to both head lights)
2nd relay for the full beam.

Or 4 relays,2 on both side headlights.

[BountyHunter]

Griffinr said:

If you put relays in and leave the dim dip module in the relays can chatter. Anyway with relays in you won't get dim dip.
Rob

by dim dip do you mean sidelights and normal dipped beam headlights ?

so in effect you would have normal headlights and main beam but no sidelights

[Griffinr]

BountyHunter said:

by dim dip do you mean sidelights and normal dipped beam headlights ?

so in effect you would have normal headlights and main beam but no sidelights

Nope, dim dip has resistors in the circuit so the headlights are dim. Designed to reduce glare in town driving and also prevents you driving on sidelights.