Davey Lamps on Griff

[H & the Tsunami]

Now the night have drawn in I understand why Griffs have a bad reputation when it comes to illuminating the road. well infact i had a blown dipped beam bulb and the lights so crap i didnt notice it
I recently visited a well known highstreet autoparts store to see what could be done to improve the situation, and decided to try some "Super Brilliance 448SB" bulbs, they come in a gold box claiming to be 50% brighter than normal halagen bulbs.
B****Y hell, they actaully do what it says on the tin!
dip beam is as good as my Audi now.

[Apache]

What rating are they, you need to take care you don't overload the wiring

[H & the Tsunami]

they are rated at 55 watts

[rev-erend]

Perhaps you should consider this too :

www.mod-wise.com/

See 'Brighter lights'

[gooner]

Has anyone tried to upgrade a Griff with a real Xenon HID kit (not just xenon bulbs)? I am very tempted but wary of the practical difficulties of doing anything electrical to a Griff, especially when the electronics have to be housed in a a hot engine bay. I'd appreciate any advice and a recommendation for a good kit.

An example of what I mean is here:

Xenon Upgrades

Gooner

[david beer]

I would phone the insurance co first, they are not legal for "road use". My insurance co were fine but i would get it in writing !! Mine did not arrive in the end but i do have very good lights on the Griff anyway. I was going HID because at £190 i thought i would. But then again three pairs @£190 soon adds up.

[jeh2os]

hav fitted xenon h1 kit to my griff controal gear fitted behind pod lights are much better but beam patern is not perfect quite easy to fit but then i am a sparky

[gooner]

Thanks for both responses. David, I guess you would know more about this than anyone but I'm not sure it's as simple as saying that they are illegal. Plenty of cars have them fitted from the factory so there must be more to it than that I suppose. Maybe someone else can help.

Where did you find them for £190? Cheapest I saw was about £300.

jeh20s, which make did you fit?

gooner

[rev-erend]

I have Xenon's on my Focus ST170 - they are self leveling (with no up & down beam adjustment) .. maybe it's this that makes them legal and other not !

Fantastic lights by the way

[david beer]

I attempted to sort HID but the regs are strict. They have to be self levaling, the ballast box has to be mounted in such a way as under no circumstance could it pull on the bulb,the cable has to of high quality so as no arcing can occur, im sure there were others. The ones i found were for my "personal use only", the supplier did not want any comeback. An offside rewire and 50% brighter bulbs are the best you can get. Or, you could replace the light assy, i see deemon tweeks sell a new range of lights,90mm,105mm,120mm, will still benefit from the wiring job though. I did place the 90mm Hella "elipsidal" light into the original Griff pod i have, it didnt look too small and the beam pattern is razer sharp with these. Just an idea !

[gooner]

Thanks for all the info, I used it to help me with a Google search and eventually unearthed some advice from the DoT which said, basically, it's illegal to fit HID (or drive a car with aftermarket HID) unless the car is self-levelling (or the lights are), it has high-power headlight washers, it has the correct beam pattern (unlikely if just fitted into a normal halogen cluster like the Griff has) and the equipment you fit is type approved to ECE 98 whatever that is.

If I'd wanted all of that I guess I would have bought a Boxter.

So my Christmas money is going to Mod-wise for the wiring kit and to my high street motor factor for some bulbs, just like H & the Tsunami suggested in the first place.

Thanks all.

[rev-erend]

Excellent choice .. my Xenon's on the Focus are superb but I'm very consious of where they shine.

So much so - that I often hang back from the car in front to be less annoying..

[jeh2os]

got my xenon up grade off ebay i know they are not strictly legal but crashing in the dark isnt either

[rev-erend]

It's possible that it may fail a MOT - or roadside police check

[david beer]

Or the insurance co will not pay up in the event of a claim, but check with them, mine were fine. Get it in writing though !