H4 Bulb Upgrade - Recommendations?

[robertjp]

I have been having a few nightmare drives to work at the moment - 80 mile round trip, back lanes unless i want to queue on the M6 & M42! And as luck would have the weather is awful and the fiesta is broken...

So using the Cerb on a daily basis along some dark lanes.

A few times now i have desperately needed more light, can anybody recommend, or better still have any experience of headlamp & sidelght upgrades?

Lots on eBay (100W Xenon for example) but worried about overheating wires or the light pod itself...

[carl_w]

Personally I'd go for either the Philips or the Osram +50% bulbs from www.powerbulbs.com
You can usually see the results of the latest Auto Express bulb test on their site which will tell you which is the better this year.

[simonsparrow]

I upgraded the wiring to the headlights using a direct feed from the battery and relays tripped by the original wiring.

I also use PIAA bulbs 55/60w but very high light output. They were about £65 for the pair from Demon Tweeks.

These two things combined with new reflectors made a big difference.

[robertjp]

Thanks for that Carl,

I will try a set...

There is bound to be someone come along now and tell me they melted the insulation of the wires

[FunkyNige]

robertjp said:

Thanks for that Carl, I will try a set... There is bound to be someone come along now and tell me they melted the insulation of the wires

The powerbulbs bulbs are still 55/60W so won't melt the wires, some people will upgrade the wires so they can use higher Wattage bulbs.

[carl_w]

Seeing this thread has inspired me. I just ordered four of the +50% Osrams from Powerbulbs -- 2xH7 for the wife's BMW and 2xH4 for the TVR. Use the code XVQAV170 and you'll get 10% discount!

[rmaurer]

I spotted a potential HID upgrade kit being discussed on the Porsche forum recently (hey, I was just looking ) and wondered if they could be fitted to the Cerb.

See here for an HID kit and this link: www.hids4u.co.uk/faqs.asp explains a bit more... It is a ballast kit and HID bulb replacements for standard H4 (and other) fitment bulbs which produces more light yet uses half the power of halogen bulbs (according to the blurb). There seem to be 2 versions: HID dipped and halogen main beam, or HID dipped and main. Not sure if they'd be suitable but worth a phone call to find out...

[robertjp]

I have ordered the H4 Philips Vision Plus ... so here's hoping they help with the dark journeys!

[jon h]

simonsparrow said:

I upgraded the wiring to the headlights using a direct feed from the battery and relays tripped by the original wiring. I also use PIAA bulbs 55/60w but very high light output. They were about £65 for the pair from Demon Tweeks. These two things combined with new reflectors made a big difference.

Second the wiring solution. There seems to be a significant drop in voltage as the feed for the lights runs all the way from the boot. I will be doing the same relay fix shortly (my problem is increased by a light conversion). Have designed the solution,I just have to make it now. The necessary bits from Maplins or similar are very cheap.

Jon H

[carl_w]

Didn't modwise.co.uk used to do a kit for this?

[daver]

rmaurer said:

I spotted a potential HID upgrade kit...

I've wondered about this. I've never been totally sure, however, if the arc in an HID kit would be in the right place (i.e. same position as the H4 filament) so as to work with the existing reflector and lens - or even if the expense would be worth it. I'm sure that whatever vehicle those items were taken from, HID wouldn't have been around at the time!

[simonsparrow]

simonsparrow said:

I upgraded the wiring to the headlights using a direct feed from the battery and relays tripped by the original wiring. I also use PIAA bulbs 55/60w but very high light output. They were about £65 for the pair from Demon Tweeks. These two things combined with new reflectors made a big difference.

I was asked to expand a bit on this. What I did was take a heavy duty cable from the battery to the front of the engine bay to a couple of relays. I then created a new set of wires to go to the headlights and hooked these up to the relays, so that they would be fed from the new supply.

I then used the original headlight wiring to turn the relays off and on. One relay for dip, one for main beam.

Thus the original TVR wiring now only trips the relays - a much lower load. As some of you know, the headlight wiring can burn out at the control box in the boot, this will now be avoided.

[robertjp]

simonsparrow said:

simonsparrow said: I upgraded the wiring to the headlights using a direct feed from the battery and relays tripped by the original wiring. I also use PIAA bulbs 55/60w but very high light output. They were about £65 for the pair from Demon Tweeks. These two things combined with new reflectors made a big difference. I was asked to expand a bit on this. What I did was take a heavy duty cable from the battery to the front of the engine bay to a couple of relays. I then created a new set of wires to go to the headlights and hooked these up to the relays, so that they would be fed from the new supply. I then used the original headlight wiring to turn the relays off and on. One relay for dip, one for main beam. Thus the original TVR wiring now only trips the relays - a much lower load. As some of you know, the headlight wiring can burn out at the control box in the boot, this will now be avoided.

Thanks Simon, i only emailed because i didnt want to advertise my lack of understanding...but what you have written is actually perfectly straightforward!!!

[simonsparrow]

No problems Robert! Its hard to explain without pictures, but I thought others might be interested too. It does make a big difference to headlight output.

I feel better knowing I've used 17amp cable instead of the standard car stuff.

[whatever]

daver said:

rmaurer said: I spotted a potential HID upgrade kit... I've wondered about this. I've never been totally sure, however, if the arc in an HID kit would be in the right place (i.e. same position as the H4 filament) so as to work with the existing reflector and lens - or even if the expense would be worth it. I'm sure that whatever vehicle those items were taken from, HID wouldn't have been around at the time!

I too have been cursing the poor output of the cerb's lights.

What I'd really like is a HID upgrade keeping the original "big round lights".

All seems ok for a H4 bulb replacement, but wiki (the fount of all knowledge) carries the following text at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamps#HID_Headlamps

wiki said:

HID retrofit kits, like these, that simply place an HID capsule in a lamp designed for an incandescent light source are dangerous. With a U.S. style beam pattern, the result can be significantly increased glare for oncoming drivers. With either U.S. or European style lamps, the light from an HID capsule will not be distributed properly, ultimately resulting in less visibility for the driver. Further, a kit that simply places an HID capsule into a lamp with no further modifications will quite obviously lack any manner of leveling equipment. External links Automotive HID FAQ - Headlamp Systems HID Retrofitting — optical physics

The second of the links points to www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html which has all sorts of dire warnings, which sort of indicate that this is a bad idea.


So:

Is it really? (I suspect it is)

and

Is replacing the existing bulbs with a "normal" W bult (albeit +50%) really going to help much?

[richardb.jones]

I hope you guys use a suitable inline fuse from the battery for your extra wiring.. Shorting a cable capable of taking 20A or so will create a nice fire .... This wasn't mentioned in the text ...

[carl_w]

I think H4 HIDs are OK if they're single element, and you have driving lights for the main beams (like on a Griff). But the dual element ones rely on physically moving the reflector and are apparently not that good.

As for auto levelling -- this is required when OEMs fit HIDs but not required for aftermarket fitments. And in a Cerb it doesn't really matter -- it's not like you're going to tow a caravan or put 250kg of paving slabs in the boot.

PS: bulbs from Powerbulbs turned up this morning. As well as the 10% discount they chucked in some blue W5W sidelight bulbs. I've used these before -- they're not actually blue, but white like the new headlight bulbs. However, I now have three sets of them, because I haven't bothered fitting them to the Cerb and the wife's car takes something different!


>> Edited by carl_w on Tuesday 10th January 19:21

[Steve_T]

whatever said:

... I too have been cursing the poor output of the cerb's lights. What I'd really like is a HID upgrade keeping the original "big round lights". ...

I'd also like to keep the look of the original round lights, but replace them with setup with a clear lens. PIAA (www.piaa.co.uk) do some very high output bulbs. I think a combo of better wiring, suitable bulbs and modern lamps with a clear lense ought to work nicely.

Steve.

[robertjp]

I was planning on an in-line fuse, worth mentioning...

I will take some before and after photo's unless someone beats me to it...then you can see whether it makes that much difference

When i get my car back that is, its poorly

>> Edited by robertjp on Wednesday 11th January 07:56

[simonsparrow]

robertjp said:

I was planning on an in-line fuse, worth mentioning... I will take some before and after photo's unless someone beats me to it...then you can see whether it makes that much difference When i get my car back that is, its poorly >> Edited by robertjp on Wednesday 11th January 07:56

I used a 100 amp fuse, same as the infamous 'big' fuse at the back of the engine.