Hey Folks,

First off, i'm a bit confused, did the WRX hawkeye come with HIDs, or was it just the STI?
Can't get to the car just now and the internet is full of opposing thoughts as usual!

Then, which bulbs to upgrade them, want them to be as bright as possible without pissing people off/attracting the attentions of plod.

I don't ever remember them being too dim until the MOT lot messed with them for alignment last year. They just failed the car again as they were too high (although I thought they were a bit low actually...) Anyway, through the test for another year but I still can't see where i'm going!

Suggestions on nice bright (legal) replacements?

Thanks

 

AFAIK, your car uses a four bulb setup, one pair for dip, one for main beam.

You could go HID. If you do:
DO buy decent kit, NOT cheap far eastern copies.
DO go for NO MORE THAN 5000K..anything else is too blue and you LOSE light, rather than gain it.
DO get them carefully aligned and fit the bulbs carefully. Even a slight misfitting results in massive light scatter.

Or go for some uprated halogens: Ring 120%, Halfords Ultra Brilliance, Philips ultra Vision, Osram Nightbreaker.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Back home now and can confirm that I have indeed got the HID lights on my WRX. D2S designation on the lights.

Having fired them up they seem bright enough, just aimed far too low... But the MOT center adjusted them as they were previously too high (although I still though they were too low).

They're fine in town, but dangerous on unlit country roads (just been for a quick spin to confirm). When driving anything near 40mph it looks like the lights are only focussed a few car lengths away!

Anyone else had similar? I can't really believe they have to be so low to pass the MOT that you can't fricking drive at night at 40mph!
It's easy enough to change the height, but don't want to blind everyone.

Here's a stationary pic to give you an idea how quickly they hit the ground.


https://www.dropbox.com/sc/ys1bnm8ro...F5y4ZNuP1dY6_a

Thoghts? How do your lights look in comparisson?

Thanks

 

Ok, so scratch most of the previous comments, the garage are just incompetent.

Went and found a wall to measure the beams out, at 18ft away NONE of the beam even hit the bottom of the wall

Adjusted to a similar height of another car with HIDs, went for a drive, NIGHT and DAY! Second measure at 25ft out and they could actually go a little higher and still be below level!

But as I can see fine i'll leave them there to avoid pissing off everyone else on the road.

Can't believe how far off the garage had them. Thank god I only use garages for MOTs.

Anyway, cheers!

 

Does your car not have one of those four position switches to alter the headlight height/throw? They are meant to be for adjusting the lights when a load is carried in the rear.

If so, you could take it for MoT with it set low.......

 

The Hawkeye STI, WRX and the 2ltr R Sport had HID on dip and Halogen on Main beam and therefore to coply with EU regs have a level sensor on the offside front and offside rear suspension. An ecu behind the glove box and these contol the headlamp leveling motors.

There is no manual control in the cabin.

Therefore they also have headlamp washer to comply with the regs as well due to having HID lights

The 1.5 and 2 litre R do not have HID lights.