Which is the better (in terms of cost or coverage), a twin headlights or a fog to driving lamp conversion? Advice on cost of the items will be appreciated.

 

Had the PIAA lights put on my 99 when I picked it up. I was informed that they are 'illegal for road use', so obviouslly I've never used them

They are still wired to the fog switch, so you need this on and the main beem on for them to work. The light settings are now-

1/ Sides (pointless)
2/ Dipped (not much use, but my night vision is rubbish anyway)
3/ Full beam (pretty bright)
4/ Full beam + PIAAs (like daylight, just try not to blind oncoming cars!)

I sopend a lot of Saturday/Sunday evenings blasting around Hampshires unlit country back roads, and the PIAAs are just great for this. I think they were about £400 fitted (from memory) and they were worth every penny!

 

AFAIK they are NOT illegal for road use as long as they are wired into the dip beam circuitry, ie they switch off when you go back to dip beam. The only problem you can have is blinding other road users

 

Thanks for the comments. The PIAA or Cibie may be great, but don't you think the mounting position is designed for fog lights and may be too low for driving lamps to be really effective for long range illumination? Won't the twin headlamps conversion be better, especially when used in combination with xenon bulbs. Maybe we are comparing apples with oranges, 55/60 watts ordinary H4 versus 100 plus watts for the driving lights.

[This message has been edited by lokokkee (edited 10-06-99).]

 

Whilst they are mounted low, I find the PIAAs throw out enough light that it doesn't matter. I have to say that for a car with this kind of performance in the places I drive they are priceless. I agree that they don't project quite as far as they would if they were higher up on the car, but they are quite wide angle, so it doesn't really matter.

 

I have a friend with the twin headlamp conversion. Yes its a big improvement over the standard set-up, but he has also fitted the PIAA conversion as well, as it wasn't quite bright enough to make "decent" progress at night.

He is now very happy with both fitted, but finds it annoying to remove/refit the PIAA covers all the time when he wants to use them. He is now thinking of fitting Cibies in their place, simply for that reason!!

 

I read in the FAQ that the plastic reflectors may melt if higher wattage bulbs are used. Won't this also apply to Xenon bulbs of normal wattage, but run at much higher temperature? The way I understand it, the xenon gas cools the filament, allowing it to operate at higher temperature to generate a whiter light. On the other hand, a more efficient filament should generate less waste heat for the same wattage rating (from my high school physics), so the lamp should overall be cooler. Which is which?

 

I've just got a pair of replacement Xenon headlight bulbs (only 14 quid) I am assured they wil not melt the wiring (being same wattage) and the blurb suggests that as they are made with UV absorbing hard or Quartz glass they can be used with plastic diffusers or lenses without problem.

They are a direct replacement so fitting should be a couple of minutes and they promise 30% more light. They will be fitted tomorrow - I'll keep you posted.

 

Go for the Quad headlamp conversion - extremly cool, but then I'm biased. - Not sure how the original lamps are since mine were fitted when I bought the vehicle.

Mick

 

Dear John (HS)
The fact that the bulb is made of quartz has nothing to do with whether it will melt the reflector, all halogen bulbs are also made of quartz. UV filtering has nothing to do with heat, which is more due to infra-red. The critical part is the reflector and lamp housing, which is supposedly made of plastic and closer to the heat source. The lens is less critical, being further away and exposed to the air stream.

Do let us know if everything turns out OK, as I am about to order a set too.

 

Xenon bulbs will not melt the reflectors/wiring or otherwise, i have had some in my car since i got it in December, with no problems whatsoever. There are a lot of people on the list that have them installed as well. The bulbs to watch out for are 80/100 bulbs as fitted to the STi cars as standard, as the Uk wiring is not up to the job. I also have cibies fitted and can say they may be low but do the job very well inded

BTW PIAA's cost about 350-400 fitted, Cibie's are about 200, fit yourself in about an hour, and the quad headlight conversion is about 260, plus fitting and colour coding.

[This message has been edited by Ian Cook (edited 19-06-99).]

 

Thanks for the info, Ian. Looks as though the natural upgrading path for me is Xenon bulb -> twin headlights -> cibie driving lights.

 

The new bulbs are in - fitted in 5 mins - and certainly brighter. Road is much better illuminated.

This is a good start for an upgrade route, being cheap and easy.

Next thing for me is Scoobysport driving lamps, which I'll do in the next couple of weeks.

BTW - Have we got nothing better to do than discuss lighting on the longest day of the year?

 

Obviously not John

 

John, I need better lights for a very practical reason. We have excellent expressways in the country, but the legal speed limit is 110 kmh and they are crawling with cops in the day. I was caught once with a radar detector, which is an additional offence. They quit at night though, leaving the roads free for some decent high speed motoring, if you can see where you are going.