Headlight Bulb Upgrades

[89FairladyZ]

Cheers everyone! As the forum handle suggests, I have an 89 Fairlady Z 2+2 TT. Just purchased it here in Japan actually and will be doing some updates, fixes, and minor restoration to her while I am here and before I bring her home back to the US in a few years. This is my second Z, first was a Z31 US Spec that I brought over to Italy while I lived there (lots of interesting looks from the Italians as I drove it around), and its a nice move from the NA Z31 motor. I digress...

First thing I need to do to her is upgrade the lights. I noticed the lights are very dim (my most recent car had Xenons and they were amazing) and it's driving me nuts (housings are very clean so its not a grime issue). If I do decide to go LEDs, which have you all had success with? There seems to be a lot of options and I would really hate to waste time getting something that the community knows is trash. Searching around the forum didn't net anything useful that I found, so I am eager to hear what you all have to offer.

Appreciate the opinions and advice.

- Jasen

[brian300zx]

I have some ebay LED's I got about six months ago and they have been really good, super bright, and they have a built in fan. Can't really remember which brand they are but they were only $14. They were easy to install and fit right up to the oem connection. All I did was look up 9006 and some ridiculous amount of lumens.

[golgo13b]

Are they for the High beams too? or just the low?

[DCaff300ZX]

I used slightly more expensive OEM style bulbs from Autozone, they definitely were bright enough as the old ones were also very dim. No need for HIDs unless you just want them for whatever reason people do...

[brian300zx]

You can get them for both high beams and low beams you just have to look up the different numbers. Personally I do not like HID's because of the box and you have to find a place to mount it etc. The LED's I got are plug and play. But, I agree with Decaff, if you do not want to waste your time just get some new OEM bulbs and they will surely be bright enough.

[DCaff300ZX]

You can get them for both high beams and low beams you just have to look up the different numbers. Personally I do not like HID's because of the box and you have to find a place to mount it etc. The LED's I got are plug and play. But, I agree with Decaff, if you do not want to waste your time just get some new OEM bulbs and they will surely be bright enough.

Agreed. I got Sylvania Silver Stars and they are plenty bright, and don't cost as much as HID's nor the installation hassles.

[NolimitZ32]

Osram (Phillips) Nightbreakers are the brightest quality bulbs I have found, they come in white and cool blue (id recommend the white for max brightness). I run these in all my non HID appplications and love them. One BIG point to note: All Silverstar/nightbreaker/other badass bulbs of awesomeness run 55w, therefore they burn hotter, therefore they have a shortened lifespan. Where a standard 35w halogen could potentially last a decade, these 55w bulbs will give you a year or two max (at least in my experience). Another personal note: I have never had Silverstars last longer than 4 or 5 months, the Osrams usually give me at least a year of life, I do drive with my low beams and fogs on always so take that into consideration as well. I had good luck with the old PIAA bulbs (think early 2000s) but for the price you might as well get a decent plug and play HID kit.

[echonightsi]

I used slightly more expensive OEM style bulbs from Autozone, they definitely were bright enough as the old ones were also very dim. No need for HIDs unless you just want them for whatever reason people do...

The reason is if you own a lifted eye level truck you can install these bad boys and shine the light equivalent of 5 suns, 2 stars, Emma Stone's skin tone, and the Second Coming of Christ into my perfectly functional eye sockets. I really enjoy it too.

[brian300zx]

I used slightly more expensive OEM style bulbs from Autozone, they definitely were bright enough as the old ones were also very dim. No need for HIDs unless you just want them for whatever reason people do...

The reason is if you own a lifted eye level truck you can install these bad boys and shine the light equivalent of 5 suns, 2 stars, Emma Stone's skin tone, and the Second Coming of Christ into my perfectly functional eye sockets. I really enjoy it too.

Oh this is my favorite. I love getting completely blinded when driving at night.

[DCaff300ZX]

I used slightly more expensive OEM style bulbs from Autozone, they definitely were bright enough as the old ones were also very dim. No need for HIDs unless you just want them for whatever reason people do...

The reason is if you own a lifted eye level truck you can install these bad boys and shine the light equivalent of 5 suns, 2 stars, Emma Stone's skin tone, and the Second Coming of Christ into my perfectly functional eye sockets. I really enjoy it too.

Knew there had to be a really good reason!