new headlights

[240DRFT]

i am looking for some new headlights and i saw at pdm-racing.com that they have Bosch H4 conversion headlights. They look good but does anyone know if these are good? or anyone have any other suggestions for brighter headlights. They seem like a good deal but i need help choosing some lights, are there any other H4 conversions? thanks for the help.

the link if you want to look(scroll down a little):http://www.pdm-racing.com/prod....html

[silkk]

On eBay they sell these lights that replaces your stock sealed beam with clear lenses and it also lets you change your bulbs to H4 bulbs. It's like $15 bucks + $15 shipping.

Not sure about the brightness but if you get some nice H4 bulbs, it'd look nice.

[yelnatsch517]

How do these compare with PIAA bulbs that cost like 4 times more?

[Clatch]

Ok, first off I went the whole Ebay, APC, AutoZone H4 conversion route and I am sorely mistaken for choosing that route. Those clear euro conversions are absolute crap, what they produce for a cutoff is lethal. I'm quite surprised I didn't kill myself with the horrendous light output they produced. Now you will probably be ok with Hella's or Bosh's conversion as I'm sure they are DOT legal. But there is a reason why some products are DOT legal and others are not. Also please do not get blue rice bulbs as they filter out a lot of the white light giving you minimal light coverage on the road. I would suggest a high quality halogen sealed beam such as Sylvania Silver stars (what I’m running now), or GE's Nighthawks. These types of bulbs will give you the absolute maximum whites light with the absolute maximum coverage on the road for a Halogen bulb. Trust me I’ve seen and tested a lot of the lighting products available for pop-up S13s and Silverstars are the best halogen way to go. The hours I put into the research is insane so save yourself the time and hassle and stick with a high quality sealed beam. You can also try the Bosch or Hella conversions as I already stated that they would be fine, but H4 bulbs cost just as much as Sealed Beams, so there is no real reason to get a conversion. There have been numerous threads on 240sxforums.com about these types of lights, so you would do yourself some good to go check those out, especially Dori-San’s “freaking collage presentation” them.

[yelnatsch517]

How do you kill yourself from too much light? I can imagine maybe other people getting killed by being temporarily blinded when your car comes by, but how would that get your killed? O yea btw...did you by any chance do any research on s14's at that time? I have a zenki so what good options do I have?

[Clatch]

Lol, I'm talking about to little of light, as you know not being able to see at night while driving is hazardous to your health. As for S14's I have not done any research on them, but I imagine the only choices you would have in bulbs are standard halogens as in most GE and Sylvania models (cheap), high end halogens such as Silverstars (semi-expensive), or HID kits in the size of the bulbs that fit your car which also happen to be illegal (also uber expensive). So if you want to go HID, I would suggest picking up some OEM HID Bi-Xenon projectors and retrofitting them into your current headlight housing. You will most likely need projectors as the Zenki headlight reflectors are designed for Halogen bulbs so if you just stuck HID into them you would likely glare like a mother at oncoming cars. Then of course you have to buy the correct HID ballast and bulbs that fit those OEM projectors.

[240DRFT]

hey Clatch where can i find the stuff your talking about

[yelnatsch517]

Lol, I'm talking about to little of light, as you know not being able to see at night while driving is hazardous to your health. As for S14's I have not done any research on them, but I imagine the only choices you would have in bulbs are standard halogens as in most GE and Sylvania models (cheap), high end halogens such as Silverstars (semi-expensive), or HID kits in the size of the bulbs that fit your car which also happen to be illegal (also uber expensive). So if you want to go HID, I would suggest picking up some OEM HID Bi-Xenon projectors and retrofitting them into your current headlight housing. You will most likely need projectors as the Zenki headlight reflectors are designed for Halogen bulbs so if you just stuck HID into them you would likely glare like a mother at oncoming cars. Then of course you have to buy the correct HID ballast and bulbs that fit those OEM projectors.

HAha, sorry about the mistake. I seriously thought you meant too much light . Also, talk about expensive. Check these suckers out Kouki HID conversion. Those look nice, but dang I'm not going to spend that much on a pair of headlamps. If only they were 1/2 the price . Even then, I would have to get a Zenki to Kouki conversion first . Do you think getting these Glass Headlamps with PIAA H4 Extreme White bulbs would be bright enough for a person suffering from astigmatism (seriously can't see anything at night) . Also, would the S15 projectors be able to use Silverstars or HID's? If so, I might as well do the conversion.
Modified by yelnatsch517 at 2:54 PM 11/15/2004

[KDashy]

Although the PIAA name is great, their bulbs are crap, its quite obvious by the "providing 110watts of light from only 55watts" phrase that its complete bullsh*t. Not bad bulbs but way to overpriced.

Generally, you'll want to stay away from brands like PIAA, Matrix, StreetGlow, Hiper and those super JDM brands like Nokya.

Tinted bulbs will not be brighter than those that arent. Even if it has the "cool" purple or blue color, you're just filtering out usable light, like wearing sunglasses.

I have Sylvania Silverstars and they look fine. Not yellow, not blue. Theyre a bit pricy at 20-25 bucks a bulb but its certainly worth it if you have the cash.

[base9se]

Yeah, I had some PIAA's in my Zenki and they were pretty crappy for the price. I have yet to try those Sylvania Silverstars. If i get HID, what bulbs do you guys recommend?

[240DRFT]

anyone know a website that sells sylvania silverstars?

[CybeRise]

Damn 500 bucks for tails?

I dunno why some ppl spend so much on lighting. Unless they have already done everything they could for handling and engine mods.

[90'240ka]

I have the silverstars in my 87z right now, and they permit the brightest light I have seen out of all the products I have tried, when I had my 240 I used the riced out "cool blue" halogen headlights from autozone and they sucked ***...then I tried to upgrade to the h4 conversion, I bought a set off ebay with the diamond cut glass, and they sucked *** too...piaa bulbs are crap, I spent 22 bucks a piece on my silverstars and I am very happy with them, they are very bright and they dont blind oncoming drivers, well not yet anyways, I plan on upgrading to an HID system here soon, but the silverstars do a great job, I would say go with these and stay away from ebay...

[yelnatsch517]

Are the Silverstars able to plug directly into zenki or kouki headlamps without modifications? If not, how extensive of modifications are needed to get them to fit. Which Silverstars can fit zenki or kouki lamps assemblies?

[240DRFT]

hey 90'240ka its nice to see another person from wa.

anyways, anyone have an opinion about the lights from pdm-racing that i gave the link for, and who sells the sylvania silverstars?

[yelnatsch517]

hey 90'240ka its nice to see another person from wa.

anyways, anyone have an opinion about the lights from pdm-racing that i gave the link for, and who sells the sylvania silverstars?

From the replies, I am pretty sure their advice was not to get the ones from the site you linked and get Silverstars. I am going to follow their advice, but just need to know if they are plug and play for s14's.

[Clatch]

Yes they are plug in and play, they are Halogen Bulbs, so it’s just replacing the bulb. Also make sure your headlights are aligned after you replace the bulbs.

[yelnatsch517]

Yes they are plug in and play, they are Halogen Bulbs, so it’s just replacing the bulb. Also make sure your headlights are aligned after you replace the bulbs.

Cool. Only question I have left is, which model would work best? I need the brightest bulbs (astigmatism sucks). I went the the Silverstar site and checked out their product line, but I am not sure which ones will fit. There seem to be several different plug types judging from the pictures, but I don't know which ones the S14's use. Anyone know?

[KDashy]

The assortment of bulbs are for different cars that use their own sized bulbs the Zenki 240's use the 9003 Bulbs I beleive. so if you were to buy Silverstars their part number is 9003ST.

You can pick up a pair of them at any Autozone/Kragen, I had to go to two different stores to buy mine because I use the less common H1 bulbs (as I have projectors)

Edit: I noticed you live in Rowland Heights, are you familair with Arcade Infinity?

[yelnatsch517]

Arcade Infinity? Where is that? Sounds familiar, but can't recall where or when.

O yea, has anyone ever tried rewiring the headlamps so that the high beam wires come out in parallel and connect to the low beam bulbs, thus providing more wattage. The 9003 says it can be used for high or low beam and I was thinking if maybe it was possible to rewire in parallel, it would make it brighter. 1500 lumens as low beam shouldn't be too blinding.

Edit: Hmm, I think I should just do a Kouki conversion. The H1 bulbs are a lot brighter (1410 lumens) and I think the Kouki front looks nicer anyway.
Modified by yelnatsch517 at 1:10 AM 11/16/2004

[KDashy]

Its just an arcade that specializes in Japanese games, no big deal its in Diamondbar Plaza.

[yelnatsch517]

Its just an arcade that specializes in Japanese games, no big deal its in Diamondbar Plaza.

O hahhaa, yea yea. Its just down the street from where I live. When you are between nogales and azusa, if you see this huge hill with houses all over it, that is where I live. There is a pool hall right next to that arcade right? I used to go there almost every week.

PS I think its just called Diamon Plaza or Life Plaza (where all the fixed up cars used to hang out). Diamond Bar is the next city east of Rowland.

[yelnatsch517]

Its just an arcade that specializes in Japanese games, no big deal its in Diamondbar Plaza.

What city you live in KDashy? Sounds like you live pretty close. How often do you go down there?

[KDashy]

I live in Los Angeles, its about a 20 mile drive to AI, I used to go every week, but not so much anymore cause of school.

[yelnatsch517]

What school you go to?