Headlight upgrade

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Fergie, Dec 2, 2003.

  1. Fergie

    Fergie Guest

    Can anyone suggest the best way to upgrade the headlights in a 95 Civic
    in order to get the most light from the headlights?
    I do a lot of night highway driving and it is nice to see the "critters"
    as soon as possible.
    Thanks
     
    Fergie, Dec 2, 2003
    #1
  2. Fergie

    M.C. Tee Guest

    do a H.I.D conversion, its fairly expensive, but it will give you alot more
    light
     
    M.C. Tee, Dec 2, 2003
    #2
  3. Fergie

    Randolph Guest

    None of the The H.I.D. conversions are DOT compliant. With many (but not
    all) of them you also loose your high-beams.

    The easiest upgrade is to use Sylvania Xtravision or Philips
    HiVisibility bulbs. These are perfectly legal and give about 30% more
    light than regular.

    You can also add a set of Sylvania Xenarc 1010 H.I.D. Auxiliary Low Beam
    lights. These are DOT compliant and you mount them as you would fog
    lights. They need to be properly aimed to be DOT compliant (and to not
    aggravate oncoming traffic).

    I put a set of these on a '94 Civic. Bought them from
    http://www.suvlights.com/. They have a choice between 5400K / 2800 lumen
    bulbs or 4250K / 3200 lumen bulbs. The latter provide more light, and
    are less bluish.

    Hella also makes auxilliary H.I.D. lights, but I do not know if they are
    available in the US. I believe Hella's lights are to be used with the
    high beams only.
     
    Randolph, Dec 2, 2003
    #3
  4. I use theXtravision lamps, and they're a worthwhile upgrade. Not
    dramatic, but noticeable.

    Sylvania has also recently introduced their Silver Star replacemnt
    lamps. They're only a bit more expensive (perhaps $20 each). I haven't
    tried them yet, but they're supposed to be better still, at the cost of
    somewhat shorter life.
     
    Scott Schuckert, Dec 3, 2003
    #4
  5. Had the same problem with my 01 Prelude. On a dark two lane, the high
    beams worked about as well as me holding a flashlight out the window. :) I
    installed some PIAA "Extreme white plus" bulbs and it was like night into
    day. The bulbs were expensive, but worth it.

    Rob
     
    Robert Upward, Dec 3, 2003
    #5
  6. Fergie

    J. Guest

    I thought about replacing my halogen bulbs with Sylvania's Silverstar until
    I read the tech specs on their website's 'Automotive Lamp Catalog'.

    For the H1 bulbs, the Silverstars up the wattage from a standard 55 watts to
    65 watts, but light output DECREASES 25% from 129 to 95 mscd (mean sperical
    candela, which is proprotional to lumens). The worst aspect is rated life.
    It decreases from the typical 225 hours to just 100 hours (using fixed
    laboratory racks and a B50 statistical testing method - where 50% of the
    lamps fail).

    Doesn't seem worth it to get a 'whiter' light at $22.49 per bulb.
     
    J., Dec 10, 2003
    #6
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