Headlight upgrades? Halogen, HID, LED what's best?

[Rick the Quick]

Between my Festivas getting older and my eyes not what they used to be I am the market for upgraded bulbs for my headlights. The headlights are in nice cosmetic condition. The glass lenses are free from cracks and do not have excessive sand blasting pitts. The reflectors while not in "like new" condition are decent and definitely not rusty. I have last replaced the 9004? Halogen bulbs around 10 years ago and I have measured operating voltages of between 13 and 14 volts with the engine running. The aim is not perfect but even if it was the headlights are not as bright as I would like them.
Anyone tried HID or LED conversions? If so what do you think of them? I'm not looking to blind oncoming traffic and I'm not after the Blue or super white that you see on some vehicles, just need to see further down the road at night. I remember using a Bosch 9004 bulb on a motorcycle that had a 100 watt high beam element and it was quite a bit brighter than the more common 55 watt high beam. I haven't looked at what types of Halogen bulbs are available as plug and play and eBay or Rock Auto may be my next stop tonight. Just wondering if anyone wants to shed some light on the topic, especially HID or LED stories or nightmares.
Rick in New Mexico.

[theastronaut]

LED or HID will ruin the beam pattern to the point that you won't be able to see as far; either will turn the headlight into a flood beam pattern that loses any distance lighting and increases glare. The increased foreground lighting will make your eyes adjust to the brighter light in front of the car so you won't be able to see the dimmer light farther out. The increase in brighter light right in front of the car is where all of the "they're way brighter than stock" reviews come from. Don't trust online reviews from people who don't know what a proper beam pattern looks like. "Bright" in one area is not a good indication of headlight performance.

Any halogen headlight is designed around the exact size and location of the filament (or filaments in the case of a 9004). The geometry of the reflector and the lens pattern all work together to distribute light from the filament out in front of the car in a certain pattern for the best possible beam pattern. Going to a HID or LED changes the location and size of the light source so all of the light is now reflecting in random directions. Overwattage 9004 bulbs have the same problem- the larger filament alters the direction of reflection making the beam pattern worse.


If you want legitimately better lights you'll need-

1- The best possible reflector condition. Any degradation of the reflector surface will make a huge difference in how much light is reflected from the bulb onto the road. The vapor deposited aluminum coating is 99% optically reflective when new, compared to "show chrome" finished parts that are only 66% reflective. You can lose a lot of reflectability without the reflectors looking bad. It is possible to separate the lens and have the reflector recoated. My always garaged low mileage '89 has really well preserved headlights and the beam pattern and brightness is very adequate, it's really surprising how much better they are than my other Festivas that have seen more weathering.

2- The best performing 9004 bulbs are Philips Xteme Vision bulbs. They burn brighter, have very tightly controlled filament alignment, and do not have blue coating over the effective globe area- only a small spot at the tip to lower overall lumen output to legal limits. Blue coating over the entire globe reduces lumens and makes the color temp worse for actual visibility.

3- A relay harness to ensure there is no voltage drop at the bulbs under load.

4- Aim is critical.

5- Past that, adding well engineered driving lights are the only other option with stock lights. I have a set of CIbie driving lights in the grill opening of my '88 that add more long distance lighting when the high beams are on.

6- Develop a set of optically clear non-fluted replacement lenses for the stock headlights, and retrofit a quality projector to do away with the drawbacks of the 9004 bulb and fluted lens.


This is a shot of the high beams on my '89. Stock bulbs, not upgraded to Philips Xtreme vision.




Cibie driving lights-

[chiquito1228]

I drive alot thru the rurals areas thru Illinois with no street lights. And i have been impressed with led light bulbs. They have made a huge difference

[Rick the Quick]

John Glenn, thank you for your detailed reply. I believe I have read LED and HID reviews that mirrored your opinions. That being said I will try Phillips Xtremes and work on my alignment. I don't believe I'm dealing with any voltage drops that's causing a problem. I'm sure there's a slight drop but I don't imagine it's anything to be concerned with. If I recall I measured 13-14 volts at each light with the engine at idle. As for having the reflectors re-coated, that sounds expensive and I wouldn't have any idea who to call regarding that. If the Phillips Xtremes don't satisfy me it will be a high quality set of Bosch or Cibie driving lights and setting them in the grill will work for me. Thanks again !
Rick

[Rick the Quick]

Chiquito, thanks for your reply. Mr Glenn has me thinking what I thought all along: a set of new 9004 bulbs well aimed should be my ticket. I do remember reading some bad reviews on LED and HID bulbs so for now I'm going with new performance 9004 Halogens. Probably Phillips Xtremes. We'll see if they help. Thanks again !
Rick

[WmWatt]

Nice thread. Like!

First thing I did when I brought home my new '89 Festiva was to take the back seat out to load up with camping equipment and go on month long camping trips with the dog. Out on the higway at night I'd sometimes get oncoming cars, even a few troupers. flashing their high beams at me. After a while I suspected the weight in the back was lowering the back end, raising the front end, and raising the headlights into the eyes of oncoming traffic. LOL!

[Rick the Quick]

Sounds like me when I rode the Suzuki 500 Titan, 2 stroke street bike cross country on my first road trip on 2 wheels. When traveling through Colorado I noticed that my headlight was directly in the rear view mirror of the cars in front of me. The 75 pounds of crap I strapped on the back of my bike was the problem. Easily fixed before some red neck got tempted to straighten this young punk out......LoL. Wow that was like 48 years ago. I really am getting old.