Hella high watt headlight bulbs

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splatterdog
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Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by splatterdog »

Put a pair of 100/80 watt bulbs in my Hella housings and WOW! Significant improvement on low beam yet no one has been flashing me back. High beam reminds me of when I had some large KC highlights on my first truck. Not only can I see ditch critters easier, farther, and wider, these might be bright enough to incapacitate. Already had built a relay kit so I was ready for them. They blow silver stars away at a fraction of the price. They definitely compete with or beat HID at a fraction of a fraction of their price..
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by The Professor »

Keep an eye on your headlamp wiring and the health of the plastic connectors, they're not used to the current draw you've got now and you may find that they run hot after swapping in the over-wattage bulbs.
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splatterdog
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by splatterdog »

Professor,I guess you missed the part about the relay kit? I did that when the Hella housings went in. I will probably replace the new plastic ends with high temp ceramic plugs though. Being a winter only car might help with op temps.
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by BaileySims »

What did the housings run you? I made the switch to rampage housings awhile back with led lights. Barely any draw on power and lights up the night with no problem.
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splatterdog
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by splatterdog »

The Hella housings were about $100 for the pair. A lot for a "free" car! When it comes to lighting I prefer name brands. Seen way too much ricer trash over the years. Read about poor beam patterns when retrofitting leds too. With their cooling fans/ribbons, they also look very susceptible to salty road spray. Had some fog light leds in an Audi bumper cover fall apart at the slightest jarring too, didn't inspire much confidence. The power draw always looks attractive though.
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by teranfirbt »

Nice, I love a good pair of headlights! Keep an eye on the bulbs, I had a pair of the Hella 100/130 (talk about bright!) bulbs that melted through the capsule and burst, ruined a perfectly good Hella housing :|

Autopal makes a decent housing that's ~1/2 the price of Hella and ~95% as good, I have a pair in my MR2. Make sure you get the E-Code ones tho, the vision plus housings are barely better than stock sealed beams.

I tried a pair of LED H4's in my Hellas and they were bad. Rated for 4k lumens but threw way less light down the road than a standard H4 bulb :(
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by Petros »

keeps us updated on how the lights hold up. Hi intensity bulbs run hot. I put in star brights in our Mazda housings a number of years ago, big improvement over standard H4 lamps. we took a road trip for ten days, both L and R gave up before we got back. I think the high temp plus the road vibration (on hwys the whole way) made them fail. I just bought standard cheap bulbs to get home and they are still in it some 10 years later.
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by The Professor »

Splatterdog, yes I did miss the mention of the relay kit. Does this mean you also up-rated the wiring harness?

AutoPal lamp housings, I've run a set of 4x6 highs and lows on one of my Subarus. I wouldn't buy these again. I had to re-pin the headlamp connector to correctly operate the bulbs that came with the lamps. Not only that, but the chrome plating inside the lamp housings is garbage and much of it has disintegrated or flaked off.

I would go with Hella lamps or keep the OEM sealed beams.
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splatterdog
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Re: Hella high watt headlight bulbs

Post by splatterdog »

Professor- The stock wiring only powers the relays that are switching direct battery power. Headlight grounds also go to the battery. Dual terminal battery simplified that.

Petros- I know twice as bright could mean half as long. I will probably just keep a couple spares in the car since they can be changed so quickly now.

Teranfirbt-Now that's getting carried away!
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