outahere

I agree.

Will the AA timing belt last 95,000 miles, like the OEM belt? IMO, go with another OEM belt.

Yes, the winter driving will increase fuel in your oil. You could try running a fuel additive like FP-Plus or BioPlus at every fill up. My fuel dilution numbers have been steadily decreasing over my last 3 UOAs. My last one (over winter) was 1.03%, on a 100% stock motor. Hopefully, the next one in the fall will be even lower.

I think your fundamental problem is not that a 5W30 is inadequate, but that you have fuel and antifreeze in the oil. Solve the fuel and antifreeze contamination problem, and your wear will go down.

Mostly the same with me, but I did have to lower my headlights slightly after installing the the Hyper (aka Rallye) 65W bulbs. I was getting flashed occasionally, especially when my fuel tank was full. I followed the aiming instructions at Stern's site, for VOL classified headlamps. I also run these bulbs in a pair of Hella FF50 driving lamps.

How are the lights on your bomber?

Sounds like a fine idea to me!!!!!!!

Instead of the 65W "competition only" Osram Hyper, you may want to try the new 55W Osram Night Breaker. For the Night Breaker they are claiming 90% more light than a "standard halogen".

Probably cited for improper aim?

Will any law enforcement officers be removing your bulbs to inspect them? I am routinely blinded by new, off-the-showroom-floor 4x4 pickup trucks, and they have legal headlamps. The Osrams and HIRs on your car will be less offensive.

They are genuine. AKA Osram Hyper.

AFAIK, it is an option available in late 2007, legal for USA, soon to be legal in Europe. http://www.al-lighting.de/index.php?id=1221&lang=en

What I am aware of, just from browsing, is LED, OLED, and Electroluminescent Foils. To get a sense of what the industry is up to, look at this announcement for an upcoming international meeting on lighting design; http://www.iqpc.com/cgi-bin/templates/singlecell.html?topic=495&event=14603 Also take a look at the presentations from a recent SAE international meeting: http://www.sae.org/servlets/PaperEvents?OBJECT_TYPE=PaperEventsInfo&PAGE=getPapers&GEN_NUM=145665&TOPIC=Lighting%20Systems&TECH_CD=LIGHT

HIDs will eventually be replaced by LEDs, and enthusiasts will no doubt try to do a LED install in a halogen reflector! Hella currently has prototype LED headlamps that have 90% of the luminance of HIDs. The Audi R8 has an all LED headlamp system (I'm not sure how the Audi lights compare to HID). And in the the summer of 2008, the Cadillac Escalade Platinum will have a 100% LED headlamp, designed by Hella. http://www.hella-press.com/search_detail.php?text_id=653&archiv=0&language=e&newdir=eng From what I have read, the future of automotive lighting is "intelligent or adaptive lighting systems" (like the Hella VARILIS system) based on LED+HID combos in the near future, and pure LED in the more distant future. These systems offer multiple, automatically selected beam patterns (5 patterns with the Hella VARIOX system), depending on driving conditions. There is tons of R&D going on in the LED business, because there are billions of dollars in future profits to be made.

From the FAQ at hidplanet.com: "All HID bulbs shift to blue, and become dimmer as they age, this becomes exacerbated by smaller companies with no one to monitor their quality."

What model year is your GT wagon?

What are you using for high beams?

HID lighting was first used in 1901.

Mine were Philips H7, from the factory. The high beam bulbs were Osram.

TRS, are you using the NightGuide bulbs? I see that Autobild magazine (in Germany) tested 18 H7 bulbs, and they rated the NightGuides as #1, FWIW. But I was not able to find detailed info on their website about this test.

Based on this SAE abstract, it looks like Philips is working on a truly useful blue tinted bulb: Title: New Headlamp Bulbs for Higher Peripheral Visibility and Reduced Discomfort Glare Document Number: 2006-01-0715 Author(s): Lukas Küpper - Philips Automotive Lighting Albrecht Kraus - Philips Automotive Lighting Klaus Schoeller - Philips Automotive Lighting Abstract: Recent studies have shown that with increase of the blue spectral content in the peripheral part of a headlamp beam pattern the visibility during night is also increased, especially at low ambient illumination. On the other hand several studies have shown that the blue spectral content of a headlamp, although having no significant influence on disability glare, nevertheless increases discomfort glare for the opposing traffic. It follows that the effect of color can positively be used to both increase visibility and reduce discomfort glare if (for right-hand traffic) it provides a maximum amount of blue spectral content in the right peripheral region and a minimum amount of blue spectral content in the left peripheral region, while still lying within SAE white. Special light sources, to be used in conventional headlamps, have been developed to form such optimized beam patterns. The technology and optical properties of these light sources are presented, color measurements of representative headlamp beam patterns using these light sources are shown and their benefits regarding visibility for the driver and reduction of discomfort glare are deduced.

I had a quick read of the blue bulb paper, and was also surprised about the benefits it had for peripheral vision. I don't think they tested the effect of the blue tint on forward vision, however. Interestingly, the latest bulb from Osram, the NIGHT BREAKER, uses blue tint in two stripes around the bulb, rather than over the entire bulb. I am wondering if this is done to direct blue light to the periphery only.

If you want some more info, from those who do academic and engineering research on vehicle lighting, see; http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/transportation/vehicle.asp?section=13.1

Don't the 55W yellow bulbs put out less than the "stock amount of light"?

Getting the ignition coil back onto the #4 plug was a giant pain! After 2 or 3 dozen unsuccessful attempt at getting the coil boot onto the spark plug, I finally put a jack under the front of the trans, and raised the engine about 1/2". The coil boot went on the spark plug at the 1st try after that! Amazing what a difference that 1/2" made.