Daniel Stern Lighting and Subaru headlight options

[SuperhawkLGT]

Cool, I guess.

[outahere]

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.

[TRS]

TRS, are you using the NightGuide bulbs?

No.

 

For lows I'm using the Philips X-treme Power H7, highs are Toshiba HIR 9011, and fogs PIAA Ion Crystal 2500K H3.

[TSiWRX]

^ Oooooh.... those NightGuides look yummy.....

 

 

-------

 

Whoa! My meaning of the word "retort" is "reply" - that's all. Dude, NO confrontations!!! I guess I should HAVE said "thanks for the "REPLY".

 

You're definitely old-skool.

 

I added "extra" Marchal driving lights: Worthless. Felt as if I was driving with a mask on. So "it" ( not being able to 'see' at night) was not COMPLETELY a matter of housing design but simply of LIGHT output! Those high-tech Euro H4's were about as bright as my dumbest cat.

 

I wonder if maybe it was just a case of "wrong application." I've also had sets of supposedly really good auxiliary lights that totally didn't work out for me - and at the same time, I've also had some really....er.....generic, el-cheapo units that have worked out wonderfully, both for myself as well as for some local friends. Needless to say, all of us were rather surprised at such findings.

 

I agree, it's not *completely* about optics - certainly, output matters. But even taking this analogy back to hand-held flashlights, having proper optics is critical. I've got a few flashlights that technically puts out the same amount of light, but based on the way their optics (including the lens/housing) are configured, the end-result is totally different, and thus suitable to totally different applications.

 

Absolute output is a part of the equation. Certainly, dim lights just don't cut it when you're driving a dark switchback. However, how that light is managed is crucial.

[fishbone]

Firstly I'd like to say I find it a tad bit funny that, while Stern seems to be very concerned about safety and doing everything "the right way", he still sells bulbs that are specifically labeled as "for motorcycle or off-road racing use" They're fine for regular use but you know, a by-the-book kind of person might not recommend them.

 

Anyways, I finally got around to installing my OSRam Rallye 65w bulbs yesterday and all I can say is ... wow! They do give off almost the same amount of light as my 5000k Apexcone HID kit, no joke. The 1100 lumens difference isn't that significant. What they seem is that they are just a different ... color, rather than being weaker. Instead of bluish/intense white they are just ... well, a gentler white. The spread is much better, basically the pool of bright white light just in front of the car is spread, for better peripheral and frontal lighting. They seem to reach farther too. Looking at them straight on with the car parked I can't tell a real difference, all I can see is that they don't have a blue hint AT ALL and they are maybe 25-30% not as bright.

I realize it's a matter of taste and personal preference, but my personal opinion is this. If you do a lot of dark road driving, out of the city, you should do a retrofit if you want HIDs. Using the OSRAM Rallye (or Hyper, as they are labeled) will yield you very close to just as much lighting as a HID kit, but with superior spread. Not having the bright pool of light in front of my eyes is also more comfortable for me, personally. The high beams and my yellow fogs make more of a difference now, too.

 

 

What bulbs do our Legacies come with stock? Because I looked a the bulbs I had on it when I bought it and they were Philips 55w. Are we really getting Philips bulbs from the dealer or did the previous owner buy better ones?

[jarrod]

looking into getting the H7 bulbs: Osram Rallye+65 Ultra High Output H7's and H3 bulbs: GE Tungsram® Gold Selective Yellow H3 55w

 

You guys that have had these for awhile..how have they done?

[fatbastard]

I have had them for a while now and haven't had any issues. Though I will say I was most impressed with the HIR bulbs for the highs...they are rediculous

[jarrod]

bit the bullet and ordered them. Might as well..foglights are both out and driver side headlight went out today

[fishbone]

I might just have to get me some HIRs. fatbastard, do they make that much of a difference? Do you know if they have any issues with repeated on/off cycles?

 

jarrod: you will be happy with the fogs, I can guarantee it. Ditto for the OSRam Rallye. I kid you not they are VERY close to HIDs.

[Guest]

HIRs ftw

[fatbastard]

Fishbone...if I get a chance I'll take some comparison pics so you can see teh difference. The only con with the HIR's is they will occasionally catch a road sign and reflect back making it difficult to read the sign. But this doesn't happen often.

[TSiWRX]

I agree with the HIR sentiment - it's "ridiculous." Good stuff.

 

As for the +65 low-beams, so far, I've been more than happy with mine. Although my headlights are true-aimed, these bulbs are, undeniably, "brighter-than-stock," and I'd expected a bit of flashing from displeased oncoming drivers. So far (what's it been? about 6 months?), not one instance of this.

 

While I like the color-temperature output of the Sylvania SilverStars (I prefer my light to be slightly yellower than 4300K), I can certainly say that the +65s are noticeably and truly brighter - not by much, but it's there, for sure. And as their bulb-life, so far, seems to be somewhat more consistent than what I've seen with the SilverStars, I have no qualms about spending the extra dough/time for these bulbs.

[SubieDoobieDoo]

no need for the high beams

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!!!!!

 

1, Having high beams on a road vehicle are a VERY important safety issue!

 

2, If your city, town, county, shire, state or nation require a "vehicle inspection" - normally done yearly to catch those with worn tyres, etc. - YOU WILL FAIL WITHOUT FUNCTONING HIGH BEAMS! Essentially, you might receive a "citation" - such as one gets for speeding - and in many areas, one must then prove to a magistrate or DOT (Department of Transportation) that the "repair" has been made.

 

Where *I* live, this means the vehicle must be "made right" by a certified mechanic - who will install the exact same headlight bulb the owner should have (or an upgraded "bulb") - and certify this on the sale receipt that this has been done - ONE CANNOT DO IT BY THEMSELVES - THEN the owner must appear and present the paperwork, THEN get the vehicle re-inspected.

 

Let's see .... USD $80.00 / hour (or any part thereof) to get the bulb re-installed, a day from work to appear at the government building ... and time and money to get the vehicle re-inspected. I can easily see 300-350 dollars going right down the drain!!!!

 

OR ... simply install after-market HID bulbs and be done with it!!!!!

 

You'll have MUCH better lighting and that lighting will outlast incandescent bulbs many times over. You can do the same with the fog / driving lights, too!

 

PM me and I'll show you where the best deals are. FORGET replacing a burnt-out "glowing filament" bulb with another one!!! When there is *SUCH* a better option available (an HID upgrade), this is simply akin to throwing good money after bad.

 

Rgds,

[TSiWRX]

^ Here ya go, bro. First post on this very thread:

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45991

 

There's a couple of other places that carry the HIR1s, but Stern is easy, known, and sure-fire. He's a one-man operation, though, I believe, so give some allowances for holidays, weekends, and such.

[LittleBlueGT]

Not sure if I have said it yet, but my HIRs are the biggest difference I have seen to date on any vehicle I have owned.

[fishbone]

Good question! I thought they were truly just plug and play, fitting right out of the box?

 

Daniel Stern is with Candle Power actually. Any orders you place go across his desk.

[fatbastard]

Don't know about the legality of the bulbs...I just know they are BRIGHT! But there is one thing about that statement that I am not sure is true...since you can simply trim the tab on the HIR bulb and it will fit in our housing, wouldn't our stock bulb fit in the HIR housing without mods?

[outahere]

.........What bulbs do our Legacies come with stock? Because I looked a the bulbs I had on it when I bought it and they were Philips 55w. Are we really getting Philips bulbs from the dealer or did the previous owner buy better ones?

 

Mine were Philips H7, from the factory.

The high beam bulbs were Osram.

[SubieDoobieDoo]

HIR's may be a fine buzz-word but they're still "glowing filament" incandescent bulbs.

 

Any way you care to slice it, that's "Thomas Edison" technology in a hyper-space world. (Edison actually "invented" something that would glow with currrent passing thru it in ... 1879. The General Electric Company were the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandesent lightbulbs ... in 1906!!!)

 

Sorry, folks ..... but I'm not gonna use late 19th century lighting "technology" in my 21st century vehicles!!!!!

 

"Glowing wires" are fine if that's what "floats YOUR boat" - but I'll *still* take my UNBELIEVABLE 55W "Premium Race" Apexcone HID's and their mind-boggling 5000 lumens (EACH!!!) of pure, beautiful, 4,500K crystal-WHITE light - - - - over anything I've ever seen so far.

 

Not the faintest tinge of blue and with the solenoid in-and-out capability of the illumination chamber, I still have full "9007" high-n-low operation.

 

H#ll, I may put a pair of them (H3's) in my fog lights for good measure!!!! (After all, they DO come in a spectacular 3,000K "Ion Yellow" colour. That "merely" drops the lumens to 4,800. EACH!)

 

Imagine .... 19,600 total lumens showing you the way down the road ............................ As "The Who" used to sing, "I can see for miles and miles and miles and ..... =

 

I no longer switch on my headlights when the sun goes down - and hope for the best.

 

Boys and girls, I BURN A #$%^&&^%$# HOLE INTO THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT AND BLAST THRU IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

http://www.therpmstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=336

 

Rgds,

 

 

 

 

(And ........ they easily outlast EVERY incandescent bulb by a factor 4-6X - no worries! And they also won't dim with "age" like EVERY glowing-wire bulb will!!!!!!!)

[fishbone]

I'm not going to argue your reasoning but I'll point out that the best way to spread the light too is to retrofit the stock projector, which are designed for halogen, not HID. That is a lot of light. Get flashed often? How is glare for oncoming drivers?

[jarrod]

wow ordered these last night and they are already in transit via ups

[jarrod]

if these don't last long or i'm not impressed I'll probably do a HID retrofit and be done with it. I don't think i'm going to be disappointed but we'll see

[outahere]

.......Any way you care to slice it, that's "Thomas Edison" technology in a hyper-space world. (Edison actually "invented" something that would glow with currrent passing thru it in ... 1879. The General Electric Company were the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandesent lightbulbs ... in 1906!!!)......

 

HID lighting was first used in 1901.

[SubieDoobieDoo]

"fishbone" makes some great points:

I'm not going to argue your reasoning but I'll point out that the best way to spread the light too is to retrofit the stock projector, which are designed for halogen, not HID.

You most certainly CAN argue - and you are exactly correct, too, in your statements - and I would normally agree ... except, I'm now addicted to actually seeing where the H#ll I'm going - at night - and in excess of the posted speed limit.

 

My "Golden Rule": I wouldn't install anything I'm not prepared to face in return. Like head lights as bright as all get-out!

 

Essentially, I *have* simply retro-fitted the stock projector housing - you can still see the little "reflector caps" in place - it's just that the light (output) is I-N-S-A-N-E-L-Y intense!!!! Oddly, the plastic lenses feel cooler to the touch than they did with stock "halogen" bulbs ...

 

That is a lot of light.

You have *NO* idea .......... It's even more than *I* was prepared for!

 

Get flashed often? How is glare for oncoming drivers?

I *swear* to the forum on my "noob" honour - under penalty of explusion by a moderator if there was any way to know I was lying - that I haven't been "flashed" (on low beams) by anyone - not even o-n-c-e-!

 

Honest!

 

Oncoming "glare"? Good question! I asked my wife to drive HER car - it has factory HID's - towards me in the oncoming lane of a dark, two-lane road near our house - just as if we were two strangers passing in the night.

 

She said, "Yeah, they're certainly bright as H#ll but they didn't bother me - and I was sort of staring at them because I knew what you were trying to determine. GREAT colour - crystal-clear white!"

 

My housings are cleaned quite often and aimed as perfectly as possibly by the technicians at my local repair shop. They used one of those fancy-schmancy aligning machines ...

 

The "blanket" of light in front of my Sube is now .... well, it's surreal. It's like driving a completely different car.

 

I had a rental (Pontiac G5) a few weeks ago in New Mexico and drove like a blind man at night because the lights were so p*ss-poor!!!!

 

To anyone getting these eyeball-melters, get your lights re-aimed PERFECTLY ... or they'll be just that!

 

I've passed State troopers in the oncoming lane since installing these 55W monsters and, obviously, no problems ...

 

Rgds,

[outahere]

........Essentially, I *have* simply retro-fitted the stock projector housing - you can still see the little "reflector caps" in place - it's just that the light (output) is I-N-S-A-N-E-L-Y intense!!!! Oddly, the plastic lenses feel cooler to the touch than they did with stock "halogen" bulbs .............

 

What are you using for high beams?