5kcstq eurolight first impressions

[auditude at neta.com]

Wow.  I went for a test drive with the eurolights installed last night.  
I'm most definitely impressed.  I believe these should be the first 
upgrade, no question.  It's like a different car.  I can see at night.  

There's a very obvious beam cutoff, and it throws extra light on the 
right side of the road.  Everyone probably knows this already. I 
knew it from pics on the 'net, but had never driven a car so 
equipped, or even been in one.

I can see how much my car's suspension rocks, because there 
this big horizon of light/dark contrast in front of me oscillating as I 
row through the gears.  That's illumination!  Before, the only 
oscillation was the light around me as I passed between street 
lamps.

The fact that these lights are available bolt-on makes these and 
other european cars appealing over other cars for that reason 
alone, besides all that road performance or safety stuff.

I installed them last night.  After researching sources for pre-made 
harnesses and bulb selection for the past few days, no mail order 
options appealed to me.  So, after work I stopped by Napa and 
bought an armload of connectors, wire, and bulbs.  Turns out those 
pre-made harnesses are not necessarily overpriced.  But I'm glad I 
did it myself.

Installation was incredibly easy.  The hardest part was getting to 
know how the front of my trim came apart.  These are almost plug 
and play.  They even have their own little group of connectors and 
an internal wiring harness that handles ground and high beam 
power distribution.  So, you don't have to get H4 connectors or 
anything, just regular female spade connectors.  I don't like the 
loose, separate-ness, that my installation current has.  I want to 
get the factory connector and use those like Jeff G. did.

I tapped into the passenger side headlight wires, and the jumper 
post for +.  I ground both lights at a bolt on the side of the core 
support, and the relays are hanging zip tied up in front of the airbox.

One head scratcher came when I tested the high beams for the 
first time during the installation.  The driver side light went out 
completely, maybe some kind of sickly dim light was coming out, 
and the passenger side worked fine.  I disconnected the passenger 
side ground (these lights are hooked up in parallel w/two relays and 
12g wire) to see what happened, (and I forget what), then I changed 
my ground. I swapped the lights to opposite sides, and the problem 
stayed with the driver side light.  So, anyway, to make a long story 
short, someone possibly in the Czech Republic (the lenses inside 
say they were made there) put the connector in the headlamp 
housing upside down.  So, my ground and low/high wires were all 
clocked 180 wrong.  Once I compensated, things worked fine.

When I started narrowing it down to the actual headlight, I was 
starting to feel bad, after having that bubble in my 4kstq project 
eurolight lens.  But troubleshooting prevails, and I now can see at 
night.

I got some kind of Wagner extra-brite xenon-something bulbs, in 
55/60w, and some 100 watt H3's.  They do look more white than 
yellow.  These are the most effective headlights I've owned.  If I'd 
known about H4's in high school, I would have had them on my 
Toyota truck.

I have to followup on getting some Stongard now.  I wasn't going to 
put them on the car without it, but just did it.  I was a bit paranoid 
on the freeway last night.

I hope the bypass valve install is as smooth.

Later,

Ken