Regular vs. Xenon H4s

[David.Ullrich at ferguson.com]

OK, you do know that Xenon bulbs aren't the same thing as HIDs but what most don't realize is that they really aren't any better than standard bulbs. n fact, most of them put out far LESS light than a standard bulb. The stock wattage is 60/55 for an H4, anything higher and it's considered over-wattage. You need beefy wiring and relays to use those bulbs. Now back to Xeons. Most of them (like PIAA) claim to be "brighter" but are actually less bright. Light output is measured in lumens. Any coatings or filters cut out light. Like in the case of Xenons, most have a blue tint on the glass. So the light output appear slightly blueish. Well, you are basically cutting out a large proportion of the visible light created by the bulbs with those coatings, just like the window tint film you may have on your windows. The human eye is a little more sensitive to blue light, and it reflect off things easier (like road signs) but if there is less light to begin with... Anyway, to stop this train before it gets out of control, if you beef up your wiring and use relays, the 100/80 watt "standard" bulbs will produce gobs more light than 55/60 watt Xenons. Now, if you like the pure white (or even slightly blueish) look there ARE high wattage Xenon available in H4. Check out http://www.autooptiks.com/matrix.html for a wide variety of bulbs...

Dave

Too Many Toys:
2002 VW Jetta GLS 1.8T Tiptronic
1993 RX-7 R1
1987.5 Audi Coupe GT "Special Build" 2.3 - Anthracite Black
1985 Chevy Impala Interceptor

-----Original Message-----
From: David Miller [mailto:millerds at muohio.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 3:34 PM
To: Quattro List
Subject: Regular vs. Xenon H4s


I recently purchased the cheapest Euro code lights for my '90 80Q - the ones
with just an H4 bulb (I don't do enough non city night driving to justify
the cost of the RS2s).  Now that I've been shopping for bulbs, I noticed
that you can buy regular H4s at 130/80W and Xenons it seems only at 60/55W.
Even figuring in the Xenon's "30%" better light, that's no where near the
regular lights.  Do they make Xenon's in higher wattages?  Am I missing
something obvious?  I'm going to redo my wiring with beefy enough relays and
wires to handle the normal wattage, so that won't be a problem...

Thanks,
David Miller