[s-cars] HEADLIGHT UPGRADE

[Russ Panneton]

On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 12:48:55 -0500, "Fred Munro" <munrof at sympatico.ca> wrote:

>Xenon charged bulbs are a waste of money despite what the advertising BS
>says about "super white burn-out-your-retinas light, looks Ricer blue in the
>housings". Installing higher wattage bulbs will eventually cause the stock
>headlight and/or dimmer switch to fail, but this isn't much of an issue with
>stock lights since high wattage 900x bulbs aren't that common. High wattage
>bulbs have to be relayed as the OEM Audi switches and wiring are marginal.
>
While I agree about higher wattage bulbs and potential problems with the
switch, I have to contest that sweeping statement about "xenon" bulbs.  There
ARE some good xenon filled bulbs available from Philips and others for about
$15/bulb.  The xenon gas, in addition to the usual iodine, allows the filament
to run hotter AT THE SAME WATTAGE and does produce a whiter light -- but no
"cool blue."  Some people equate "xenon" with HID which isn't correct.  There
are a TON of phony HID "blue" bulbs out there and they ARE a waste of money.

Check out the VisionPlus bulbs at
http://www.autolamps-online.com/halogen/index.htm.  These might not be
available in 9000 series bulbs, though.

>You've got two routes for effective headlight upgrades:
>
>1. An aftermaket HID retrofit for the 900x low beam on the stock lights
>(around $500) which will improve low beam performance but leave the high
>beams marginal.
>
>2. Upgrade to Euro lights (~$700 - $900) which use the H1 bulbs for high and
>low beam. The low beams are slightly better with 55w H1 bulbs (heat from
>high wattage bulbs here can damage the reflective coating on the plastic low
>beam projector bodies) but relayed 100w bulbs in the high beams result in
>superb distance vision. The low beams can be upgraded with a H1 HID retrofit
>(~$500).
>
>Fred Munro
>'94 S4
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
>[mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Dan Slagle
>Sent: February 15, 2003 11:58 AM
>To: s-car-list e-mail
>Subject: [s-cars] HEADLIGHT UPGRADE
>
>
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>--
>[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>Dear Listeners:  I am considering a headlight upgrade for my 95.5 S6, and
>have read the information http://www.urs4.com/technical/headlights.html. I
>realize that ultimately this is the BEST way to go; however, due to limited
>$$$, and too many upgrades pending, I am considering just replacing my stock
>bulbs with Xenon bulbs, which are available at http://www.eurolights.com/.
>I have read that by just upgrading the Bulbs without upgrading the other
>electrical components my damage both the lenses and the other components
>overtime.  However, this company claims that their Bulbs will not harm the
>system http://www.eurolights.com/, and they state that no other upgrades are
>necessary.  Your thoughts appreciated.  Thank you.
>
>Dan
>95.5 S6

--
Russ Panneton                          russ at s-cars.org
Nederland, CO              "Too bad ignorance isn't painful"