[Vwdiesel] SilverStar headlights <== H4 alternatives?

[James Hansen]

That's exactly the same setup I put in my 89 A2 Jetta after a deer fell 
into the black hole on the right front corner, more commonly called a 
DOT headlamp.

New grille, rad valence, four headlamps. 100w bulbs all round, with 
relays for each circuit.
Sold the one remaining nasty plastic "headlamp" and paid for most of the 
conversion parts.
Also installed Bosch fogs.

On high, that amounts to 600watts of halogen headlights.
it's bright.  Silverstar fooey, they are the sun.

Once my wife was driving this car with the highbeams on, following me 
too close. (We discussed this later)  I'd swear the back of my head got 
hot.  You could easily read a newspaper, it was so damn bright inside 
the car it hurt.  All set up right, on high you get a good quarter mile 
of bright highway in front of you.  Perfect here in deer country.
Highly recommended modification.

I also have looked into HID lights, discussed it quite a bit back in the 
day on Fred's list, planned to update the 97 Passat.  It's just not 
really practical.  It would be really nice, but just not practical.

I have silverstars in Sheila's Passat now.  Between that, and polishing 
the dust pits out of the headlamps really fixed things up a lot.  The 
lights on the Passat still suck, but not as badly, and even before, they 
were still better than a stock A2 Jetta.
-james



Gerry Wolfe wrote:
> My '91 Jetta TD (square 9004's) was having an issue with water getting into 
> the reflector and causing corrosion & greatly reduced output.  Replaced the 
> entire assembly with an aftermarket one using round 7" H4's for hi/low beam 
> and 5" H1's for driving lights.  Cost a couple of hundred if memory serves 
> me correctly (which it seems to doing less frequently of late...)  Also 
> included a pair of Bosch 150 3x5" under-the-bumper foglights with H3 bulbs. 
> Done up with 4 relays (low beam, high beam, driving lights, fog lights) and 
> 12ga wiring all the way thru.  The driving lights run thru the high beam 
> circuit with their own illuminated toggle switch - with high beams on you 
> have the options of going with/without driving lights.
> 
> The H4's on lowbeam have an excellent pattern (well-defined horizontal 
> cutoff around the middle of the trunk of the car ahead) and a rise to the 
> right to illuminate signs.  The H1s light up the road for about 1/8 mile and 
> do a really great job of concentrating the light.  Fog lights are aimed 
> really low and wide and are great for illuminating the sides of single-lane 
> roads.
> 
> I have a friend with a new Murano and HID lights, and he says that his are 
> probably not as effective.  I think this was the most cost-effective 
> solution.  No HID glare to oncoming traffic.  And if an oncoming vehicle has 
> their highs / driving / fog lights on, they dip really quickly when I give 
> them a quick reminder flash.
> 
> With all lights on, I think you would be able to see the paint blister on 
> the trunklid of the car ahead just before their gas tank explodes.  You can 
> actually feel a bunch of heat generated by these lights.  When adjusting the 
> driving lights, the rubber vibration damper actually smoked.
> 
> Just my $0.02Cdn...
> rgds, g.
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "mikitka" <mikitka at earthlink.net>
> To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 05:38
> Subject: [Vwdiesel] SilverStar headlights
> 
> 
>> Has anyone upgraded their headlights to the SilverStar's?  I have read 
>> good
>> and bad online about them. The bad mostly being that they don't last long.
>> I got a pair of the 9004ST's for $27 at Advance Auto and put them in. A
>> great improvement in my 91 Jetta. Now to see how long they last. If they
>> don't hold up for a long time then the GE NightHawks are suppose to be the
>> same but last a lot longer. The only problem with the GE's is that they 
>> are
>> not as popular and harder to find.  Oh and just my luck, I went onto Ebay
>> and found the StilverStars for around $15 shipped.  :-( I was considering
>> HID's but they are a little out of my price range right now. I found the
>> conversion kit for around $250.
>>
>> Nick
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Vwdiesel mailing list
>> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>>
>> __________ NOD32 1924 (20061215) Information __________
>>
>> This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
>> http://www.eset.com
>>
>>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>