Hi All,

I do a lot of night time driving and I find that the headlights on my TF aren't bright enough. I have headlight protectors that wouldn't be helping. Has anyone changed the bulbs to brighter ones or ones with a different colour temp?

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi All,

I do a lot of night time driving and I find that the headlights on my TF aren't bright enough. I have headlight protectors that wouldn't be helping. Has anyone changed the bulbs to brighter ones or ones with a different colour temp?

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

i'm in the same boat do alot of night driving

get either the narva PLUS 50 they are preety good gives more light and more distance or for a whiter light get the artic blue light

Any upage of wattage of lights may need adjustment of the wiring and relays/fuses.

You could pick up a set of Narva spots for about $220, $120 install

I have some philips 90w/100w light bulbs. used them for 2 years now, and they still haven't blown. :D Nice and bright white. Best ones i ever bought. Wires or anything else didn't need to be upgraded

I have Opti-Blue SilverMax Platinums in my TF - 90/100W in the H4's (mains) and 100W in the H1's (spotties)

I like them, they aren't the best, but heaps cheaper than the phillips. Get them at Supercheap or Autobarn. They ARE now UV-cut, CE marked and hence, ADR approved. Kepp the box in you glovebox if the cops wanna hassle you.

Hi All,

I do a lot of night time driving and I find that the headlights on my TF aren't bright enough. I have headlight protectors that wouldn't be helping. Has anyone changed the bulbs to brighter ones or ones with a different colour temp?

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

Pull off your headlight protectors - they can reduce your light up to 15%
Make sure that your headlights are properly adjusted.
Fit decent bulbs - Philips Vision Plus in H4 is the highest output *standard wattage* h4 available.
Fit relays - you would be suprised the difference it makes.

High wattage bulbs can make the problem worse - they tarnish the surface of the reflector, and they draw a lot of current - heats up your wires, and makes the voltage drop worse (hence why a lot of overwatt bulbs appear yellowish on car without upgraded harnesses)

The standard wiring for the 3rd gens is running close to the edge as it is... Fitting relays was one of the first jobs I did to solve the crappy headlight issues.

Cheers
Heath Young

Pull off your headlight protectors - they can reduce your light up to 15%
Agreed - keep your lenses clean too. Gotta keep getting rid of the bugs!


High wattage bulbs can make the problem worse - they tarnish the surface of the reflector, and they draw a lot of current - heats up your wires, and makes the voltage drop worse (hence why a lot of overwatt bulbs appear yellowish on car without upgraded harnesses)
I agree in part, but I still think the higher rated bulbs are worthwhile even with these problems.


Fit relays - you would be suprised the difference it makes.
That one is on my to do list. Going to get my auto-electrician to do it properly, while I can do it, if something goes wrong, I have some chance of restitution.

For standard headlights I have the Narva "All Weather" bulbs - these aren't all that bright and are yellowish. I have these as in fog and heavy or misting rain, white lights are very dazzling and do bugger all to assist. Yes In winter I drive through a lot of fog.
I also have yellow fog lamps mounted low - I can't drive with these at night as they are quite dazzling, even when pointed down to the ground - the purpose of these is not to help me see, but for others to see me ... in the fog.

For my high beams I have Narva Artic Blue - these do throw out an incredible ammount of light, although I must say they are very dazzling for on-coming drivers, so have to be careful to turn them down quickly. Driving on back country roads regularly, I appreciate the extra throw of these.

Hope that helps.

I do plan to add spots at some stage too. Just got to find a good way to mount them without looking like an urbo! Uni bar doesn't fit my front bar. Maybe it's time to upgrade to a TH bar :)

OK - here is some food for thought... Overwatt bulbs and voltage outputs...

Shown on the graphs...

90/100W CEC H4
100/130W Narva H4
90/100W H4 Narva
90/100W H4 Philips

Kinda blows the 130W into the weeds :)

Narva 90/100W just beats 90/100W Philips

Best results are obviously gained with an overwatt Narva bulb and relays.

All tests were done with a high current regulated voltage powersupply, and a luxmeter.

Cheers
Heath Young

Spot on heathyoung.

Advise against upgrading the wattage without relays. Burnt out the wiring in my KS by doing that. Wont happen straight away but will over time.

Personally, if you dont want to put in relays then go the Narva plus 50's. Make a big difference and dont draw any more current.

Did this years ago on a Capri 2.8i.
Changed the standard H4's to 100W specials that fell out the Thorn Uk factory into my pockets.

Changed to 4 mm2 and fitted a relay behind each headlamp, in those days I used a pair of MK III Cortina relays. then 6 mm wire back to the battery.

First check was one side wired up to standard bulbs. Relay side much brighter.
Second check was to replace the straight side with a 100 W bulb, only seemed to be a little brighter than the 55w "relay" side.
The fitted 100W to the "relay side" much brighter again.

I would expect a similar improvement with relays and the high efficiency Philips bulbs.

Don't run wiring across the front of the car!! Why if you have a smash and have a direct battery circuit then there will be big problems.
Best way is a loop back from the battery, across the firewall and forward on the opposite side to the battery.

Is fitting a relay expensive? Is it complex? I was thinking about this thread as i drove through the heavy ass rain tonight... THe headlights were pretty crappty and i found it hard to see outside

Here - read this

(Relays) http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

(Aiming) http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

(Cruddy Blue Bulbs) http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/bad/bad.html

Think I might start making up relay harness kits if there is enough interest.

Spud100 Said...

>Don't run wiring across the front of the car!! Why if you have a smash and have a direct >battery circuit then there will be big problems.
>Best way is a loop back from the battery, across the firewall and forward on the opposite >side to the battery.

This isn't a problem if you do the work properly - it *must* be fused, right at (or as close as possible to) the battery terminal, just like a car amplifier.

Cheers
Heath Young

JUST ONE NOTE AND THAT IS TO NOT UP THE WATTAGE AS THIS CAN MAKE YOUR REFLECTORS HOT AND THEY MAY FLAKE :shock: .SUGGEST EITHER SPOTTIES OR NARVA 50 PLUS :P

STOP YELLING!

Or buy a new keyboard - your caps lock key appears to be broken.

Cheers
Heath Young

I got some Phillips Vision plus 60/55 cost $30.00 the pair from Bursons for my TJ and they made a big difference.

I got some Phillips Vision plus 60/55 cost $30.00 the pair from Bursons for my TJ and they made a big difference.

Vision Plus H4's have been independently tested at 45-50% increase over a standard 60/55 H4 bulb - best H4 bulb for money, hands down.

Cheers
Heath Young