Hey guys,

quick question..

Im putting some Spotlights on my car as im heading inland a bit these days.

just wanna know if i should go rectangle or round lights? which produces a better beam?
Im going 100W obviously and im looking at some nitestalkers 170 or 180 series. These are both round but wanna know if rectanglar lights have any advantage?

Thanks!

Tim

Slightly O/T but I wouldn't bother with regular halogen bulbs.... go for a good HID kit. I imagine a good HID kit would make much more difference than the difference between a rectangular or circular light.

My old man has a set of Hella 4000s (one spread, one pencil) with a 70w HID kit from HID Lights Downunder (http://www.hid-lightsdownunder.com/service2.html). It is insane. About 1km of usable light, but it'll still light up signs and reflectors from 2km away. And of course, a massive (but even) spread as well. His testimonial is at the bottom of their testimonials page.

The difference was also quite noticeable on his old Hella 4000 Compacts. With the factory 100w bulbs, they were barely any better than his high beams. With a 55w HID kit, they were much better.

acknowledged, but $720+ is hardly comparable to $150...

My usage of these wont be enough to go for HIDs, not now anyway.

so back to the original question... round or rectangle lamps?

Oblong/rectangular give a better spread and round give a better spot which is why some people fit both. All I can add is buy a reputable brand as some of the cheapies have lens that go yellow in the western sun plus get sandblasted easily. Hella or Narva are both excellent. If you want to install larger bulbs make sure the reflector will not melt as most are now plastic. Always use a relay. You can pick up good ones secondhand on Ebay or wreckers etc.
The higher you mount them the better the beam will be plus you wont have to adjust them to vary with your load.

I have PIAA spots on myn they are 130/180 watt H4 bulb in them and are friggen awesome over 3 klm signage reflection and about 1.5klm's of that like daylight down the road and a spread up to about 200meters each side of the road