Euro legacy headlight bulb question

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MConte05
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Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by MConte05 »

Does the Euro glass legacy headlight use a 9004 bulb like the usdm legacy?
mike-tracy
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by mike-tracy »

Pre or post? Iirc my pre glass head lights used different bulbs from the stockers.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
MConte05
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by MConte05 »

Ideally pre.

I do lighting design (led bulbs and such) for my company, and I know the 9004s are plain awful in design. Everyone raves about the upgrade for the Euro lights, so I'm curious what bulb goes into it. Lots of people falsely think that plastic vs glass is why it is much better.
MConte05
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by MConte05 »

Figured it out. H4 bulbs are what is used in the euro lights. Huge improvement over 9004.
mike-tracy
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by mike-tracy »

Yeah that sounds right. The beam pattern is also different, significantly better. I also noticed this on my old toyota pickup that i converted from sealed beams to Hella E-code lenses - light output was better for sure, but the european lights illuminated the road further, and highlighted road signs without blinding oncoming traffic.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
MConte05
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by MConte05 »

Plus the other benefit is that H4 is one of the LED bulbs I'll be developing. ;)
mike-tracy
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by mike-tracy »

Ooo i might be interested. Have been curious about LED headlights ever since i saw how bright rally car's light bars are.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
MConte05
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by MConte05 »

Word of caution, wait until I announce some stuff. Literally all the LED headlights on the market right now are crap. Only a very select few from some obscure suppliers are actually good. I am taking the best elements of all the "right" bulbs, and working on a new one. We are hoping to launch within a few months.

Dual filament bulbs will come a few months after that, right now only single filaments, H7, H9, H11, 9005, 9006, etc.
mike-tracy
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by mike-tracy »

Ok sounds good to me.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
PhyrraM
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by PhyrraM »

I'd be curious to see what you come up with. Replicating a 360 degree radiating filament with (tiny?) LEDs that can support any sort of reasonable current (or heat) seems a tall order.

Good luck.
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MConte05
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by MConte05 »

PhyrraM wrote:I'd be curious to see what you come up with. Replicating a 360 degree radiating filament with (tiny?) LEDs that can support any sort of reasonable current (or heat) seems a tall order.

Good luck.
360* isn't needed, common misconception. Can't give away too much, but without a doubt the 360* isn't needed. The thermal considerations is the toughest part. We've gotten it to work reliably and solidly for single filament. We've been able to put an LED bulb into a halogen headlight, get 3 times the lighting power over halogen in the hotspot where it actually matters for driving (a huge shortfall of 95% of the bulbs on the market) while producing zero extra glare, in some cases actually reducing the glare while maintaining the beam pattern.

Soon. 8)
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by jefferson »

I have 4 h4 headlights that I would love to put an led bulb in, but I have heard too many bad things about the patterns. If you come up with a good one I will have to check it out.
You also are probably the person to answer this question that I have about led's. With incandescent bulbs you always heard that they were inefficient because so much of the energy was wasted making heat instead of light. An led bulb is so efficient yet there is still the heat problem. A 7w bulb replaces a 60w bulb and 7w isn't very much energy yet there is a huge heatsink on the things. What gives?
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Legacy777
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Re: Euro legacy headlight bulb question

Post by Legacy777 »

Yup, I'll confirm the pre-face lift Euro lights do use the H4 bulb. I've been running the Osram H4's and have rewired the wiring with separate relays to the battery for power. The light output is much better with both of those mods! The light output is even better than the 97 Impreza. I'm not sure if that is due to the rewired relays or just beam pattern.

I would agree, the majority of the issues with the LED bulbs (including non-headlight bulbs) are the beam pattern and the fact the hot spot doesn't match up with the original reflector design. We'll be patiently waiting to see what you come up with. :) I'd be game to trying a set out between the Legacy and/or the Impreza.
Josh

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