My first question was how much better are they than the 93-94 lights since it's easy to find info about how much better they are than the 90-92s.
Aerotech wrote:Hi Jonathan,
I can't really speak about the '92-94 lights, as I have a '91 myself. Doing a good polish on your US lights helps a lot, but they tend to yellow up again in about 6 months... I tried clear-coats, that 3M film, etc., no help the lights were yellow again by the time the weather turned.
The real difference with EDM lights is the light pattern; US lights have a fuzzy, unfocused light pattern, lots of glare and light where you don't need it, and not that much where you do. Euro lights tend to have very focused beams, throwing spotlights on the road, and razor-sharp upper beam cutoff, well under oncoming driver's eyes... which allows you to run higher wattage low-beams, without pissing off everyone on the road. Not legal, don't tell 'em I told you that
The EDMs also have a unique sign illumination thing going; there's a kick-up of light coming from the right lense that shines right onto traffic signs at the right of the car, it's like having the hi-beams on to read signs.
And speaking of hi-beams... friggin' flame throwers, turns night into day.
The only wiring you have to do, is to clip off the US bulb plugs, and crimp on a set of H-4 plugs, you can get them at most auto parts stores.
H-4 bulbs are also what motorcycles use... so you have some interesting choices in higher wattage, and coloring, if you're into that...
OK, having said that, if you are going to run 100W hi-beams, you may want to consider upgrading the wiring with relays
http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/hdltrela.htm
check out that article... it's about Vanagons, but it applies to Subies too. You use the factory wiring to turn on the relays, and run heavy-gage wiring from the battery thru the relays to the lights. Easy, and you get max amperage to the lights.
If you're just gonna use regular 55/60W bulbs, don't bother.
The leveling feature on these lights is common in Europe too, because of the sharp light-beam cutoff. If you have a heavy load in the trunk, the nose points up, and the lights tend to strobe in other driver's eyes when you hit bumps and hills, so they put adjusting motors on the lenses, and a 4-position rotary switch, you can "dial down" the light beam lower than normal if the load calls for it. I don't have the switches, and there's no wiring for it in our cars, so if you wanted to use it, you'll need to make a wire harness (5 wires per light, I think) and get a rotary switch from Radio SHack... not real hard, a good weekend project.
Hope that helps. Take this as you will, as I am trying to sell you something, but I feel that the lights on my car are one of the best mods I've done, they look beautiful, and really perform, even with plain old 55/60W bulbs.. just really superior to the plastic jobs we got stuck with. Yes, they're pricy, but if you do any night driving, I guarantee you'll love them. The damn Euro conversion and overseas shipping is what jacks them up so high, I'm not making any money on them...
Jerry
