Headlight upgrade worth it?

[johnhuebbe]

Hi all. New to the forum.

I just recently bought a Subaru Legacy rally car. (has a motor swap with a 1996 JDM WRX turbo motor, has PerfectPower6 ECU and was tuned by RalliTek) My brother and I will be fixing it up over the next few months. My friend currently has a 1991. When i've been in his car at night, I've noticed that the stock headlights are bad. He's cleaned the housings and they look clear, but the light output is very low. I have searched the forum and it seems like this is typical for the car???

For my car I would like to have better light output. From my quick searches, it seems like the best solution is to buy some EDM Glass headlights, from this post http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... &start=125

Is the upgrade worth it? Seems like the price is around $200 ~$250.
Are there other solutions that I should be considering?

-John

[ACVWguy]

I'm very interested in this as well. The next option for me is to go full projector retrofit. And there are quite a few road blocks with that approach. I'd prefer to stick with OEM.

[SILINC3R]

Yes they are far superior than the plastic and also use H4 bulb versus the 9000 series.

[SILINC3R]

Projector really isn't worth it. You can get it to work and it might be bright but they are designed to work with that lense

[rallyak]

Or what I've done is LED headlights 2400 lumens low beams 3600 lumens high beams and there is no extra wiring that needs to be installed.

[rallyak]

Also the beam pattern is good and never been brighted, and a huge difference over regular bulbs.

[ACVWguy]

I've seen those kits but I'm worried about the longevity of them as well as the beam pattern. I don't want crazy scatter like those plug-n-play hid kits.

Have any pictures of the output of the led conversion?

[mike-tracy]

I really liked my edm lights. Night and day differencr, no pun intended

[ride_child]

haha

[wtdash]

Or what I've done is LED headlights 2400 lumens low beams 3600 lumens high beams and there is no extra wiring that needs to be installed.

Please enlighten me (pun intended) on this....No wiring, but one LED bulb that does both lumens AND is stock compatico?

Thanks
Totally-inthe-Dark

[10wrxing]

Or what I've done is LED headlights 2400 lumens low beams 3600 lumens high beams and there is no extra wiring that needs to be installed.

Do you have a link at all?

[wtdash]

Also, I installed the http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... elays.html kit. Brighter bulbs help a lot, but there is an inverse relationship on longevity. Got 3 months! out of my brighter bulbs....taught me to stop driving w/them on all the time....

[jefferson]

All I have to say is that one edm light put out more light than both of the stock lights. Well worth it.

[rallyak]

The bulbs that I buy are local from a guy out of his house but so far they are awesome. Here's some pics if the kit.


These have canbus built in for the newer cars and you just plug them in. You need to move a few wires around because Subaru has a common positive instead a common negative.

Regarding HID most people get the wrong ones mainly for 90-91's. Most kits have the telescoping bulbs which scatters the beam everywhere and blind oncoming traffic,Those are not the ones for preface. You need the ones that actuate up and down the same as the bulb does and you have a good pattern and great light output and you don't blind every one. Here is a pic of one,

I run HID and LED headlights in all my cars and I like the LED ones better. They don't need to warm up they come on instantly when lights are turned on. Not sure on the longevity but if they last just as long as my HID's I will be happy.

[ACVWguy]

Hey rallyak,

When you get the chance, could you snap some pics of the output of the led bulbs? Like the highs and lows against the wall of a building?

I'd be really interested in these if the beam pattern is like stock.

[rallyak]

Sure when I get off I can do that.

[cj91legss]

interested as well.

[rallyak]

I didn't forget you guys, I'm working a 72 and get off late Saturday night. But I do have pics of proper HID bulb pattern on a door and a street view.

[rallyak]

I took some pics and I figured I compared apples to apples. I've been running LED's in my truck and there awesome but in preface housings not so good.


The one on the left is HID and right LED. Sorry guys I will not be putting these LED's in my car, it scatters the beam too much. I will stick with the actuating (up and down) HID's. Here's some pics of them
Low beams


High beams

[Legacy777]

I'll chime in as well; for the pre-face Legacies the EDM lights are definitely worth the money and have a much better beam pattern.

You can see some pictures of the EDM beam pattern in these pictures. I didn't really take the best pre-swap pictures of the USDM beam pattern, but you should be able to see the difference.

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... edmproject

[PhyrraM]

I will also vouch for the EDM lights. Well worth the $300 or so it cost to get them. Add another $50 or so for good, proper bulbs.

EDM lights with good, proper, FILAMENT based bulbs are the best I have personally seen. I think I chose Sylvania XtraVision bulbs (supposedly the same as Silverstars but without the blue coating). They have a really sharp cut-off so the road is lit and very little light strays up into oncoming traffic. They compare VERY favorably to my Land Rover with OEM HID projectors, considering the Land Rover is 15 years newer.

From my experience, ANY light/housing that is not using it's proper bulb style (including all bulb-only retrofits) give off too much stray light/glare.

[PhyrraM]

This is from Josh's gallery, but it shows the basics of what you are looking for in low beam mode. Look for a nice, sharp-as-possible, horizontal cut off. Any light "above" that horizontal line is shining directly in oncoming drivers eyes. The slight rise on the right side is for illuminating road signs. (That is why JDM lights are selfish and wrong-- they rise to the left and blind drivers).



High beam mode is usually not a problem as all lights are designed to throw as much light as possible down the road - as seen in Rallyaks pics.

[oldscoobyturbo]

I have proper hids in my 90 jdm legacy rs
I simply aimed them lower to avoid the high left cutoff
I also don't drive it much after dark

[ACVWguy]

I took the plunge. Wallet feels lighter but I feel its worth it. EDM lights on the way, courtesy of legacy4ever!