Just won some edm headlights

[TDGKORN]

I'm not getting them anymore.

This should make everyone happy.

[THAWA]

those are still rhd though :\

[TDGKORN]

I had rhd lights on my civic and didn't have any
problems. And I don't really care as long as they have the glass lens' and city lghts.

No need to be jealouse j/k

Troy

[LegacyT]

EDM is left hand drive like here in north america. Only place in europe with RHD is the UK.

Mark,

[TDGKORN]

They are coming from the UK

[LegacyT]

Well then.... RHD is it

Mark,

[vrg3]

Grrr.

PLEASE don't drive on public roads with RHD headlights. Glass lenses and city lights aren't an advantage over plastic lenses and parking lights if you're stuck choosing between being blind and blinding others.

[TDGKORN]

I had no problems with this on my rhd civic lights, I adjusted them enough not to blind other drivers.
Give me alittle credit, if it's to the point of blinding other drivers i'll just switch over the lenses:) Besides I live in Wyoming and there isn't that much traffic anyways. j/k

vrg3
did you by chance scan the transmission fsm for me, if not no big deal the haynes manual is pretty good at describing the process.

[vrg3]

I'm not giving you too little credit; you're not understanding the point.

It is impossible to "adjust" them in such a way that they illuminate anything useful without blinding oncoming traffic. If you're actually not blinding people, then you can't see.

The funny part is that your stock 92 lights were pretty good lights!

I didn't scan the transmission FSM. I'm in the process of moving and couldn't find the box I stashed the FSMs in. Sorry.

[TDGKORN]

Impossible is such a strong term, you forget we are turbo legacy owners.
Everything we do to our cars is a re-engineering of existing or non-related parts. I believe you, I just want to give it a try. Maybe there is a way to have glass lenses and not blind everyone.

No problem about the fsm, I know how much of a pain it is to move.

[vrg3]

What you are claiming you will try to do impossible. The strong term is deserved in this case. You cannot engineer a headlamp in your garage.

What do you think you're going to "try?"

Do you understand how headlamps work?

The way to have glass lenses and not blind everyone is to get headlamps from an LHD European country.

[TDGKORN]

What would you have me do, smash my new headlight's with hammer.

Sorry not going to happen.

I don't even know if they are from a rhd or a lhd, they are comming from the U.K. but may have been pulled from a lhd car.

I don't know what I'm going to "try", and I may not know the entire complexity of headlights.
I do know I will sure as hell do everything in my ability to make them work for me.
Can it be done? I have no idea, I don't even have them in my hot little hands yet, so it is a moot point right now.

I'm not tring to argue with you about it. I just want better lighting for my car. Is that so wrong.

[vrg3]

What would you have me do, smash my new headlight's with hammer.

Sorry not going to happen.

I didn't say anything about destroying these lamps. All I'm asking is that you not use RHD headlamps on a car driven on North American roads.

I don't even know if they are from a rhd or a lhd, they are comming from the U.K. but may have been pulled from a lhd car.

Okay... Typically people don't import cars into the UK just to dismantle them, but if that's what happened in this case, hooray.

I don't know what I'm going to "try", and I may not know the entire complexity of headlights.
I do know I will sure as hell do everything in my ability to make them work for me.
Can it be done?

No. It cannot. That's what I (someone who does understand some of the complexity of headlights) am telling you. If you need an explanation, do a little searching about the subject on this BBS and you'll find other posts where I've explained some of it.

I have no idea, I don't even have them in my hot little hands yet, so it is a moot point right now.

It's not a moot point. This is about planning. It would be moot if somehow the lamps got lost in the mail or something.

I'm not tring to argue with you about it. I just want better lighting for my car. Is that so wrong.

No. Better lighting would be fantastic. My point is that these lights are not better! They are worse than your stock lights!

If you want better lighting while retaining a stock look, get rid of all the yellowing on your headlamps' lenses (if there is any). Then get a pair of high-performance bulbs (Sylvania Xtravisions are easy to find). Then wire in a heavy-gauge wiring harness. Then aim the lights correctly. You'll have some of the best lights in the country.

[evolutionmovement]

The fluting on the lenses is different and that can't be changed as the lights aren't symetrical.

Steve

[scottzg]

poor vrg. All set to be more quiet on the board and then someone mentions rhd headlights.

I've seen this before, I'll save vrg the time:

lhd headlights are patterned to shine down on the side of oncomming traffic and up at signs on the side of the road. RHD do the same thing, but on a lhd car, they shine up at the drivers and don't illuminate the side of the road. this is impossible to fix; the fluting on the lens and the shape of the reflector cannot be changed, and mere mortals such as ourselves wouldn't know how to change them if we did. Sure, you can aim your rhd headlights to be kinda crosseyed, thus only sort of blinding people and sort of lighting the side of the road, but you're sending the majority of your light in the wrong place. 92-94 legacies have a beam pattern that qualifies for euro specs and us specs, so your pattern is already one of the best on the road. Simply put, you could use these lights, but there is no way to make them as good as your existing lights and no way (although you're closer to the impossibility) of making them as good as most american car lights. They'll look damn good though, and thats what rice is all about.

[eastbaysubaru]

No shit. Is there a write up about making a beefier wiring harness? I've got all the necessary things to do my headlights now but I'd also like to upgrade the wiring. Does it just consist of getting thicker gauge wire and replacing all of the factory stuff? Maybe this should be another thread.

-Brian

[vrg3]

Scott - Yeah, life's never that easy...

Brian - The best way to go is to leave all the stock wiring in place. Instead, just take the wires that used to power the bulb filaments and instead use them to power the coils of relays, and have the relays switch fused heavy-gauge wire coming from the alternator or battery to the bulbs. Daniel Stern has a good writeup on his web page: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... elays.html

[eastbaysubaru]

What's funny is that right after I posted that, I was searching for more info and found this thread:

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... 5365#65365

I even updated the link that was originally posted in that thread

-Brian

[totech]

poor vrg. All set to be more quiet on the board and then someone mentions rhd headlights.

I've seen this before, I'll save vrg the time:

lhd headlights are patterned to shine down on the side of oncomming traffic and up at signs on the side of the road. RHD do the same thing, but on a lhd car, they shine up at the drivers and don't illuminate the side of the road. this is impossible to fix; the fluting on the lens and the shape of the reflector cannot be changed, and mere mortals such as ourselves wouldn't know how to change them if we did. Sure, you can aim your rhd headlights to be kinda crosseyed, thus only sort of blinding people and sort of lighting the side of the road, but you're sending the majority of your light in the wrong place. 92-94 legacies have a beam pattern that qualifies for euro specs and us specs, so your pattern is already one of the best on the road. Simply put, you could use these lights, but there is no way to make them as good as your existing lights and no way (although you're closer to the impossibility) of making them as good as most american car lights. They'll look damn good though, and thats what rice is all about.

Hmm...

I have a set of 91 JDM Headlights that I use in my 91 Leg here in NA.

We discussed this before - light shines in the wrong direction \___ vs ___/

All I did was cover over the \ part so all I have is the _____ which is 600 times better than the factory --

This is done all the time on UK cars when they drive on the continent. It is not new, and not the end of the world.

Now, If Subaru had the forsight to equip the NA 90-91's with better headlights this would be a "moot" point.

My headlights are aimed properly, do not blind anyone, and I think are safer than all the idiots in the BMW's with their blinding lights.

SO.. IT IS POSSIBLE.......

Perhaps it is time to get a 92-94 to get the better lights, but I prefer the 91 look

[vrg3]

Uh, totech, your lights don't allow you to see well at night. It's kind of subjective whether or not they're better than the shoddy 90-91 lights, but in no way are they better than 92-94 lights.

You understand, right, that the beam pattern is a compromise? The nearside has very limited seeing distance to avoid blinding oncoming traffic, while the offside has actual usable seeing distance. Your headlights have the same very limited seeing distance on both sides. It's used in the UK and in France only as a temporary measure as there is no other good choice.

You guys know that I don't typically dismiss harebrained ideas even if they seem far-fetched. I considered trying to put bearings in my rear strut mounts to encourage passive four-wheel steering. I once mentioned the possibility of overclocking an ECU to increase rev limits. THAWA and I briefly discussed making an RRFPR with pipes and ball bearings in another thread.

Getting good lighting on LHD roads with RHD lights is impossible.

[THAWA]

Getting good lighting on LHD roads with RHD lights is impossible.

unless they're symtrical, ala svx. But then it's not really a RHD light. it's a LHD/RHD combo

[totech]

Uh, totech, your lights don't allow you to see well at night. It's kind of subjective whether or not they're better than the shoddy 90-91 lights, but in no way are they better than 92-94 lights.

You understand, right, that the beam pattern is a compromise? The nearside has very limited seeing distance to avoid blinding oncoming traffic, while the offside has actual usable seeing distance. Your headlights have the same very limited seeing distance on both sides. It's used in the UK and in France only as a temporary measure as there is no other good choice.

You guys know that I don't typically dismiss harebrained ideas even if they seem far-fetched. I considered trying to put bearings in my rear strut mounts to encourage passive four-wheel steering. I once mentioned the possibility of overclocking an ECU to increase rev limits. THAWA and I briefly discussed making an RRFPR with pipes and ball bearings in another thread.

Getting good lighting on LHD roads with RHD lights is impossible.

Please before you jump to conclusions, compare the options provided above.

I agree you are usually one to delve deep into any prospective challenge, and usually see all the available options, But I am discussing 90-91 Lights.

90-91 Lights offer one splotch of light per side. They are a crappy design, further affected by the yellowing plastic.

Up here in sunny Canada, we have a lot of dark in the winter, take a set of 91 lights, cleaned and properly aligned, and you have two dim blotches in the road ahead - make the road wet, and the only way you can tell the lights are on is if you come up behind another car, where the lights reflect off a bumper.

Add a slight cover of dirt and you are driving blind.

The JDM, with lens cover allows a flat wide path of light, similar to a lot of new cars, no cutoff is visable, and all the oncoming drivers see is what would be on a EDM headlight anyway.

The light difference is 600% better - I am not kidding here. 600% easily.

If you wish, I can remove one of the JDM's and re-install the factory one later this year, and then you can see the difference.

I am sure when you start driving the 91, you will agree that the 91 headlights pale in comparison to the 92-94, most people elect to install aftermarket lights to get SOME light out front.

As a related topic, My 03 Legacy, throws a lot of light, but once again has the two blotches of light, rather than the EDM cutoff.

This will be a "moot" point soon, as I have just purchased a 93, as per your recommendations.

[LaureltheQueen]

my 92 has such a great difference... If i can get someone to drive my 91 out to a flat spot, and a wall, i'll photograph the difference sometime.

[totech]

my 92 has such a great difference... If i can get someone to drive my 91 out to a flat spot, and a wall, i'll photograph the difference sometime.

Glad to hear!!

[vrg3]

totech, I'm sorry if I seemed to be jumping to any conclusions.

I did say that it's a subjective toss-up between your blocked-off JDM lights and your stock 90-91 lights. And I agree with everything you say about how bad the 90-91 North American beam pattern is, about the utility of a wide beam pattern, and about the blocked-off JDM lights being unoffensive to oncoming traffic.

It's true, though, that neither option (stock North American 90-91 lights or blocked-off JDM 90-91 lights) is truly good. Your seeing distance is very limited, whether you perceive it or not.

Your 03 Legacy does indeed have ridiculously bad lights... around 1998 is when Subaru cheaped out on lighting.

The rest of the thread up until this point has been about a 92-94 car, though. And the stock North American 92-94 beam pattern is good.