austinado16

Like most of you, I've had it with my stock DOT headlights. I've been putting off stepping up and buying a nice set of euro lights but now that winter has set in and I'm driving more and more at night and in the rain, etc. my motivation for better lighting has increased.

A month ago I put in some of the blue 5200K 80w/100w bulbs. Made a nice difference, but still really poor lighting.

Tonight I removed the driver's side light and took the metal shroud out of it. What a huge difference!!!!!! I've got a real working headlight now. I'll be doing the passenger side tomorrow.

Anyone else tried this before?

CGTBrad

With those 80/100s' you are very very likely to fry your wiring and or switch... You need to build a relay system...

YumyJager

ditto.The problem is with the lenses and reflectors, not wattage. No replacement for Euro lamps!

StormChaser404

The stock DOT light use pathetic 9004 bulbs. No bulb is going to fix the bad lighting of the DOT lights and those ricer PIAA and blue bulbs produce LESS light than a standard $5 clear bulb. It's just the design of the reflector and there's nothing you can do to fix it (other than converting to E-Code or European headlights). The stock DOT lights scatter the beam terribly, throwing a lot of it into the trees and eyes of oncoming drivers rather than onto the road. You can make some improvemnt by modding your stock light to allow you to use a 9007 hulb. You have to reverse the wiring for the high & low + power and modify the headlight housing by breaking or filing down one of the little nubs. Then a 9007 bulb will fit and work properly. It provides a better low beam pattern while the high stays the same. My recomendation? Get some Euros. Or at least mod your lights to accept 9007 bulbs and RELAY them. You know that for every 10% drop in voltage you loose 30% of the light output, right? Well, test the voltage drop at you headlight connectors, you will see that they are only getting around 11.5 volts (the stock Audi headlight wiring is thin and LONG, a bad combo when it comes to maintaining voltage). That means you are loosing almost 45% of the light output. So if your bulbs are "rated" to put out 1,200 lumens of light (which is actually pretty high for a 9004 bulb most are closer to 1000), without relays they will only put out 660 lumens. That's a HUGE differnce! Now for REAL headlights, get youself a set of E-code (European) headlights. There are two kinds, one came on the Audi 80 (low level 4000) and another on the 90 (high end 4000). The 80 lights are H4s and the 90's are H4+H1. The 90's are far more expensive but when you hit the highbeam you get the highbeam filiment from the H4 PLUS an H1 bulb, which really turns night into day. The 80 lights are H4 only and are about 1/2 the price of the 90's. They still provide VASTLY better light than the stock DOT lights. Well, what I meant as a short note of encouragement has become a novel, sorry about that. Good luck with you project, I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

austinado16

I know I NEED a set of euros, but the prices they go for are brutal. I know you're right about the voltage and the lovely thin wiring too. I'm getting 13.9 volts at the battery at idle and 12.9 volts testing between the "high beam" power lead and the ground lead on the headlight plug itself. Again, that was at idle. So, not too bad there, although it's amps that matter in this case and that's certainly where the stock thin wires suffer.

I just figured since I'm so sick of the DOT lights and want to replace them, it won't hurt to do some experimentation. I'll see if I can get some good digital photos tonight. One of the modified light with the ricer bulb, and one of the unmodded light with a stock 9004 bulb.

Believe me, I'm the last guy in the world who would be looking for a set of blue "Ricer" bulbs. I got these with some other items off ebay and they were $5, so they're a cheap test. I gotta tell you, they made a difference over the new 9004's that I had in. The white light they throw is a definate improvement.

Regarding pulling the bulb shrouds out of the DOT's, it makes a huge difference. The light pattern isn't scattered anymore and is more focused out front. I can really tell the difference because I haven't done the passenger side yet. I went out last night and beamed them against the side of building to compare the two.

Look inside a DOT light and look at how much of the bulb is shielded from ever reaching the reflector. There's a lot of shrouding there when you think about how light needs to hit that reflector, turn 90 degrees and then hit the lens. Sure the lenses may not be the greatest, but if you're keeping the light from ever reaching them, that's a big deal too.

A couple questions. Why are the 9007's better for the same wattage? Different gas inside? Do they have a different "reach" so their focal point is better on the reflector?

Regarding Euro light installations. What will I need in addition to the lights that are typically sold on ebay? I can build a wiring harness no problem, but are there special brackets or anything or do the euros bolt right up.

1984cgtturbo

The only "fix" I've seen short of adding Euros is to relay the stock lamps, and it is a marginal fix at best.

It does help with reducing the voltage drop to the lights, being wired through small gauge wire through the headlight switch and such. Again marginal at best, but it does get you ready to drop in some Euros later on.

My $0.02,
J.

CGTBrad

The only exception is the h1/h4 type which may or may not require a bracket to be bought or fashioned (it's not very complex)

StormChaser404

9007s are a newer desgn. The filiment is in a better position for DOT reflectors, which is why the make better beam.

Actually, I hate to correct you, but amerage had nothing to do with it. The thin wire causes volatage to drop and since the wattage remains the same, amerage actually INCREASES. But your lights are rated at a given voltage and drop off with lower voltage. You are loosing about 1 volt. Well as I said, a 10% drop in voltage causes a 30% drop in light output, that's about a 7% drop in voltage in your case , which is a 21% drop in liumens (or light output). So, you can gant 21% more light by doing nothing more than relaying the lights. Think about it...

Max'sCoupeGT

...I can still make a couple of those aluminum ones if you'd like. They work very well. You'll have to drill your own holes in them, though, because it may be slightly different from car to car and how they flush up with the grille.

Max'sCoupeGT

YGM