Headlights Are Horrible

[kimokalihi]

90 Subaru Legacy

 

When I got this car I noticed how dim the headlights were. Then I went out and got sylvania silverstar because the guy at the store told me they were the brightest legal bulbs on the market. He's full of crap. These bulbs are harsher on the eyes of the oncoming traffic but do not improve your vision. In fact I think they are worse than the stock bulbs were.

 

The silverstars are white and they don't light things up very visibly or thoroughly like yellow ones seem to do very well. Does anyone know any bulbs that will light the road up a lot better than silverstars?

 

If you drive in a newer stock vehicle like a dodge ram/caravan/neon or a vw jetta or basically any of the newer(96+?)vehicles they have excellent stock headlights that blow mine away! I only named these because those are the vehicles my family and friends own.

 

Are the early gen legacy headlights just crap and it won't matter what bulb I throw in it? I don't think there are any after market headlights for this car...in fact very little aftermarket at all for this car.

 

I moved my blinkers up to the corner lights yesterday and today I installed driving lights where the blinkers used to be. Took a small bit of cutting but I got them in there pretty nicely and they have improved my poor visibility but not as much as I would like.

 

Forgot to mention that I have sanded, acetoned and clear-coated my headlights already and this didn't help much, if at all. It looks much nicer now that they're not yellow but it didn't really let anymore light through.

 

Does anyone know how I can wire my driving lights to my high beams? To the relay so they aren't wired together directly. I've never messed with a relay before.

 

 

The two blank looking spots in my grill are holes where the driving lights used to be but I couldn't get them to stay aimed right when they were in the grill.

[jamal]

Sylvania xtravisions are the best readily avalable bulbs you can get in a parts store or something. The key is that they are not tinted. Any tint is going to reduce light output, and a bluish tint will increase glare, especially in snow/rain/fog. Daniel Stern explains it well on his site and there was also a recent thread here about lighting that went over it.

 

Here are some things you can do to improve lighting:

 

1. Make sure everything is aimed properly

2. Buy good bulbs and make sure the lenses are clear

3. Upgrade the wiring to the lights, so they are wired directly from the battery with relays and short, heavier gauge wire. This reduces the voltage drop and makes them brighter.

4. Get a set of auxiliary driving lights.

 

The output and beam pattern are determined by the reflector housing, and unfortunately the pre-facelift lights are not that great.

 

There is one level of bulb better than the Xtravision. These are the Osram Silverstar, Narva rangepower +50, and a few others. They are not tinted and have the highest legal output. Check out danielsternlighting.com for more info/ordering.

 

I currently have xtravisions with the stock wiring and they're pretty good. I'll probably upgrade the harness and run rangepower +50s fairly soon. My lenses are moderately clear and I have everything aimed properly.

 

I also have a set of FF1000 driving lights mounted above the bumper which are incredibly bright. I'm not in a big hurry to do much more but I would eventually like to upgrade the harness, get european glass headlights and put 100w bulbs in the hellas. Maybe some cornering lights too.

[brus brother]

This might not be the right forum for this issue but since the issue of headlight power and glare is on the table I'd thought I'd add the following: after many years of puzzling how to eliminate glare from headlights, I Googled polarized headlights and was surprised to find that in the 1920s Edwin Land (think Polaroid Land camera) had proposed the solution by polarizing headlights and windshields or glasses that would solve the problem. http://www.polarization.com/land/land.html

Finally dismissed in the 1940s, 2 lane highways and low/high beams were deemed adequate solutions, and the rest is history.

Likely I am not alone when it comes to that uneasy moment of looking to the side of the road to avoid the glare.

The expression "it goes without saying" only holds if no one says anything.

There oughta be a law... OK, Rant over... ban me to OFF TOPIC.

[Manarius]

Jamal basically summed up all you can do about pre-facelift headlights. Perhaps one might also want to invest in some Hella 500's?

[1 Lucky Texan]

Jamal's number 2. might be something to consider. Meguiar's (or other) plastic polish might clear up older, pitted and yellowed lenses.

 

Also, you might consider an eye exam - just in case something is changing in your vision. Just as a precaution.

 

Carl

[OB99W]

[...]Likely I am not alone when it comes to that uneasy moment of looking to the side of the road to avoid the glare.

I live in a semi-rural area. In order to (hopefully!) avoid hitting deer, I and many others around here often use high-beams at night. Most of us go back to lows when approaching another car, but I certainly have had the need to divert my vision to the roadside at times.

 

 

[...]Also, you might consider an eye exam - just in case something is changing in your vision. Just as a precaution.

Not a bad idea; night vision issues can sometimes be the result of something as simple as a vitamin-A deficiency.

[pldawg]

I am with you kimokalihi, the headlights on that vintage suck...there is no getting around it. I have a 91 and a 00 and it is a heads and tails difference. I am looking into street legal driving lights to mount up, someone mentioned the FF1000, are those legal to have on all the time?

[91LegLS]

How did you relocate the blinkers from below the bumper to the corner lenses next to the headlights? I found some JDM glass halogen driving light lenses that install down there but the blinker sockets won't install in the corner lenses.

[Richard1296]

It's not that Subaru's headlights from the 90's are a Subaru problem.

I also have a 90 F150 and an 89 Mustang. They use the same bulb

as my 90 Legacy uses. And their lights are all about the same.

The biggest improvment to older headlights is clear lense's. My

90 Legacy had cloudy lense's and a thorough cleaning with a

plastic lense cleaner made by 3M made a major improvment.

Cleaning the inside with mild soap and water will help some.

I added the Xtravision lamps to the 90 Legacy and they made a

small but noticable improvment.

You're not going to get older lamp design's to produce the

quality and quantity of light of the newer design's.

Even the slightest amount of clouding or haze in the

plastic lense will seriously affect light output.

 

Richard

[jamal]

I am looking into street legal driving lights to mount up, someone mentioned the FF1000, are those legal to have on all the time?

 

Absolutely not. They are significantly brigher than high beams and you would blind everyone around you. They need to be wired so they only come on with high beams, which isn't difficult. I have a switch on my dash, and when it's on, all my bright lights come on. Off, the Hellas don't. The relay is switched to both the dash switch and the high beam wire, so they both have to be on for the Hellas to come on.

 

As far as FF1000s go, if you want aftermarket driving lights there is nothing better in the price range. They are $100 shipped from rallylights.com, and you need to spend twice that for something brighter. Plus if you want you can replace the 55w bulbs for 100w (although it voids the warranty).

[nipper]

I put FF200's on my car, and it made all the difference. As long as they are aimed properly, they dont annoy oncoming traffic, but you have to kil them to pass anyone, as they throw alot of light to the sides as well as forward.

I am SO glad I had them on my trip, otherwise i never would have seen the deer/moose/bears on the side of the road.

 

nipper

[kimokalihi]

How did you relocate the blinkers from below the bumper to the corner lenses next to the headlights? I found some JDM glass halogen driving light lenses that install down there but the blinker sockets won't install in the corner lenses.

 

Well, I cut the connectors off both the blinkers and the corner lights and rewires the corner light connector onto the blinker wires. After I lenthened them, of course.

 

BEWARE! This will cause the blinkers to flash twice as fast! I haven't been able to solve this problem and I think it's because the circuit for the corner lights is now open. I don't know how to fix this because it's no longer being used. Others have told me that it's because I soldered the wires together and this caused more resistance but I am leaning towards the open circuit theory.

 

I cut the bumper a little and had to cut the mounting piece off the driving lights but after that they pretty much fit right in. Then I had to drill a new hole in them and in the bumper to mount them. They work pretty good for 10 dollar harbor freight lights HAHAHA! Maybe I'll get some better ones when I can afford them.

[Manarius]

So, are you saying that you now don't have parking lights when you turn your lights on (as in, when your turn your headlights on, those are the only lights to come on)? If so, that's rather illegal in most states. Parking/Corner lights are required.

[jamal]

I put FF200's on my car, and it made all the difference. As long as they are aimed properly, they dont annoy oncoming traffic, but you have to kil them to pass anyone, as they throw alot of light to the sides as well as forward.

I am SO glad I had them on my trip, otherwise i never would have seen the deer/moose/bears on the side of the road.

 

nipper

 

Do you have fogs or driving lights?

 

A properly aimed driving light will definitely annoy/blind oncoming traffic and people in front of you. A driving beam supplements high beams by being brighter and shining farther down the road.

 

To aim a driving light, the center of the beam should be the same height as the bulb at 25 ft.

 

Aiming directions

[nipper]

Do you have fogs or driving lights?

 

A properly aimed driving light will definitely annoy/blind oncoming traffic and people in front of you. A driving beam supplements high beams by being brighter and shining farther down the road.

 

To aim a driving light, the center of the beam should be the same height as the bulb at 25 ft.

 

Aiming directions

 

I have driving lights, but i have them aimed low. And i can tell you that i only once got flashed by oncoming trucks, when one of the beams loosened up and pointed too high. Otherwise i've gotten flashed with the higbeams on, but sometimes when lots of deer around, and no possability to slow down, sometimes no choice (keeping in mind these were roads seperated by a HUGE median, or gully, or canyon sometimes) Also I prefered mine a hair lower then center. It worked fine for me at night at 70mph.

 

 

 

The hellas were probably suppliments to normal high beams, but i have silverstars in my car, which greatly improved things. I was also very impressed with the light thrown to the sides. Hella calls them driving lights, i would call them mid beams, especially when matched against other cars modern headlamps.

 

http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaPortal/WebSite/Internet_usa/ProductsServices/Performance_Lighting/FF_Series/FF200/FF200.jsp

 

One odd thing. When i ordered them from Hella, i couldnt tell if i got the fog or the driving, i sent them an email, they said they only come in driving lights.

 

 

 

nipper

[jamal]

Try aiming them higher, they'll be more effective and help you see farther. With driving/high beams, you want as little forground light as possible so your night vision is improved and you can see farther down the road. I think the FF200s are probably bright enough to be used as a full on driving beam. They definitely come as fog lights. rallylights.com sells the fogs and that link you posted shows different part numbers. The guy who e-mailed you back was wrong.

 

Also silverstars are crap and increase glare thanks to the ricer blue tint. Lucky for you they'll burn out fairly soon and you can replace them with Xtravisions or something like the narva rangepower +50.

[nipper]

Try aiming them higher, they'll be more effective and help you see farther. With driving/high beams, you want as little forground light as possible so your night vision is improved and you can see farther down the road. I think the FF200s are probably bright enough to be used as a full on driving beam. They definitely come as fog lights. rallylights.com sells the fogs and that link you posted shows different part numbers. The guy who e-mailed you back was wrong.

 

Also silverstars are crap and increase glare thanks to the ricer blue tint. Lucky for you they'll burn out fairly soon and you can replace them with Xtravisions or something like the narva rangepower +50.

 

well i got them on the recomendation of here, and no one said they were crap. Also they have been in my car a year and doing fine, and i am happy with them.

 

ALso i said i am them lower to keep from blinding people. I just did a 9800 mile trip with them, i know what i like, and i am going to keep them that way.

 

nipper

 

nipper

[jamal]

A year seems to be the average silverstar lifespan, and that's too bad because I tend to post about how crappy they are whenever they're brought up. Anyway, all I'm saying is that your lighting could be even better.

[vic/se]

A year seems to be the average silverstar lifespan, and that's too bad because I tend to post about how crappy they are whenever they're brought up. Anyway, all I'm saying is that your lighting could be even better.

 

 

you're right! Mine lasted about a year, and they're not worth the primium price!

[mnwolftrack]

just a thought, but does the subaru headlight power run all the way through the switch and back to the headlights, or does the headlight switch control a relay that turns on the headlights? The reason I ask is, most pre 1995 Toyota pickups/4Runners/cars can get upgraded lighting simply by upgrading the wiring harness. The headlight's power does not come straight from the battery, and by the time the power DOES reach the headlights, there's been a good resistance drop. A harness upgrade runs power straight from the battery to the headlights, and the headlight switch then operates a relay to turn the circuit on. I've done this harness upgrade on my '90 4Runner and it's very easy and cheap (about $45). That upgrade alone made my headlights about 2x brighter than they were while still being legal. I then added Hello Vision Plus headlights (the big 6x8 inch full size lights) and it improved again, but the biggest difference was the harness upgrade. If your headlights aren't seeing the full 12 volts, you're losing lighting efficiency.

 

For information on wiring and output, check out this site:

 

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Headlights.shtml#WiringHarness

 

Perhaps someone else can chime in about the Subaru wiring. I have only owned a Subaru for about a month, whereas I've owned Toyotas for 15 years and can definately say a harness upgrade helps Toyotas.

[nipper]

just a thought, but does the subaru headlight power run all the way through the switch and back to the headlights, or does the headlight switch control a relay that turns on the headlights? The reason I ask is, most pre 1995 Toyota pickups/4Runners/cars can get upgraded lighting simply by upgrading the wiring harness. The headlight's power does not come straight from the battery, and by the time the power DOES reach the headlights, there's been a good resistance drop. A harness upgrade runs power straight from the battery to the headlights, and the headlight switch then operates a relay to turn the circuit on. I've done this harness upgrade on my '90 4Runner and it's very easy and cheap (about $45). That upgrade alone made my headlights about 2x brighter than they were while still being legal. I then added Hello Vision Plus headlights (the big 6x8 inch full size lights) and it improved again, but the biggest difference was the harness upgrade. If your headlights aren't seeing the full 12 volts, you're losing lighting efficiency.

 

For information on wiring and output, check out this site:

 

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Headlights.shtml#WiringHarness

 

Perhaps someone else can chime in about the Subaru wiring. I have only owned a Subaru for about a month, whereas I've owned Toyotas for 15 years and can definately say a harness upgrade helps Toyotas.

 

Subaru uses relays for high and low beams. Have you tried to clean and polish the headlamps?

 

nipper

[biffbradford]

Have you tried to clean and polish the headlamps?

 

nipper

 

That was my first thought.

 

There was a nice thread on polishing those lamps for a 200% improvement, pehaps a search would prove beneficial.

 

jw

[Kilroy]

I put Silverstars in my Honda Odyssey and noticed a decent improvement over the stock lights. Image my surprise when first one burned out and then the other a few days later, they only lasted about 9 months! I figured for the price I paid they would last at least as long as the OEM bulbs.

 

I've also noticed that the lights on my '90 Legacy where somewhat lacking. I'll look into polishing the lenses and adding some aftermarket lights.

[mnwolftrack]

I've owned two pairs of silverstars. One set was in my '92 Camry, and they lasted about 9 months as well. Another set was in a Land Rover, but I sold it after a month. I called the bulb's tech support # to complain, and they told me the bulb's life expectancy is only 1 year. At the time, they would honor free replacment on anything that failed sooner than 12 months. I still have the bulbs and never bothered to send them in.

[dmanaenk]

Subaru uses relays for high and low beams. Have you tried to clean and polish the headlamps?

 

nipper

Is this true? I was looking at wiring diagram few days ago, and seems like there's are relays for power going to left and right headlights, but the ground goes all through the steering wheel switch. I'm thinking about trying upgrading the harness, not before I measure the voltage drop on lights though.