New Headlights - Best Options?

[Duffman]

I am set to send my MO to Dave for his headlight harness and am interested in finding out what are the best options for headlight replacement. I notice that ebay is pushing the H4 headlight, through various manufacturers, and am wondering is one better than the other? Your thoughts?

[Dtsnlvrs]

Hella or Cibie', my nod goes to Cibie' if you can find them....some of the miata and alfa sites sell them

[SteveJ]

I used standard headlights after the relay conversion with excellent lighting. It helps to have full voltage at the lights.

[hls30.com]

The main advantages to the H4s is they are brighter now, and can be easily (though it is expensive) upgraded to single element HID at a later date.

As SteveJ pointed out, the harness upgrade is quite enlightening-if your current bulbs are still working, you might wait and see how much of an improvement Daves hanywork will make with what you have...

Will

[ChrisA]

Hi Stephen,

Here's what I put on the 72 I used to have. They were extremely bright when used with the relay upgrade.

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=23781&langId=-1

I used Painless Wiring Headlight Relay kit #30816 - For 9004 and 9007 halogen bulbs. Very painless (pun intended!).

Chris A.

[Arne]

I have used E-code H4 headlights exclusively in every vehicle I have owned since 1976. I have personal experience with Cibie, Hella, Bosch, Marchal, Stanley, Wipac and Lucas in the 7" round size that our Z's use. Of those, my favorite is Hella, with both Bosch and Cibie close seconds. The best ones have a sharply defined low-beam cutoff, and a broad pattern with minimal shadows.

[nwcubsman]

I'll have to throw my vote with Arne. I put the Hellas in my wife's 240Z with relays. I am needing a headlight for my 240Z and will plan to put the same in. They were about $80 last year.

[Arne]

Just to clarify my three top choices: the Hellas have the best low beam, a broad spread with very few shadows. The Cibies have the best high beam range, but the low beams possess more shadows than the Hellas. The Bosch are midway between the other two - low beam has fewer shadows than Cibie, but more than Hella. High beam not quite as good as Cibie.

Now, a few other thoughts. One is that ANY H4 headlight will be a massive improvement over a sealed beam - especially when used with relays. Even cheap Taiwanese lights are a vast improvement. So you can't go too far wrong as far as output goes. Good name brand lights will generally have a better pattern, and the quality and durability of the lenses and reflectors is generally much better. In some brands the reflectors will tarnish or corrode after a short time, but I've had a set of Hellas last over 10 years and still look perfect. (Actually, one of the worst I've used for reflector durability were Cibies, but that set was decades ago.)

Also, don't get too excited about higher output bulbs, even if you are using relays to power them. About the max output that a 7" headlight will support is 80 watts. Go much over that and the lamp doesn't have enough air volume to dissipate the heat fast enough, and bulb life suffers badly. And the difference in actual light on the road between 55/60 watts and 80 watts is not very big. (Trust me, I've tried.)

Lastly, for the conditions that most of us drive under, low beam performance is much more important than high beam. That's why I prefer the Hellas over the Cibies, even though the Cibies have a little better high beam range. Unlike when I was young in Southern Oregon and all the roads were empty at night, these days there's too much oncoming traffic to use the high beams much. So I recommend paying more attention to the low beams instead.

[Duffman]

Thanks, everyone, for your input. Makes my decision much easier!