Best (and cheapist) headlight upgrade?

[DenverDude2002]

Hey everyone,

Just got a 2002 Focus ZX5, and as with every vehicle I own, I like to upgrade the headlights. I normally use silverstars but Im wondering if theres something better. I do lots of night driving (as well as driving with the fogs on all the time), so whats the best bulbs (for a reasonble price) for the Focus that anyones had good luck with? Im not looking fo much for how they look from a distance as to how well they work and increased light output.

Thanks

[Liquid_02_ZX3]

I think silverstars suck personally, I have tried them on numerous cars with no real success. Now anything from Nokya has been a quality product. Even though some of there bulbs are a higher wattage i have had no problems with housings or wiring getting hot and melting. This gives you and idea of what they offer. http://www.coolbulbs.com/nokya.asp

[o2_designs]

I have'nt had any problems with my Silverstars in my stock Focus headlights. I am having problems with them in my ST170 headlights tho...smoking the reflectors.

[Focus man, Focus.]

PIAA Super Plasma GTX are what I am running. Awsome headlight bulbs.

[OmniFocus]

I'm not a big Silverstar fan.

My Focus burned out six Cool Blues and four Silverstars before I installed the original headlights back into the car... which never burned out... ever.

[Azwethinkweiz]

I hated silverstars forever because they always burned out in a couple months....BUT

I've had a silverstar in the headlight of my Harley for like 6 months now having the crap vibrated out of it and on the highbeam all the time during the day and it's still fine...So maybe I got lucky.

A lot of people like Nokya's but I think they're crap, they're a filtered lense bulb to make them have a different color, which obviously cuts down on light output. They often make up for this with a higher output wattage, which tends to damage housings over an extended period..... PIAA's are really nice bulbs if you want to pay that much, and built much better than the cheaper bulbs.

[fastway40]

PIAA's are the only way to go, Xtreme White Plus is the best for visbility(4300k). Also have a one year warranty.

[Zetec_1]

Osram Silverstars are the best, I've had them in my car for a year now.

[o2_designs]

I'm suprised at the hatread about the Silverstars. I'm still on my first set I bought back in 05. They've been in 3 different cars and 3 different sets of headlights. But still have'nt burned out.

I've wanted to try the PIAA's tho, maybe I'll try those in my ST170's.

[ahmadr]

Sylvania SilverStars and other bulbs with a blue tint are suboptimal:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply


IIRC your focus uses 9003/H4 bulbs. The best performing standard wattage H4 bulbs you can find are in order:

1) Philips X-treme Power
2) Osram Night Breaker
3) +50 bulbs (Philips Vision Plus, Osram Silver Star (NOT Sylvania Silver Star), Narva RangePower+50, GE Night Hawk)
4) +30 bulbs (Narva RangePower+30, Sylvania XtraVision)


You SHOULD be safe using the lowest power overwatts too (70/65w vs 60/55w - more light than all of above - off road use only ), but there is always the risk of melting wires/housings.


Keep in mind though, HID conversions that use the standard (halogen) housing are a very bad idea:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

[DenverDude2002]

ahmadr, im going to have th check those out, my friend whos a volvo fanatic also spoke highly of him. I doubt I'll do the higher wattage ones though since this is the only car I have at the moment and dont want to fry the wiring harness.

[FCZH*R]

Or you could retro fit for WAY less than any GOOD projector self bought you could do it here are mine and the cutoff.



Tested eyebrows too-



cutoff test-


I did thise setup with projectors and HID's for a total of 115 bucks also includied vinyl for eyebrows which goes on when i get the car back

[ahmadr]

It's not just the cutoff. The beam pattern might actually feel good due to lots of foreground (close range) lighting but be bad due to low long range or shoulder lighting, or too much glare.

The problem is that the HID light source shape is different than a filament source

detailed explanation here:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

also look at:
http://forums.focaljet.com/exterior-...-d-sticky.html

Basically, if you want to get HIDs the right way on the 00-04 focus, you have to get the ford designed HID housing. IIRC Steve had the kit for $700.

And yes, Daniel Stern is THE expert on auto lighting.

[FCZH*R]

^^ As it stands i don't have a picture. But i ran these next to a SVT mach setup and was damn near close to being as good. MACH Headlights are not the BEST money efficent choice but the BEST overall. I will disagree that they are the right way. I have done my homework and know more than my fair share on HID's I will be running 6k as well to cut some of the blue.

The light throw is amazing i can light up the ENTIRE road and my cutoff is almost perfect as to not glare people.

I am aware that the HID source is differnt or i wouldnt have switched to a projector insie the stock housing.

In all honestly consultant or not if you want an amazing beam pattern and such and want them bright. go with a retro fit me and another member from a board cough*FF 7*cough have done this and both share amazing results.

and if you can honestly sit there and look at that picture and tell me my beam pattern is messed up. Then i would like you to consult them in person.

[Azwethinkweiz]

He did it right, those are nice projectors and the cutoff is fine. The only source of glare is going to be any sort of interferance by the factory lense which is why Mach's have a completely smooth lense. It's a good setup, hell of a lot better than him tossing a H.I.D. kit into the stock headlights.

[FCZH*R]

^^Thanks, then lenses right now are going to be smoothed as much as possible and also restored. Will be looking into some kind of SVT lense if at all possible in the near future. Also the refelctor pieces left near the front of the housing were painted black to combat weird throw. And also an Eyebrow was installed bfore it left for the show to help weed out some of the lit lens.

[ahmadr]

Originally Posted by FCZH*R

cutoff test-


I did thise setup with projectors and HID's for a total of 115 bucks also includied vinyl for eyebrows which goes on when i get the car back

Now I get it, after reading this:
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/s...12&postcount=2

You actually fitted a real HID projector in your (projector) headlights. Sweet.

BTW the original beam pattern is/was HORRIBLE

[FCZH*R]

^^^ No i fitted a REAL HID projector in my stock head light housing and removed the ear reflector.

And yes i know it was bad it was scary. Tis why i ended up putting my new good projectors in the Stock housing.

[RainyZX3]

Personally, I can't see anything with the "ultra white" and "blue" lights. I actually bought some Luminics Ultra Golden H4

http://www.automotivelightingusa.com...u cts_id=1214

They seem really yellow up close, but at a distance it is (at least for me) the perfect color. I can see details and contrasts in the road really well. If you look at the color temperature, they are between XtraVision and Silverstar.

[SVTEuro]

Originally Posted by FCZH*R

^^ As it stands i don't have a picture. But i ran these next to a SVT mach setup and was damn near close to being as good. MACH Headlights are not the BEST money efficent choice but the BEST overall. I will disagree that they are the right way. I have done my homework and know more than my fair share on HID's I will be running 6k as well to cut some of the blue.

The light throw is amazing i can light up the ENTIRE road and my cutoff is almost perfect as to not glare people.

I am aware that the HID source is differnt or i wouldnt have switched to a projector insie the stock housing.

In all honestly consultant or not if you want an amazing beam pattern and such and want them bright. go with a retro fit me and another member from a board cough*FF 7*cough have done this and both share amazing results.

and if you can honestly sit there and look at that picture and tell me my beam pattern is messed up. Then i would like you to consult them in person.

If you get the correct HID replacement bulb, then you can use your existing housings/lens. You will pay $$$$$ for the correct replacement. Not the junk off of EBay.......

[Focus man, Focus.]

I am running PIAA Super Plasma GTX bulbs in my stock housings and the output is 100 times better than standard H3 bulbs. Its the best you can do without replacing the whole system. Also upgrade your fog light blubs while your at it. You won't be disapointed.

[secondechomatt]

Originally Posted by SVTEuro

If you get the correct HID replacement bulb, then you can use your existing housings/lens. You will pay $$$$$ for the correct replacement. Not the junk off of EBay.......

really?? school me. show me the "correct" way. Because I don't buy it.

[baddadiam]

ok guys... in my quest to better understand what is and isnt going to work for me (2006 zx4 ... 9007 bulbs) i found these...9007 - O-NEX HID Conversion Kit 4300K OEM White [ONEX-9007-4300K] - $229.99 : Car Lighting Xenon Halogen headlight upgrade bulbs HID
i planned on taking the headlight apart and painting every thing flat black except the refector. my focus is black and i thought this would look cool and cut down on the unwanted glare. is this a bad idea or just another bad one? i dont want to buy junk but it looks like the only other options are to spend $$$$$ for a real set of projectors bulbs and ballests that i dont want to look at in the stock headlights. arrrrrrrrrrrr

[baddadiam]

sorry about the extra post... arent the higher wattage bulbs going to melt or burn up something?

[secondechomatt]

without a projector that is designed to handle HIDs, they will be awful and not put to use the light produced.

Upgrade to some decent bulbs and upgrade your wiring with some relays and heavy duty grounds and power wire direct to the battery. That will be cheaper and more effective than throwing in some craptastic HIDs.