How To Improve On The R33 Headlights

[arch6]

I've been using Narva bulbs for my headlights for a while now, they are absolutely crap. They throw hardly any light out.

I've recently changed to Philips VisionPlus +50, they are bloody awesome! I can actually see the road now, and all the road signs actually light (reflect) up.

But still I'd like to get better lighting.

There seem to be no aftermarket replacement units for R33 (whole headlight), and the R33 GTR xenon are very hard to find and too expensive.

Theres obliviously the option of retro fitting projects, but this has issues as well, as unlike the R32 where they had projectors (some cars anyway), R33 only have rectangular reflectors which makes the retrofit difficult.

Couple of questions about retro fitting though:

-I know there are better projectors to use than others (A6, E46, Honda Euro) but can you put HID in any projectors?

-If I retrofit a set of projectors into my headlights, can I then just buy any HID kits (as long as they are the same bulb)?

-Is "bi-xenon" option normally part of the projector or bulb? I've seen HID kits advertised as "Bi-Xenon" and also aftermarket headlight units that say they have the motors inside.

-Is it possible to retrofit with the auto-leveling feature? Is in necessary?

-Whats the difference between "Xenon" kits (I think that have D2S bulbs or something) and "HID" kits (with regular H1, H4 etc bulbs)?

But what about using R34 xenons? Would this be possible?

The R34 doesnt use projectors but a reflector, and since they are rectangular already it should be easier to fit right?

What do you guys think?

Thanks

Edited August 27, 2007 by arch6

[33driver]

Two things - Narva bulbs are a massive hit and miss - they outsource their bulbs to whatever is available at the time (sometimes even philips). Never liked their bulbs at all. Philips Vision plus are good, try the GT150's, there are a halfway between the bluevisions and the plus 50's. You get better reflections off street signs while retaining the visible light on the round. Blue visions are your next try but lose a bit of the road light. Don't bother with the diamond vision not worth the cash they demand.

When it comes to HID's, be wary of the HID's available on the market through ebay etc... nothing wrong with them generally (they usually use philips ballasts) but the replacement bulbs can be hard to get and the connections are usually a one off.

Have a look at the new philips range, they are half the price of what they used to be (i really do mean half) and bulbs are reasonably priced.

I know it sounds like i'm talking up philips, but I worked in the auto elec industry via a big company importing these and have been round the block with this sort of stuff. Philips and Osram are the go, but osram can be pricey and hard to get a hold of.

Another note on the motorised hid's, we did a LOT of testing on these systems and ALL failed within a very short period of time (we tested 20+ kits that people hadn't even heard of from korea, japan, taiwan etc... That said, philips are bringing out a new range to suit systems like the H4's etc. Narva did do a kit that had the HID with a standard bulb attached on the side. However these were discontinued after a flop in sales and perfomance.

PM if you want some details on where to get the philips stuff from and reasonable pricing.

Edited August 27, 2007 by 33driver

[wrxhoon]

Don't forget your h/lights ( the whole assembly , the reflector in particular) is designed for halogen globes, convering to xenon is not ideal . Same happens when you convert xenon lights to hal ( they are crap) . If you want much better lights you need the series III GTR xenon lights, they will fit your series I 33 but they dont have the bottom bracket for the grill and they are not cheap .

If your normal halogen lights are in good nick you should have a good light as long as you are getting 14 volt to them . If you have fogged up lens and or stuffed reflectors just replace them with good used ones, if you are not getting the full 14 volt to them , run direct power to them with a thicker cable and use a relay to trigger them. This way you will save your combo switch from stuffing up as well .

[33driver]

If your normal halogen lights are in good nick you should have a good light as long as you are getting 14 volt to them . If you have fogged up lens and or stuffed reflectors just replace them with good used ones, if you are not getting the full 14 volt to them , run direct power to them with a thicker cable and use a relay to trigger them. This way you will save your combo switch from stuffing up as well .

excellent idea should have thought of that myself - i've done that with many a car with excellent results.

+1 for that idea

[arch6]

Thanks for the reply guys.

@33driver: Yeah I figured that I should go for brand name kit for the HID, for the reliability and ease of finding replacement bulbs.

@wrxhoon: I was thinking about getting 2 pairs of bio-xenon to replace both high and low beam, and completely removing the reflectors. I've already done a relay mod for my headlights: they are powered directly from the battery. Lens used to fog up, but I've cleaned them up with the Wynns Headlight restorer kit (its not completely crystal clear, but pretty damn good)

So if i get 2 pairs of these bi-xenon projectors:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?f...&category0=

And if i get 2 sets of non-bi-xenon hid kit, i should be good to go?

[wrxhoon]

Thanks for the reply guys.

@33driver: Yeah I figured that I should go for brand name kit for the HID, for the reliability and ease of finding replacement bulbs.

@wrxhoon: I was thinking about getting 2 pairs of bio-xenon to replace both high and low beam, and completely removing the reflectors. I've already done a relay mod for my headlights: they are powered directly from the battery. Lens used to fog up, but I've cleaned them up with the Wynns Headlight restorer kit (its not completely crystal clear, but pretty damn good)

So if i get 2 pairs of these bi-xenon projectors:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?f...&category0=

And if i get 2 sets of non-bi-xenon hid kit, i should be good to go?

From my experience all the conversions that I have seen the light blinds other drivers and you don't see well . When the original lights fog up they are never any good again . You clen them up and they look O.K. for a few months then they go the same again . If you put your lights on at night then look in the lens you will see 100's of little cracks in the lens , on a good clean light you don't see that .

[adam-__-]

When you buy projectors for retrofitting, you usually go for projectors which were once used with HID globes. You wouldn't go out and buy r32 projectors for example and put HID globes in them. That's just stupid. Just buy projectors which were already built/designed to take HID globes.

When you buy projectors, use whatever globes that were designed for them. For example, if you purchased r32 projectors (not made/designed for HID globes), you will use what they normally take. Either a H3C or H1 HALOGEN globes.

Bi-xenon as far as I know is the globe which is designed to suit the projectors. You can't just go out and buy bi-xenon globes and throw them in your ordinary low beam projectors/reflectors and expect them to work properly if at all.

The auto-leveling thing is no point in my opinion. Either way, retrofitting is an ILLEGAL modification.

Xenon is just the gas in the globes. You can get halogen globes which have xenon in them. It just has xenon in the globes because they make the globe have a longer life (last longer). The HID kits which you see for sale which have H3 or H1 for example are the kits you want to stay away from. They're made to be put into reflector housings and projector housings which weren't designed for HIDs.

And as for the r34 lights in the r33, I honestly don't think that'll work. You'll need the r34's reflectors to work properly.

Feel free to correct me if any information I gave is incorrect.

[trd662]

When you buy projectors for retrofitting, you usually go for projectors which were once used with HID globes. You wouldn't go out and buy r32 projectors for example and put HID globes in them. That's just stupid. Just buy projectors which were already built/designed to take HID globes.

When you buy projectors, use whatever globes that were designed for them. For example, if you purchased r32 projectors (not made/designed for HID globes), you will use what they normally take. Either a H3C or H1 HALOGEN globes.

Bi-xenon as far as I know is the globe which is designed to suit the projectors. You can't just go out and buy bi-xenon globes and throw them in your ordinary low beam projectors/reflectors and expect them to work properly if at all.

The auto-leveling thing is no point in my opinion. Either way, retrofitting is an ILLEGAL modification.

Xenon is just the gas in the globes. You can get halogen globes which have xenon in them. It just has xenon in the globes because they make the globe have a longer life (last longer). The HID kits which you see for sale which have H3 or H1 for example are the kits you want to stay away from. They're made to be put into reflector housings and projector housings which weren't designed for HIDs.

And as for the r34 lights in the r33, I honestly don't think that'll work. You'll need the r34's reflectors to work properly.

Feel free to correct me if any information I gave is incorrect.

I am about to get a HID kit for R33 GTR 95' Vspec what size bulb do i need for the low beam ?

[adam-__-]

I am about to get a HID kit for R33 GTR 95' Vspec what size bulb do i need for the low beam ?

Just take out your existing globe and see what style they are. If they're H1's, get H1 HID kits, H3's, get H3 kit etc.

[scarface]

i put a HID kit in my r33 and it lights the road up like daytime, its a cheap an easy wat to get good vision, why dont you just buy that

[adam-__-]

R33 headlights are reflector style and with those cheap HID kits in them, they're going to produce HEAPS of glare and hotspots which will blind on coming traffic and could make your insurance company not pay out.

If I were to buy those cheap HID kits, I would put them in projector style headlights. They're not much better, but they're not as bad as R33's.

[bumble_bee]

i was loking in the a hellla book at work..

for new lightglobes for my r33 s2...

anyway, i found Xenon H1 HALOGEN 12V/55W globes..

which are a direct fit into a halogen socket..!!!!!!!!!!!!

so in other words are standards globes but are using xenon tech????

is this correct???

they cost about 30 bucks each..

compared to the 6 bucks each for standard H1 halogen globes...

wat the deal with these globes?? any brighter/clearer?????????

will they be any good as HID???

[adam-__-]

i was loking in the a hellla book at work..

for new lightglobes for my r33 s2...

anyway, i found Xenon H1 HALOGEN 12V/55W globes..

which are a direct fit into a halogen socket..!!!!!!!!!!!!

so in other words are standards globes but are using xenon tech????

is this correct???

they cost about 30 bucks each..

compared to the 6 bucks each for standard H1 halogen globes...

wat the deal with these globes?? any brighter/clearer?????????

will they be any good as HID???

HID and xenon halogen globes are two different things. 'Xenon' is just the gas used in the globes themselves. Old technology globes run I think it was argon gas, putting in xenon gas instead of argon gives the globe a longer life span.

With your headlights, running these will ALWAYS be better than running an HID kit. Your headlights were designed to run halogen globes, putting in HID globes will give you more light, but the pattern of that light will be all over the place.

Best thing to do to get more light out of your headlights would be to get quality named branded globes. Spend more money for quality globes is my recommendation.

[bumble_bee]

oh ok..so hella is a good brand??

any body tried these globes?

[adam-__-]

Hella are one of the good ones (brands) as far as I know.

[bumble_bee]

sorry another noob question...lol

will using these 55W xenon halogen globes be brighter or have better lighting than my current 100W halogen globes??

or not??

[adam-__-]

sorry another noob question...lol

will using these 55W xenon halogen globes be brighter or have better lighting than my current 100W halogen globes??

or not??

It would really depend on the brand of each globe used. The 100w globes will naturally run brighter because they're higher wattage. They'll also run hotter meaning more risk of melting bits and pieces of your headlight housing or even burn out the plugs and wiring.

I don't recommend using higher wattage globes. Spend money on quality globes.

Edit: I just realised I've said that twice now, "Spend money on quality globes." haha

Edited June 2, 2008 by adam-__-

[bumble_bee]

cheers, i'll give those xenon halogen globes a go...

[smok74]

There is a developer I know that is willing to invest and setup the moulds for the long awaited aftermarket Angel-eye style headlights for the series 2 R33 GTS25T Skyline - I have been hounding him for over 3 years now it seems he is willing to come through for us !!!

It is an expensive investment to setup, we need to know there will be enough demand to justify this. That is why Im after the expressions of interest from all R33 owners that are keen so we can decide if it's a 'go ahead' or not.

It is only the series 2 that is currently being developed as it's a much better looking version plus a lot of series 1 owners upgrade to this shape anyways, however, if there is enough demand from GTR owners, we might consider doing the series 1 / GTR version as well.

Please note that it is the entire headlight assemblies we're talking about here and not just some cheap add-on neon-light rings such as the ones commonly seen on Ebay for the R34.

All interested please message me here or email me at [email protected]

Below is a photo of similar headlights for a WRX just to give you an idea how they will look.

Thanks.

[Birds]

Have those lights in my Calibra and they look nothing short of awesome, particularly the 3 LED's towards the inner^