Mamooguy

I was all set to buy a kit and make the upgrade -- I'm tired of my weak-*** headlights -- but then a friend of mine said it can be really dangerous with older cars. One mistake while installing, he said, and I could fry the entire electrical system.

Is this true? Is it difficult and dangerous to install the things? I'd love to have the upgrade, but I'm definitely not interested if I'm risking the murder of my car's electricals.

Thoughts?

brrt50cal

Yes. The Fleabay kits are not good for these vehicles. They have a tendency to short out and cause fires. That was one of the reasons that IceShark (RIP) had made a kit to give our cars a better lighting alternative.

Mamooguy

Fires, yikes!

Are there specific kits that are safe to use? Anyone know which ones are okay?

MAGK944

Try these guys

SD Porsche Fan

Try Rennbay's lighting kit. They are Rennlist sponsors and Travis is a great guy!

www.rennbay.com

Mamooguy

I love Rennbay, I've used 'em in the past ... but I'm not seeing a HID kit.

SD Porsche Fan

Hella E-codes with the wiring harness upgrade will make a huge difference. I guess if you're sold on HID then you'll have to look else where. I'd give Travis a call anyways. Maybe he could get something going. You'll probably need some type of harness upgrade regardless.

Wipeout

Really, a harness and some e-code lenses are what you need...check out the link in my signature about what sort of difference we're talking about.

Scootin159

I have a mix of the old "IceShark" kit and it's latest reincarnation the "Rennbay" kit in the Porsche, and I have true HID's in the STi. I can say that from first hand experience that the Rennbay/IceShark kit has about 90% the low beam performance, and 150% the high beam performance of my true HID setup. I can also say that the quality of the kit is top notch.

FYI, the "Rennbay" kit is made from the old blue prints of the "IceShark" kit, which was unfortunately discontinued when it's creator (Dan Wray) passed away. There are a few minor differences between the kits, mostly to due with changes in the supply train, but the quality is still there (if not better in a few spots).

Spidey944

^^^^^ +1 to the power of x

Komradekozik

i bought the ebay kit which is plug and play, i had to buy new housings tho for the h4 bulbs, i like them better then the old bulbs, but one the lights tweaks and doesnt turn on sometimes id have to flash the brights wait a second and go back to low beams for it to work,very unfortunate i suspected the old wiring but who knows.

Mamooguy

Wow, that's freakin' amazing! Thanks a ton, dude!

Wipeout

Thanks. I put it together because I hadn't found something definitive that tells people what the differences are. Harness with your stock lights does wonders. With a harness and even the standard wattage bulbs and e-code lenses...

Jfrahm

I had E codes and H4's on my S2 and upgraded to an HID conversion. Oh my god it was awesome and no need to rewire as it draws less current than the stock setup while providing a lot more light. I bought kits for my 928 and 968 but have not installed them yet, the stock lighting is rather good on those cars and I have had other priorities. Locating the ballasts was the biggest hurdle, one could mount on the LH headlight assembly but the RH one could not due to the headlight motor. That one I mounted on the box for the IC or airbox on the turbo/S2, not sure what is there on a 944NA.

I know of probably 5 people with these kits and they have not burned up. One or two have had a part fail but the kits are so cheap you can buy a whole kit for spares. I used the bi-xenon kit. I think if you search you might find a post or two on this subject.

VVME is the vendor, you can buy via ebay or their website, www.vvme.com

I would get E code lenses for a tighter pattern too.

-Joel.

jsaindc

I know its not HID but I put in some Sylvania Silver Stars on my 87 and they really are impressive and best of all it is just a light change. Might be worth a try for you. If you don't like them you can return them.

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...ce/Silverstar/