NICK G.

what's the best head light replacement for an early 1985 944?

Tremelune

IceShark's Full Boat Lighting Kit. You'll read around here it's a monster that won't blind other drivers. He uses French Cibie lights, I believe.

Cheaper alternative is Hella H4s open-beam halogens. They're good lights (I've got a set) but lately I find myself wishing for a new wiring harness. That's what'll really make 'em burn.

If you search for full boat lighting kit or just iceshark, you'll scare up a dozen threads.

NICK G.

What are icesharks and do you have to change any wiring. i was looking for the brightest lights with out any modifications to my wiring harness.

Manning

Iceshark is a he named Dan Wray. He makes a harness upgrade that connects directly to the alternator and the and only uses the switched portion of the old harness to turn on two relays for the headlights. And best yet, you don't have to cut anything out of your old harness. Just the harness upgrade itself is pretty impressive. Adding the Cibie lights as well is amazing. If Dan doesn't stumble on this post then check out details about the kit on Guru Racings site:

<a href="http://www.gururacing.net/" target="_blank">http://www.gururacing.net/</a>

Danno

"What are icesharks and do you have to change any wiring. "

They are the best headlights on the planet !!! Check out the info under "Lighting Upgrades" on the <a href="http://www.gururacing.net" target="_blank">GURU Racing website</a>.

Jim 944S

Hey Nick...

It cannot be said too often: Ice Shark's kit is the way to go. Dan is a genius when it comes to making electrons move around!

Jim 1987 944S

HY M8NC

My car has the Hella H4 conversion, and then "Superwhite" bulbs from PIAA. It does an o.k. job, definately much brighter than factory. From what I have read-it does not compare to IceShark's kit.

If you want to go ultra cheap-I've got some imported headlight capsules that accept the H4 bulbs-you pay t ship them and they are yours. You would then need to buy the bulbs.

Best= IceShark
Better= Hella Conversion
Good= Imported capsules/w new bulbs

Jfrahm

I have a pair of E-codes from JC whitney and Silverstar bulbs. MUCH better than stock and only $50-$60 for the whole setup. Cheaper if you just use regular H4's, still way brighter than stock. I guess a lot depends on how much you want to spend and if you want/need the most candlepower you can get.

-Joel.

89magic98

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by NICK G.:
<strong>what's the best head light replacement for an early 1985 944?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I replaced my headlights with a pair of Sylvania Silverstar lamps. They are available directly from the Sylvania online store, about $50 for the pair after a $10 mail-in rebate.

The Silverstars are a drop-in replacement. They have a higher color temperature (meaning, they look whiter) than the stock halogens. I did replace one light at a time to compare the difference, and I like the new ones much better.

They are the same wattage as the original lamps, which is a factor if you are not wanting to make any wiring modifications.

This may not be the way you want to go for your car, but it's another suggestion to add to the pile.

Tremelune

If you don't want to re-do the wiring (which is what really holds the lights back), I'd go with a set of Hella's and some Hella 100/55W H4 bulbs...That's what I'm running with a air of 100/80W, but they're no brighter (and may even be dimmer) than the 55's because the wires can't hold the juice. When I first put them in, they impressed me. Six winters later, people are casting my own shadow from behind me...

I think the whole deal will cost you under $100 at Hella's (they're sold other places, too).

NICK G.

i think i would probly go with the hella's conversion with the 100\55.i see on e-bay all the time glass or plastic linses,is there a preferance, i was going to try the glass.and is there a good or better blue-bulb, are is it better to go with the superwhite bulbs?

IceShark

Nick,

Get the Cibie lenses or the Hella Supers (not the other 2 lower grade Hellas you will be offered). I don't think you can find the Hella Supers if you are in North America. Both are silimar in performance. I can sell you the Cibies for $90, without H4 bulbs. Then you can test and waste money on bulbs. I'll sell you all the bulbs you want.

It boils down to this. After good lenses, get good stock wattage H4s and hope for the best with your wiring delivering the voltage. In a 944/951 that is akin to winning the 200 million dollar loto.

What you really need to do is rewire the lights. My harness is "plug and play", costs $175 and really lays the voltage down. Make up your own harness or buy mine, because that is the only way to really solve the problem.

Tremelune

Hey Dan, what're the low grade Hellas? I bought mine years ago and assume they fall under this catagory (I think they were $50). I'm just wondering what I could pull with the wiring kit and the suckers I've got in there.

Glass won't scratch as easily and it won't melt or yellow.

IceShark

There is the Hella Vision Plus. That is the worst one and is known as Hella Vision Minus in the trade. Performance Products likes to sell that one. If you call it Vision Minus to Hella they will hang up on you. It is really a $hit lens and everyone knows it.

Next is the #70476.

The Super is a USA part # 95098.

The Super is sort of expensive, around $125 a pair without the bulbs. It is more or less the same as the Cibie @ $90 a pair so I went with Cibie. I don't have any ownership in the lens companies so just shot for the best performance ... I chose Cibie. Simple as that.

Give me your Hella lens numbers cast in the glass and I can figure out what you have.

gleamingred944

I went with Bosche E-code. They are magnificent compared to what I had and, unlike some of the other solutions mentioned here, 100% legal. I get 8x the light at deer distance according to my light meter than I had with stock sealedbeams.

No wiring changes.