Alan

Don't be fooled - this JCWhitney set is not comparable to Porsche H4's lenses. They do use H4/9003 bulbs by the look of it but presumably are DOT style reflectors and will not have an ecode pattern.

e.g. they will be the "DOT blob of light pattern" like the sealed beams and the H5's. The H5's are a lot better than the old 7" sealed beam units but nowhere near as good as 7" H4's and meanwhile 8" H4's are still in my opinion noticeably better still for focus and sharp cutoff.

I suspect these JCWhitney versions will lie between a sealed beam and the H5's in terms of effectiveness just based on the lens type.

Alan

Randy V

If it was me, I'd buy some nice used 8" H5s then install a xenon kit like this one from 928 International:

http://www.mailordercentral.com/928i...ber=XENON%20H5

Or add xenon to an 8" H4:

http://www.mailordercentral.com/928i...ber=XENON%20H4

Either way, the two best things you can do to update the look of older 928s is to go to an 8" headlight and install modern 17 or 18" wheels.

chrly924s

I may buy a set of these just to check them out.
http://www.classicgarage.com/7rounheadwit.html

VWaddict

Those classic car garage units are still DOT pattern.

While legal in the US, they're still not a PATCH on the E-code version.

Or -better yet- get some E-code Cibie Biodes, or Marchal Ampilux... -Good luck finding EITHER of those though. -Both used seperate reflectors and seperate bulbs in 7" round assemblies. Both can roast an ox at 150 yards!

Next step down from Cibie/marchals would be 7" H4 E-codes. Rennbay sells them and is a Rennlist sponsor. Next down from E-code H4's would be the link above, which is one step above sealed-beam DOT garbage.

Keith

chrly924s

I have Hella Ecode in my 951 and love them. They drive my wife nuts, but I will probably get a set for her 928S. I had some Carrello's in my 912 back in the 70's and they would burn the retinas out of any body that wouldn't dim their brights and forced me to retaliate!!

chrly924s

Thanks for saving me the money.

ACG

I remember the Cibie H4 E-codes well as I used them on my 944 and 951 when I owned them. They were a definite improvement over the original sealed beams. There was a guy in the 944 forum called Iceshark (Dan Wray) who sold them with upgraded battery cable kits. Unofrtunately, he passed away and the source for Cibie H4 E-codes fizzled away.

chrly924s

A buddy of mine here in Knoxville bought Iceshark's inventory. He goes by Robby on Rennlist

SharkSkin

I went from the 7" Bosch H4s that came with my car to 8" Bosch H4s -- one of my first mods. I didn't expect much of a difference, but it did make a big difference. They both have the same cutoff, but the light is distributed much more evenly below the cutoff and is brighter overall. The high beams reach out noticeably further as well.

I was a bit surprised, but after some thought it's pretty clear why this is the case. First of all, the 7" housings had been around for a while, and while they were in excellent condition, they were not in brand-new perfect condition like the 8" were. The second, and IMHO more important factor, is that the 8" have over 30% more reflector area. Compare the area of an 8" circle to the area of a 7" circle to see how I reached that conclusion. I believe the difference is larger than that; I was calculating the area of a 2-dimensional circle, but to get a true comparison you would need to calculate the surface areas of the parabolic reflectors.

As you can see from the pic below, the 7" were not in bad shape at all, which is why I think the second factor is the more important one. YMMV.

ACG

Nice write-up Sharkskin! I have also seen the 8-inchers on PorKen's car and I really like them. Looks like 8" is the way to go. It rains alot here and any bit of illumination on the road will be very useful.

85fortheDrive

Ah, in matters of taste there is no arguing. The chrome rings make the car look more classic in my eyes.

Alan

Note that unless you have already upgraded your car will have had 7" sealed beam units as stock installation. H5's only come in 8" versions with no ring... and were standard only on USA S4's and later. H4's of 7" or 8" came stock only on ROW cars.

I still agree that 8" H4's are the best possible lens option for this car.

Alan

bernard farquart

ACG

try "danielsternlighting.com" good stuff, kinda weird to deal with, as he will only sell if he thinks you really need the lights. (no connection, but a satisfied third party) no shopping cart, you have to e-mail him. he still has the 7" e-code cibie lights (http://dsl.torque.net/images/178HCR.jpg)

SharkSkin

Thx ACG -- If you can swing it, they can't be beat IMHO.

shmark

I go round and round about this. I had 8" H4s on my old 928, H4s on my 911 and I absolutely love what they do. It's one of the first things I plan to do with my car when it gets here. Most of the US cars I've seen have spotty trim rings and are in generally poor condition, so it's easy to see the upgrade. But then I saw the US rings on my car and they are just perfect...I actually kinda like the look. I didn't drive it at night and I'm sure the lights suck, but now I find myself second-guessing the H4 update.