BillyB

Meek - because with standard lights, on a narrow road, when a modern car with "decent" lights comes towards you , you can't see a thing. The weedy 964 lights are completely drowned out by the on-coming car's lights.

meek

Must say it isn't something that I have noticed in mine and I live in the sticks on muddy, poorly maintained back roads. It has headlight units that are only 3-ish years old; maybe that is the difference? Bulbs are those that came with the new units and classic 'yellow' light. I think it has l always been the case that on coming cars dazzle one another and you have to look to the road edge to keep on track. Maybe I am just used to driving old cars and accept that as the norm. I had an A6 with Xenons, but didn't note them as being any better than the 964.

aircooledbug

If what's in the car works for you then great.

Mine are awful. Although not quite as awful as I originally thought as the whole changing them issue has been bought about by a faulty column stalk switch which meant mine were going from side lights to main beam with nothing in the middle 99% of the time. I didn't realise the switch was faulty so assumed the lights were just very crap. The dipped beam has appeared recently for a few miles and obviously made driving possible without needing to light up the road in front of me with my fog lights. When working like this they are fine, but no where near as good as what I have been used to with Xenons the last few years. At 100mph+ I don't think they are anywhere near good enough. If I was to ever go that fast.

If those Osram bulbs offer more visibility without blinding oncoming traffic then I am happy to be a bit safer of a dark, wet wintery night. They are only £15.

StanUK951

Antgtv: did you try the Osram's?

I bought a HID kit last week with the intention of fitting it for winter but (to me) it looks like a pretty serious project to fit all these boxes, make it look factory and still have the risk of MOT issues given the chatter about modified cars and MOT's changing at the moment...

I tried high power bulbs from Halfords and couldnt tell the difference. Might move the HID kit on if these Osram's are any good...

f@tboy

I have the HID kit on mine. I managed to get all the boxes in the headlight bowl. It wasn't easy but it was worth it, the lights are much more useful now. Still not up to modern standards, but hey, it's not a modern car.

StanUK951

Wow, you did we'll to fit these into the headlamp bowl. I don't think the kit I have will fit in the bowl, I know there are slimline kits available now...

I've ordered some Osram Night Breakers along with some Osram LED sidelight lamps. I'll see how these go before I do the full monty HID upgrade I think...

f@tboy

It was the Carnewal kit. There is quite a bit of room behind the bowl, but you need to be determined! I wanted to have it so that I could return it to standard if necessary. Needless to say, because I quite like being able to see the road at night, I haven't wanted to return it to standard.

I dont use it much in the dark, but it's nice to have reasonable lights. With proper lenses and reflectors they'd be better, but I just don't do that many dark miles.

DYKWIA

Fitting "HID kits" behind old lenses is technically illegal as the lenses are not of the appropriate quality and tend to diffuse the light, blinding oncoming traffic. They also make you look like you just ram-raided Halfords and are best avoided unless you want to hang out with the rest of the HID conversion owning crowd and their Citroen Saxos at your local McDonald's car park.

I covered over 1,000 miles with Ant in my 997 this weekend as he followed or passed me in his 964 and the Osrams performed brilliantly, giving modern colour and brightness to an older lamp without any of the nasty light diffusion and chavvy blueness of HID conversion kits. No idea how good there were from Ant's point of view but I've fitted a set of these Osrams to a mkII Elise and a mkIV VW Golf in the past and they have always been superb, I really cannot recommend them highly enough.

StanUK951

Thanks DYKWIA. I'll let everyone know how the Osram's perform. The legal technicalities seem to vary depending on who you ask. The MOT guidance seems to suggest they are legal with self levelling headlights. Our headlights do not self level. It doesn't mention how the light is diffused by the headlamp but I can see your point. I've been flashed by people in cars with xenon's that were factory fitted... I think it takes more than some HID headlamps to make a 911 into hot hatch cruiser!

If I don't get scared wondering where the sharp left hander came from next time I drive on dark roads I will be happy!

f@tboy

Thanks DYKWIA. I'm surprised you need headlights at all, so good must be your view from up there ;-)

aircooledbug

Stan, I have fitted them. Fitted one and turned the lamps on (did it at night). They claim about 30% brighter and from what I could see I have no reason to question it. Much whiter light too. Like you I was going to go for a HID kit but – DYKWIA suggested the Osrams. Decent improvement over standard.

BillyB

I'm getting Osrams too and will report back with my findings.

newsboy

I would like to order the Osram Nightbreaker Plus. Would this be the 9004 bulb? I can't seem to find any?

StanUK951

I got them here:

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/os...r-h4-two-bulbs

Also got these:

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/t4...arm-white-twin

The LED's are not really legal but I can't see there being too much of an issue at MOT time with these and they might help the main and dipped beam.

Thanks antgtv. Got my lamps now. If I get home from work before 10pm tonight, I'll fit em...

BillyB

newsboy - thats what I ordered