Am I missing something? what is the desire for this headlight upgrade? Its very expensive. Does it add to the value? Please enlighten me, maybe I want the option. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

 

Rolo,

My car came with the Litronic headlights. Personally I don't think they are that fantastic. I do have to admit that I don't see as well at night as I used to so that may be the problem.

I wonder whether the aftermarket HID lights are better than what came with the car.

I also wonder whether the headlight lens is made of glass or plastic. If it's plastic I don't think there is much hope as the optical quality probably would not be as good as the same headlight made with a high quality glass lens.

 

Rolo,
its all about the light output.
Litronics (Porsche's name for HIDs) use 35W discharge bulbs rather than tungsten fillaments,
which produce around 80% more light output than conventional 55w bulbs.

Drive a new BMW/Audi/VW/Merc etc with HID (sometimes also called xenon) and see what you think.

IMO it is THE best non performance upgrade you can do to the car if you ever drive at night.

Liteswap, and other makes give similar if not the same performance for significantly less money than fitting an OE Litronic kit.

I hope this brief description helps.

Cheers,
John.

 

Rolo/Ron
The effectiveness of our headlights is limited by their poor design regardless of the light source. With H1 halogens they suck, with HID they approach good (not great) lighting. The difference is significant.
Litronics is no better/nor worse than quality aftermarkets. The projector lenses are glass FWIW.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Ron:
<strong>I wonder whether the aftermarket HID lights are better than what came with the car.

I also wonder whether the headlight lens is made of glass or plastic. If it's plastic I don't think there is much hope as the optical quality probably would not be as good as the same headlight made with a high quality glass lens.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Ron,
IMO there is no noticeable difference with the light output of aftermarket kits. I compared my install with a Turbo4S that had factory Litronics, and there was no difference.

Also, both the low beam lense and the overal light lense are made from glass.
The outer glass can be unclipped, and it would be worth giving it a good clean once in a while (say once every year or so).

Cheers,
John.

 

Evening Dan <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Cheers,
John.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by John W:
<strong>Evening ...</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">The time when HID lighting really begins to shine ...

John - we've been at it too long when we start stepping on each other's posts, but at least we're consistent.

 

Thanks all, You guys are a great resourse. I don't think I need the lights. I don't drive all that much at nite (two young kids) the wife and I don't get out much

Mostly just drive my sweetheart on beautifull spring and summer days.

 

I recently upgraded to a new set of Factory 993 Litronic headlight Kit. The difference is HUGE! <img border="0" alt="[king]" title="" src="graemlins/r.gif" />

I often drive my 993 at night and in the early (pre-dawn) morning hours while out on business trips (only during Summer & Fall weather - I use my Audi Allroad during Winter).

I was very disappointed with the stock headlamp assemly's poor performance and found them to be almost dangerous! <img border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" title="" src="graemlins/cussing.gif" />

I highly recommend them. Get them while you can because Porsche discontinued them last Fall (the reason for the jump in prices!). <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

<img border="0" alt="[bigbye]" title="" src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" />

 

I recently purchased a fantastic 96 993tt but the lighting is lame. It has the Litronics of 1996 but these are very poor in light output, esp. brights, compared to aftermarket H-4's 55/100 on my 84 911 Targa. Are there options beyond the 96 versions?
Tom

 

Tom,
are you sure your car is actually fitted with litronics ??
I would suggest you remove one of the light assemblies, remove the rear cover, and take a look to see if it has a D2S bulb, or a normal H1 bulb.

I beleive the tts in the US did have Litronics, but no harm in checking. While you have the light unit out, give the glasses a good clean too, as well as the reflectors (need to remove the front glass to do the main reflector, and remove the D2S bulb to get to the dip beam reflector).

Dan, lol.
I thoughtit quite amusing we even posted at the same time

Cheers, <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />
John.