Steve 96C4S

Oh my... Joe from Alexandria helped me install my HID's 2 months ago and I haven't driven my car since that day as it's been cold and snowy with lots of salt on the roads. I truly hasn't rained much in 2 months to clear away the salt, but I'm sick of not driving the car. Well, it finally warmed up a bit this week and I took it out for a drive, and also a night time drive, forgetting I had the new lights. I only forgot I had them for about 1 second, as the moment I left my garage, the difference was amazing! I never would have imagined that the difference would have been like night and day (pun intended) between my stock lights and these HID's. It's the best $270 I have spent on this car. The first speed bump I hit with that while reflective paint on it was incredibly luminated compared to my old lights. The white reflective paint on the side of the roads and between lanes was amazingly illuminated in comparison to my old set up. Everything was tremendously brighter. I could see MUCH furthur down the road. The soft bluish hue was pleasing and I felt like I was driving a new car.

If you were considering upgrading to HID lights, JUST DO IT! I can't explain in words how different the experience of driving at night with the HID's and without them are. It's something that has to be experienced behind the steering wheel to understand. As a point of reference, I had a 1995 740i BMW for 5 years without HID lights. I got a 2001 740i Sport with HID's last year and of course I noticed the difference. The thing is, because the 993 is so much lower to the ground than my 740i, the difference seems TWICE as substantial in the 993 compared to the higher up BMW.

Lovin' my "new" ride I haven't needed to use the new Silverstar H-1 high beams yet, but when I do, I'm sure they'll be shockingly brighter, too.









Steve R

PedroNole

Glad it worked out. I was a day away from doing my install when I crunched the front end..... Now I'm thinking, maybe the insurance man doesn't know the difference between stock and Litronic....

akolodesh

HID's are definitely the way to go. Enjoy!

mrsullivan

sorry that i didnt follow...which HID kit did you upgrade to?

PedroNole

The one we all did the big group buy on a couple of months ago.

Chuck W.

mrsullivan.....The below link is to the eBay vendor we used for the group buy. Great product and price. You want 4300K H1 bulbs. Good Luck....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=WDVW&tc=photo

TrackJunke

sorry if this was already covered, but do these retain the stock pull out feature of the lights? is there an install writeup ?

Chuck W.

Yes, they retain the pull out feature. He is a past post link on the subject with install writeup....

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-forum/180644-how-to-install-hid-high-and-low-beam-lights.html

texas911

HID alternative....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

Midnight C4S

I think I said this before but I had the same sensation as Steve R when I turned on the new HID lights on the 993. My Acura TLS has them but being low and having known what the stock 993 lights did before really points out the difference. Reflective signs and bumps show up in places where I didn't know they existed. It's like I'm suddenly driving on an airport runway there are so many new reflective lights that those HID's pick up and so far down the road too.

Steve 96C4S

Midnight C4S - Ditto, ditto, ditto! I can't believe I didn't do this a year ago when I first heard about it. I think it was that outlandishly low price of $270 that got me. I had always thought - "ehhhh, I don't need it. My lights aren't THAT bad". I was dead wrong - my lights suc*ed compared to what I have now in this HID's.

I can't wait to take a very long road trip at night now. Everything is illuminated so brilliantly. I can't imagine ever selling this car. I hope to keep upgrading it little by little over the years, till it has every single option that it could possibly have! As long as someone doesn't hit me or I total the car on my own, this will probably be my last Porsche.

I don't like the looks of the newer ones, for me. I see people driving the newer 911's and while they are sharp looking, they aren't my cup of tea. I thought that I would want a 996 TT one day, but the more I see them around town, the less I want one. To me, they're just TOO something... I can't put my finger on it, but when I see one, I don't think "that's me" like I do when I see the more modest looking 993. I saw a guy in a 996 today that had this HUGE aero wing on it and it just looked silly to me.

Certainly not trying to start any 996 vs 993 war, I just decided this week that I would never want one. Though, my father always told me to never say never .

Steve

Greg H.

Just out of curiousity, I thought Catz got out of the market a couple of years ago because these conversions were outlawed. Did something change again?

Greg H.

Steve 96C4S

Greg - if you're referring to the HID kit that I got, it wasn't the Catz unit. I don't think you can get the Catz unit anywhere any longer. I got the this one...


Steve

STLPCA

Not exactly. As has been posted many times, a 1 piece combined igniter/ballast must either be wedged into the fender w/its wires extending into the headlight or if mounted in the trunk its wires must be disconnected before the headlight is fully removed. In either case, the wiring cannot be through the oem slide in connections as is done w/oem (separate igniter & ballast) Litronics.

Nothing has changed. No aftermarket HID kits are DOT street legal in the US. As a result, the major players, like Catz, left the US market. The sellers that remain are small guys flying under the radar.

solsrch

Steve,
This is great - I'm glad you're loving the new set up. Believe it or not, I still don't have my new lights installed, since we're still waiting for spring. My only request, just don't change the meet and drive schedule to a night event
btw, A LOT of 996s and even a GT3 at last week's autocross. They don't stir my soul at all either. I can see a track car or a 993TT in the future if things improve financially, but I can't foresee not having this car.