Litronic vs Halogen (pros and cons)
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Litronic vs Halogen (pros and cons)
My '99 C2 needs new headlights. The lenses are burned and attempting to bake one to replace the internal lense resulted in a broken external lense.
Looking around theres plenty of Litronic and Halogen headlights available. Most have missing or cracked rubber trim (not available separately from what I've read). Cleaner Halogen examples are coming into Litronic money territory so the question begs... are Litronics worth it?
I understand on 996.1 they are "plug and play" but I dont have the self leveling function (no biggie). But are they worth the added cost of bulbs down the road? Are they that much brighter/better? Is there a weight penalty?
If anyone has a set of either available for a decent price, feel free to PM me. Still not sure which way i'm going
Looking around theres plenty of Litronic and Halogen headlights available. Most have missing or cracked rubber trim (not available separately from what I've read). Cleaner Halogen examples are coming into Litronic money territory so the question begs... are Litronics worth it?
I understand on 996.1 they are "plug and play" but I dont have the self leveling function (no biggie). But are they worth the added cost of bulbs down the road? Are they that much brighter/better? Is there a weight penalty?
If anyone has a set of either available for a decent price, feel free to PM me. Still not sure which way i'm going
#2
Rennlist Member
Another option. If you come across a decent set of halogen housings, you could install LED bulbs, and come close to the brightness of HID bulbs. Some of the LED bulbs are designed for reflector housings and designed to replicate a halogen bulb. Some also have a stem configured to produce the cutoff similar to a projector setup. No personal experience, just an idea that might be worth investigating. Good luck with whatever way you go.
#3
Instructor
My '99 C2 needs new headlights. The lenses are burned and attempting to bake one to replace the internal lense resulted in a broken external lense.
Looking around theres plenty of Litronic and Halogen headlights available. Most have missing or cracked rubber trim (not available separately from what I've read). Cleaner Halogen examples are coming into Litronic money territory so the question begs... are Litronics worth it?
I understand on 996.1 they are "plug and play" but I dont have the self leveling function (no biggie). But are they worth the added cost of bulbs down the road? Are they that much brighter/better? Is there a weight penalty?
If anyone has a set of either available for a decent price, feel free to PM me. Still not sure which way i'm going
Looking around theres plenty of Litronic and Halogen headlights available. Most have missing or cracked rubber trim (not available separately from what I've read). Cleaner Halogen examples are coming into Litronic money territory so the question begs... are Litronics worth it?
I understand on 996.1 they are "plug and play" but I dont have the self leveling function (no biggie). But are they worth the added cost of bulbs down the road? Are they that much brighter/better? Is there a weight penalty?
If anyone has a set of either available for a decent price, feel free to PM me. Still not sure which way i'm going
#4
Rennlist Member
My wife’s 2010 987.2 boxster has halogens (projector) and my 2004 996.2 C4S and our 2005 955 Cayenne S both have the factory litronics. Our 2008 Audi A4 Avant also has the HID Xenon headlights. My experience on all 3 of the latter cars is that the litronics/HID are far and away the better headlight. Much clearer and brighter. Driving the boxster at night is a noticeable difference, so much so that I’m looking for LED replacements for her halogens. I’ve read that the LED bulbs can be nearly as good as the HID, but there’s a lot of info out there that I have yet to sort out (incl differences in performance in projector vs reflector lens and scary stuff about burning things). If you can afford the factory litronics I think you won’t be disappointed. But if you find you are happy with an LED replacement please post about it!
#5
Pro
Thread Starter
I ended up finding a good deal on some Halogen lights so they are incoming but I will likely try upgrading the bulbs this summer.
Of course, as I'm driving home yesterday, I saw a 986S driving on the other side of the road with Litronics BLAZING!!!!
Maybe i'll upgrade the headlights (again) this summer LOL
Of course, as I'm driving home yesterday, I saw a 986S driving on the other side of the road with Litronics BLAZING!!!!
Maybe i'll upgrade the headlights (again) this summer LOL
#7
Pro
Thread Starter
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#8
Try Sylvania Silver Star halogen bulbs. I found them to be a big improvement over standard halogen bulbs.
#9
Drifting
For the money, there are some great LED bulbs on the market now. They’ve come a long way in a couple of years and work much better in halogen reflectors. I have some Hikari on my Land Crusier fogs and high beams that are great, but I am probably going to try the Morimoto 2 Stroke 2.0 on my 996 this year.
#10
Rennlist Member
I used Silver Star and they are significantly better than standard OEM (in my Ridgeline), however their lifespan is VERY limited. Fine if you don't drive your car much, but on a daily driver, I have yet to get more than 12 months out of a bulb over about a 5 yr period, and yes, I stubbornly stuck with replacing with same Silver Stars bulbs, but have given up finally this year.
#11
Race Car