widebodytarga

I have an 08 Targa 4 with halogen headlights. I'd like to upgrade the bulbs to something with a whiter HID like appearance then the stock bulbs. Will using a higher wattage bulb hurt the car in any way? I was thinking of upgrading from 55 to 70 watt bulbs.

Dennis C

Be careful. Higher wattage bulbs run much hotter and have been known to melt connectors and to cause permanent burn marks on the inside of the headlight lens.

Typically the higher color temperature is achieved by putting a blue or purple tint on the glass of the bulb. This essentially creates light that is more blue, with a color temperature above 5,000 K. While this may look better from afar, it doesn't provide good performance in terms of visibility. The human eye has evolved to provide the best performance in natural sunlight. Natural sunlight is approximately 4,300 K. The stock HID headlight systems are 4,300 K and they project a very white light onto the road, just like natural sunlight. They may appear to be blue or purple when you see a car approaching, but the light on the road is white, just above the yellow color temperature range.

Because of the poor visibility of higher color temperature bulbs, the manufacturers crank up the wattage in an attempt to put more light onto the road. There may be more light, but it's not good light for visibility. This is one of the reasons that fog lights are amber/yellow. The light is more usable.

Have you ever noticed what color the lights are on the steps in a movie theater? They are blue. They are blue because they won't distract you from the film. Have you ever noticed how many people trip on the steps in a movie theater? Lots of people trip. This is because your eye doesn't work well with blue light, and depth perception is really adversely impacted. I would never want headlights that provided poor performance, especially in a situation like driving on a back road with no street lights on a rainy night.

Sorry for the rant there... I just feel that it's very important to make sure that you don't give up performance in pursuit of a certain look. You might try a high performance halogen bulb that has a higher color temperature - something like a Sylvania Silverstar.

BIG smoke

To support the Texan in the mountains.
As non porsche application, I find replacing a bulb with a new bulb is often enough of an improvement in colour and clarity. A new GE or Sylvania is a vast improvement from my old eom bulbs. They do degrade over time. I too am worried about increasing power and heat distribution. I have seen plenty of melted and burnt 996 headlights. Not so many 997 lights though?

dalancroft

Had a bulb go out in my little green Miata, replaced them with Sylvania Silverstars. Very light, bright light -- a noticeable improvement.

widebodytarga

I like the Sylvania Silverstars and also have been researching the Hella Xenon Blue bulbs. Anyone have any experience with the Hella's? They seem to have decent reviews and are also 55 watts.

http://www.hella.com/hella-za/assets..._2012_LRes.pdf

Xenon Blue's are on page 26.

BIG smoke

change both side so they match in colour.

Little Green

and DON'T TOUCH THE GLASS on your new bulbs. Phillips also makes a very bright white bulb that is fantastic. Hellas are very bright as well but usually $10 more than Phillips or Sylvania top tier bulbs($39.99 pair) and are not any brighter in my opinion. I work for for a major automotive retailer(one of the top three) at the corporate office as a Director of Merchandising and trust me I have tried every kind of bulb. We switched over from Sylvania to Phillips about a year ago and still carry Hellas in all super centers. Can't go wrong with a good top tier branded bulb. Do not go higher Wattage.
Caesar

jhbrennan

As others have said - stay away from higher wattage - the OEM wiring may be at risk and anything plastic inside the lens. I've had good experience with Hoenn - their higher end bulbs seem to be whiter.
http://www.hoen-usa.com/index.htm

Sporty

I would like to do the same. jhb: The Hoens look like the ticket with their xenonmatch, but, they are listed at 70 watts (vs 55)??

slicky rick

Actually one option i might consider if the old halogen bulbs were h7's would be the 65w rallye bulbs from osram. I doubt the 10 w diff would create havok. I used his bulb on my w140 and after 5 years everything looks ok. On the contrary to my 201 that i used 85w and 100w bulbs...i even replaced the wirings with ceramic headlight sockets and soldered new thicker wires including a relay set for high and low beams...still burned out lines and connectors! And headlight housings.

widebodytarga

After doing some more research it appears the Hella's arent going to be white enough to justify the purchase. Does anyone have any experience with Nokya bulbs? They have a 55w 7000k bulb that gives off a nice HID look. Phillips Crystal Vision bulbs also seem well rated as do the PIAA Pure White's.

Sporty

I put the PIAA's in a past MB E350 in an attempt to have a HID look. They were a little better than the stock halogens in terms of appearance but still not white enough. Also one burned out after six months so I would not recommend. Look at the HOEN site that show examples, however, the 70watts scares me. There is a place in Jersey ("Lightworks") that will do a professional HID conversion for est about $1,200, but it will be done right (based on reviews, etc i'v read). Of course I'd rather find some halogens that replicate the look as it is much less expensive and trouble to install.