Headlight upgrade

Chat about your MKIII (86C) inc GT/G40 Polo
hardhitter
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Headlight upgrade

Post by hardhitter »

For all you Mk 3 owners suffering with poor headlights (thats pretty much everyone) heres how to improve them.

First off make sure you headlight alignment is correct. This is checked on the MOT, but if you have adjusted the ride height since then get them checked. Most MOT placese will do this for a small charge or free if your lucky !

Decent headlight bulbs, don't get any of those barry ones off ebay or the like. Get yourself some philips vision plus H4's (available from powerbulbs.com) that are standard wattage, so not illegal. They will have a slight improvement over normal ones and give you a good base for the next mod.

Headlight wiring loom, they make a huge improvemennt to lighting due to the voltage drop in the standard wiring. The voltage drop in these are negligible, so you get the full voltage and brighter beam. You can see so much further and the light is a very intense white. These are avilable from pitstop developments, where i got mine from.
The only thing i found is the negative battery lead was a couple of inches shorter than I would of liked, but it still fitted ok.

After these three steps you will be amazed how good the polo headlights can be. Driving at night is a lot more enjoyable.

Money well spent I think. 8)
D4V1D
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Post by D4V1D »

how much was the loom.
just wondering if it would be cheaper to make it at home... :D
Krupa
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Post by Krupa »

Cool, gonna have to invest in this for mine!

I'd imagine uprated headlights are a must for the roads around your place Dan!
DelG40
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Post by DelG40 »

I already have Phillips Vision Plus bulbs, and have done for a while now (bought from www.powerbulbs.co.uk ). They really are fantastic, not only are they a super bright white (which improves the asthetics of your car) but there really is a LOT more light on the road. A real improvement. I've also just recently upgraded my sidelight bulbs with some xenon white ones from www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk

Lamp codes:

Full/dipped: H4
Sidelights: 233
Steve_O
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Post by Steve_O »

I've given my headlights the full treatment...

1) Washed them out

2) Fitted Philips Vision Plus bulbs

3) Uprated Wiring Loom (DIY)

Venom do an uprated loom for 65 quid - but the parts (4 relays and 2 waterproof fuseholders) cost less than a tenner.

Would be interested to see how much the pitstop one is tho!!
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SpikeyG40
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Post by SpikeyG40 »

thanx for the info!

will be looking into this for my g40!! :lol:
amstrange1
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Post by amstrange1 »

We need pics Barningfield! Do the PSD ones come with Gucci waterproof relay boxes?
Gareth_GT_Hatch
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Post by Gareth_GT_Hatch »

yeah before and after pics would have been good, or better yet one side sorted and the other side not. Good effort though. :D
Steve_O
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Post by Steve_O »

Gareth_GT_Hatch wrote:yeah before and after pics would have been good, or better yet one side sorted and the other side not. Good effort though. :D
I can do that on mine by rerouting the wiring slightly. I've actually got a spare fly lead in the car in case one of the relays fails!!

Nothing's broken yet tho - touch wood!! :roll:
Krupa
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Post by Krupa »

If you think Polo headlights are dim, you should see Proton ones!

My mate's got a J plate Proton something and he was following me into Cardiff after Uni, lights on dipped beam.

I swear it was like he had his sidelights on! :shock:
Steve_O
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Post by Steve_O »

Ok guys - I was feeling bored so I went out and did a bit of reverse engineering. I must say I'm astounded by the results...

The golf was parked a bit too close in front to get a head on pic - but here it is from the side...

Image

From the other side...

Image

And projection onto the golf parked in front...

Image

Now these pics aren't much to go by, but my Mk1 human eyeball backs up the results. The relayed light seems nearly twice as bright as the original!! :o

This is the first time I've seen a comparison and I'm blown away by it quite frankly!! The only thing I did before was measure the voltage drop, which was 0.5V after (using the original earth) compared to 1.5V before.

It's obviously the last couple of volts which really light the bulb up!!

I'd be interested to get 14.4V through it now!!

The current battery kicks out about 13
DelG40
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Post by DelG40 »

Thought I'd do the same and show you the effect of simply upgrading both bulbs, with no uprated wiring loom.

Dipped (Phillips Vision Plus)

Image

Projection

Image

Sidelights (AutobulbsDirect Xenon Extreme White)

Image
Petrified
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Post by Petrified »

I was planning to clean my lights out and upgrade the bulbs. I may, if I have time replace the one light (which has been cleaned) with a new phillips brigher bulb. And get a few pics.

So one light will be clean with brighter bulb and the other will not be clean with original bulb.

will perhaps get pics on wednesday.

James,
Steve_O
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Post by Steve_O »

Blimey Del - those sidelights look BRIGHT!! 8)

Your bulbs look a lot whiter than mine - even tho I've got the same!!

Is that to do with the sidelights - or just your camera??
hardhitter
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Post by hardhitter »

I have some pics to upload soon. They are before and after, which gives you an idea of how much improvement there was. The loom is plug and play, and easy to reverse if needed.

I need to get some of those sidelight bulbs like Del has, to finish it all off.
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