T-One

Is there a high and low beam with the PIAA Super Whites? I've heard that with some aftermarket HID's, there is no high and low beam. They are always on high beam or very bright.

1/3There2/3ToGo

If Im not mistaken the PIAA super white bulbs are not true HID lights, but close to it. I use to have some kind of PIAA headlights in my old max and they had both high and low beam - I think they were super white bulbs but Im not sure. In low beam they are brighter though - noticably so. Hope this helped.

K

Nine7Max

#1 no regular bulb is "close to" HID #2 PIAA Superwhites are just a bulb replacement, cost around $40 and you just plug em in. Real aftermarket HID's you loose your high beams but they run around $500

1/3There2/3ToGo

By "close to" I was refering to the fact that they are the brightest bulbs you can get without doing a complete HID wiring kit and all that stuff.

K

breaux124

iTrader: (1)

I have the Piaa superwhites and they aren't much different from stock. They are whiter, but not really brighter. If you want bright, your best bet is to get higher wattage bulbs and an upgraded wire harness.

Save the cash for your headlights and don't get the Piaa superwhites. The fogs are a totally different story though.

jran76

They do have a high and low beam, they are more expensive than most, but I think the bulbs are nice for both heads/fogs. The platinum series is 85/110w, which is the stongest you will find other than HID (which are much better, but no high beam and expensive)

tamtoro

Hey.. where can I get the bulbs for the fog lights? are they legal?

I use the PIAA superwhites now.. It's almost the same as the original for the low beam.. but I notice that the high beam is much brighter...
If you want to use brighter bulbs, I heard that the PIAA extreme white or Hyper bulbs are brighter.. but they are not legal..

shirtboy

Hi there,
I do agree with Nine7Max and Breaux124 100%. I did retrofit my headlights for quite 2 years now ('95), the kit is just "plug'n play" so you can go back to stock set up in no time for state inspection (I lived in VA). I spent hundreds of dollars on the bulbs but ended up with the kit, used to have PIAA SUPER WHITE 80/100, nothing can compare to true HIDs, I know it'll cost you a fortune but it will give you what you are looking for. BTW, if you do not use or NEVER use high beam, HID kit is the way to go if you are looking for BRIGHTER bulbs. It's just my opinion and my experienced.
You can check out these sites for morre info....

www.fosmo.com, www.autolamps-online.com, http://www.galaxymall.com/auto/microlite/products.html

I hope this could help you.

j_bryan

iTrader: (1)

I have a pair of brand new PIAA superwhites for the fog lights (H3's). Stock wattage is 55w, but these PIAA's are 80w. If you want then, let me know.

tamtoro

Is it gonna damage the wire if we use the 80w bulbs?

breaux124

iTrader: (1)

I'm not exactly sure where you heard that the Piaa Xtremes are illegal, they are just a replacement bulb. The only thing that makes a certain bulb illegal is the color, and these are an acceptable color, so they are NOT illegal.

You can get the bulbs everywhere.
Here are some place to check out:
http://nextcollection.com/index.cfm
http://autosupermart.com/shopcart/pi...hitebulbs.html

There are Piaa superwhites, Piaa Xtreme, and Piaa Plasma
The plasma are the brightest, but cost $$$

As for increasing to a higher wattage fog light, it's NOT recommended. The higher wattage makes the bulb brighter AND much hotter. So it'll either melt the housing (for those with plastic housings) or may cause the glass to crack because of the extreme thermal differences (ex. real hot glass, quickly cooled by rain = chance of cracked lense)

If you want true better visibility, a more yellow light is better cause it does not reflect back as much. Look at HellaYellowstars.

_

j_bryan

iTrader: (1)

The 80w bulbs will significantly increase heat output and may cause damage to wires as well as fog light housing. I don't know if an upgrade harness exists for the fogs, but if so, that would help the wires handle the excess power. Still, heat is still an issue and, as mentioned above, these 80w kick out some serious heat!

So, unless you have a plan to handle the heat, you may want to go w/ the 55w PIAAs instead of 80w.

If you won't settle for anything less than 80w PIAA H3's, I'll sell mine to you.

tamtoro

oh.. I guess I am going to use the 55W bulbs then. My bulb just exploded about a month ago and it broke the assembly. I ended up paying 150 dollars more just for a bulb.

Btw, does anyone know how to check which bulbs are legal?

And also, the 1157 bulbs are used for corner lights right? What's the difference between those and the 1156?

Chunger

iTrader: (1)

1156 = single element
1157 = dual element

TarHeelMax

PIAA 9004 Super White Platinum = street legal
PIAA H4 Super White Platinum, Xtreme White, Super Plasma = not street legal
PIAA H3 Super White Platinum, Xtreme White, Super Plasma, Ion Crystal = not street legal

Vyrus

iTrader: (4)

If you buy the Nokya 80/100 headlight bulbs, you are not supposed to need wiring harnesses. They are lab tested and proven not to burn out sockets. I don't know if the PIAA are or aren't. The Nokya are purple, but REALLY bright and you can get them on eBay for $20 or $30.