driving with you highbeams on all the time? How destracting are they to passing drivers, and the driver infront of you? etc. Thanks

 

no, the difference is minimal. the bulbs are upped to a higher wattage to make up for the inefficiencies in lighting. all those bulbs come with a coating to make it look nicer, but the coating reduces the light output.

 

Very true, however, APC makes an upgrade harness to maximize the output of the bulb. Also with out a harness, you're bound to melt your sockets.

 

SmoothMax can you give me a link to where I can buy one of these? Are they expensive? Do alot of guys really have trouble with melting sockets. Thanks

 

Everyone talks about melting the harness with the high wattage bulbs. I run 80/100 in the headlights and 85w in the fogs. I drive with the fogs on all the time, and when it rains, the highbeams are always on. No harness problems here. Hey, we drive Maximas, not Hyundais! Nissan has been know to make some quality stuff.

 

"to maximize the output of the bulb" <-- will a harness really do anything more than protect from melting???

 

It just makes it capeable of running higher wattage bulbs with lower risk of damage. From what i've learned.. of course a tinted blue bulb is going to give off less light than a regular bulb, but the color might be better. So inturn a higher wattage bulb makes the blue bulb give off equal light to a regular bulb, only a brighter color. Correct me if i'm wrong

So Heres my questions, What's brighter and gives off better visibility? PIAA Superwhite's or Overwatt APC's

 

yeah, I run 80/100 watt bulbs on the regular with no harness and I have no problems at all. now the 100 watt h-3's didn't work out... Every once in a while, someone will flash their brights at me thinking that I have mine on, so then I beam them and they understand that I'm on low beams.

 

I have 100w bulbs in my fog lites and I always use then with low beams. I have had no problem with anything melting, and I only occasionaly have anybody bright me, probably only once a month.

 

And I have had absolutely no problems... I've had Nokia bulbs before and they burn out, and burn out... (4-6 months) at a time and I bought these and have had no problems for almost 1 year now... I DID however put some Di-electric silicon (same as used for spark plugs) on the connection....

 

Same here. Been using 80/100w for over 3 months now, no problem.

 

Come back and talk to me in 6 months. I can then tell you "I told you so!". The headlight socket or wires will not melt overnight or the next day. It takes time. Give it 6 months and get ready to spent $300 to have your stock wirings fix. They do happen to Maximas. These people are just too ashamed to post. I should have written down their e-mail addresses. Keep running those 85w in the foglighs and get ready for them to crack.


[Edited by 1MAX2NV on 11-26-2000 at 11:58 PM]

 

blubs.

I got three people so far.

Max96-zxex@yahoo.com
BluethingSE-CmeAK@aol.com
AndyXXL-andrey_umass@yahoo.com

Anymore?? Post a thread people so I can put you down too =)

I'll check back on your guys after 6 months =)


[Edited by 1MAX2NV on 11-27-2000 at 12:00 AM]

 

Running overwattage bulbs without upgrading the wires and connectors is dangerous. I was talking to a Nissan parts rep and he told me that they have started to stock connectors for headlamps because of all the people are running overwattage bulbs and are melting the connectors.

If you haven't melted your connectors yet, wait until the Summer when you are driving in traffic at night when it's 80 degrees, then you'll see.

And if you aim your headlamps correctly, using overwattage bulbs would NOT be like driving with your highbeams on.

 

sorry for jumping in late on this thread...

but you know there's a difference in running 100watt bulbs for 3 months, averaging 30 minutes a night of usage and 3 months averaging 1 hour of usage. If you use the bulbs very little, say 20 minutes a night, it doesn't mean anything if you have had it for 2 years. The point is, the usage is based on how often and for how long are they on.

-Shing

 

Due to the wirings larger gauge diameter, there is less resistance in the circuit. Also, the upgrade harness pulls the power directly from the battery's hot terminal. Both of these instances allow for more current flow to the bulb. The bulb will draw whatever current it wants to, but the upgrade harness makes sure that a greater percentage of that gets to the bulb.

basically, even if you are running the standard 45/65W 9004s, you are still seeing a slight benefit.