I've searched through past threads, but I still have questions.
Will the Piaa superwhite in the fogs (H3) help improve visibility?
Which ones should I get 55w or 85w?
How does the visibility of hella yellowstars compare to the Piaa Superwhites?

 

I recently put in a set of Piaa 55w H3's. They are much, much better than the stock bulbs. I haven't used any other bulbs ( other than stock ) so I really can't compare...but the Piaa's have been great for me.

 

Is it worth the extra $3 per bulb to get the 85w bulbs? Would these higher wattage bulbs give me any problems?

 

Where did you get the PIAA bulbs and how much were they? Thanks

 

the yellow stars are very nice. i went ahead and got the 85 watts lights. big improvement.....

 

and they kept blowing. They lasted about a year each. I got tired of paying the price so I bought 20 standard halogen bulbs for $10. You can't beat that.

 

I had the Piaa Super White H3's 85 watt and i loved them. Now im running the Hella Yellow Star H3's 85 watt and they are good for looks only. Im gonna go back my Piaa's cause they like havin a second set of headlights on. My visiblity was almost doubled at night. My 2cents.

With stock plastic lenses on the 97-99 DONT BUY 85WATT bulbs, they will melt the lenses and burn the $hit out of them. The highest should be 55watt. I have a 96 with glass so im ok with the 85watt H3's.

[Edited by ny96maxse on 01-08-2001 at 11:33 PM]

 

hey ny96, do you think you can post some pics of how those 85w yellowstars look? i never had a chance to see how they look. thanks

 

Aren't the foglights glass lenses in all fourth gens? I thought it was the main housing where there was a difference.

 

i thought it was glass. the headlights are plastic in the 97-97 maxs. the yellostars improved lighting for me a lot.

 

I believe the Hella bulbs would work better for you in fog. Yellow light is supposed to cut through fog much better than white light. White light reflects off of fog back at the driver and in a way counteracts the function of the fog lights. Get yellow ones, wish I had.

 

platinumplus:

I just put the Hella 85W YellowStars in my 95 SE for the fog visibility factor but haven't had any foggy conditions to test them. As far as looks you can't tell that they are actually yellow until very close-up.

I believe I read on this BBS somewhere that it is difficult to even see the yellow from a distance. I believe the thread had something to do with tinting the actaul glass fog lens yellow to get the 'Lexus Style' effect...

 

so what can you compare these yellowstars to? do they look like regular halogens?i also remember someone on this bbs who actually painted his factory foglights (the glass and reflector...i think) yellow, it was a black 4th gen...do you remember who that was? he also had some pics up.....i have not heard one person complain about piaa s/w h3's,only praise......i think i'll give those a try.

 

Plain and simple. For poor weather conditions, yellow light is more effective...whiter light is less effective. PIAAs are expensive and personally, I can't justify spending $80 on bulbs.

As for the overwattage condition, 85 watt bulbs are a no-no in lamps with plastic lenses. Those with glass lenses would have to be careful...the glass will get very hot, and if they happen to live in colder climates, run the risk of cracked lenses due to cold rainwater striking the lens when the lamp has been on for a while.

The Acuras and Lexuses with yellow foglamps do not use a colored bulb. The manner in which they achieve the deep yellow light is to tint the reflector of the lamp yellow. Using a yellow tinted bulb like the Hella Yellowstars will not yield the deep yellor color when one looks at the front of the car, but yellow light will be cast on objects in front of the car.

For Hella Yellowstars see here:

http://www.rallylights.com

For Philips All Weathers see here:

http://www.autooptiks.com

 

http://www.wholesalehyperformance.com/index.html

They have the PIAA H3 bulbs for under $20 each. Since I already have the PIAA headlights, I figured that the PIAA fogs would go together real nice, but lately with the snow and the rain, I've wanted lights that'll improve visibility. To many decisions....

 

4th Gens have glass lenses. 5th gens have plastic lenses.

The housing is of lesser concern when it comes to heat. I have disassembled a few types of foglamps and headlamps and have found that the plastic used for the housings are a brittle, but high temperature sustaining plastic. They seem to be a composite with ceramic properties. The plastic lenses however seem to be a type of acrylic.

 

Where did you find H3's for under $20? Sounds like a good deal.

 

Follow the link....
Click lights and then Piaa bulbs. The standard wattage h3 bulbs are under $20, the 85w bulbs are a little over $20. Don't forget...this is EACH.

 

so, it is ok to run 85w when the clear part is glass and the rest of the housing is that gray plastic? what about the wiring? do you have to change it out?

i would like to use 85w bulbs too (i have superwhites on all front lights), so they blind oncoming traffic?

thanx