928 Head lights *~*~*~*FYI

stepson;13824 wrote: Herman Koster has developed a wiring loom (sold through Roger at 928sRus) that is a plug and play to increase the overall wattage of the headlamps at high beam. I know it works by somehow having both low and high beam on at the same time during high beam
usage. I know no other specifics about it, but there were several folk at the last breakfast GTG (02-02-13) raving about how well it worked.

I have Hermans set up on my GTS...........simply awesome:D

8"H4 (LHD of course) are the way to go but are technically illegal here in the States. We sell them both used and new. It is illegal to use them not sell them. The H5 8" are pretty bad due to the terrible lens pattern. They can be made better with a larger watt bulb but this can lead, in some cases, to issues with wiring. Lots of problems with HID conversions and be aware they are also illegal on a 928.
I have 8" H4's on a few of my cars. On my GTS I have Hermans kit and the lights "light up the sky" on high beam brights. Far superior to any other light configeration I have seen or used.

I should do Herman's deal on my '95!

I have the H4's on my '85 S2. They are illegal in the United States, but the first owner of my car re-installed them after the federalizer got done hacking up the car~

Good grief they work! These are the best headlights I have ever seen. Welcome to Florida, where you can install a 15,000 hp Russian NK-12 turboshaft engine in your 928, and the state will happily give you a license plate. We have NO inspection here AT ALL~

-I remember landing a Boeing 747 in Khabarovsk, Russia one night and wound up wishing that the landing lights on this airplane were the same as the headlights on my 928. Those H4's are VASTLY superior to US lights! I have them aimed WAY lower than the manuals talk about to keep people from flashing their brights at me, thinking that I have my high beams on!

N

Back in the day, I would run a 100-watt 4537 aircraft landing light bulb in the left high-beam light on the quad headlamp setup. You literally could see the bright green reflection from an interstate exit sign at over two miles on a Florida road...

Roger Tyson;13885 wrote: ...The H5 8" are pretty bad due to the terrible lens pattern. They can be made better with a larger watt bulb but this can lead, in some cases, to issues with wiring...

Roger - I disagree - the H5's can be made brighter with higher powered bulbs but IMHO this just makes them much worse. I don't think anybody should put higher powered bulbs in any DOT lens. The optics are poor - the focus system is just (intentionally!) designed badly. Light output has to be limited in the DOT pattern because otherwise the amount of spill that is not restricted from creating glare for other motorists becomes excessive.

In other words with DOT (including 8" H5) the only way you can see better is for others to see worse. Given that they are driving towards you at high speed just a few feet away - this is really not a smart trade off.

eCode/Euro pattern H4's spill almost no light where it shouldn't go - so when aimed right higher power bulbs only get you more light on the road not in oncoming motorists eyes.

There are no differences in wiring that will cause the stock wiring to have any more issues on H5 than on H4 for the same power bulbs. However the bulb connector for H4 has a much higher power capacity than the connector for H5. So the incidences of H5 bulb connectors melting with high power bulbs is far higher. For this reason I also don't recommend using an H5 to H4 converter (these are hard to find anyway).

I do recommend ceramic not plastic for the H4 connectors - easily sourced - ones with rubber boots are the best esp. if you live somewhere wet. H5 connectors are only available in plastic to my knowledge they at least do seal better.

Local relays get you brighter high and low beams, Herman's dual filament high beam gets you the most highbeam for sure - you need to use relays to do this, and beefing up the ground wire is a good idea. Just get the kit from Roger.

Alan