H-4 Conversion/Pros-Cons

So Im looking to go with the H-4 Conversion headlights. I have realized these come in different forms of the plastic lens, glass lens, and some have this little eyeball looking thing in the middle of the headlights and some dont, which is the best to go with and does anybody have pics of a Mazda with this H-4 done?

heres a old pic of mine they were APC glass front with plastic backs they worked pretty good never melted with 100 watt bulbs either.

just about anything will give more light, but I used the glass lens type on my last mazda. The "diamond back" looks cheap and ugly, and the "eyeball" type are just diamond backs with a projector lens in front, even uglier. Just my opinion.

Mine were Cibie, not cheap at 170 bucks without bulbs, but looked like two welding arcs on the front of my truck with 100 watt bulbs.

do not go with the projector lights they do not put out enough light to see any thing at night ang you wont like the performance or yellowing of the lense with the plastic lense so i would go with glass lenses and remember you get what you pay for Hella still makes h4 convesions and they put out like 50% more light than stock put its up to you on the look you want so good luck

If you can find a decent housing for the H4 and you have the money go HID! FBI sells an HID Kit for the H4's that has a reasonable price tag if your a member....

http://www.fbirides.com/product.asp?idno=8792

Good Luck!

OH! As for the HID Kit you can always get em on eBay....but you never know when you venture into the depths of the eBay....

Get hella bosch or cibie for a regular conversion lamp and go with PIAA's Silverstars or a good brand name bulb if you actually care about the light ouput.....As well if you want better light out of them put an upgraded wiring harness in with bigger power, ground and relays....costs another 50 bucks or so but makes a visible difference.....



If you want really good light there is a company out there that has HID square housings taht are actually optically set up for HID, and not just a cheapo HID bulb in an H$ housing....

Originally posted by gravity5



If you want really good light there is a company out there that has HID square housings taht are actually optically set up for HID, and not just a cheapo HID bulb in an H4 housing....

You are referring to the Sylvania Xenarc system. It was super bad, but they quit making HID retrofits. Sometimes they show up on Jeep websites or even ebay.

You are right though, you should NOT put an HID bulb in an H4 housing, The reflector design of an H4 is patterned for the conical light of an H4 bulb, whereas HID is mor spherical. Someone on here sent me some HID headlights so that I could measure the reflectors and preliminary measurments confirm the reflector assembly of an HID bulb is more concave to focus the light reflection. If you use an HID bulb in an H4 housing, the "flatter" reflector will disperse light in a wider pattern, resulting in glare.

People always seem to confuse the extra glare of HID as "having more light". Glare looks bright, but usually is not, think DRL, where the highbeam glows at roughly 60%. The glare is enough to be annoying, but driving at night with DRL's is a lost proposition. Even though in the Daytime DRL's LOOK brighhter than low beams.

You know what I really hate though? Is jerks who drive around with their fog lights on. I always roll down my window and ask if it is foggy. And dont give me that crap about being driving lights, thats even worse. Either way, fog or driving, your owners manual TELLS YOU its illegal to use them when there is oncoming traffic unless there is fog. I hate Lexus drivers especially, because you have to physically remember to turn the fogs on EVERY TIME you start the car. [/rant]

O.K........note to self....turn off "driving lights" when driving by Russ-D's house. LOL!Originally posted by Russ-D



Originally posted by gravity5



If you want really good light there is a company out there that has HID square housings taht are actually optically set up for HID, and not just a cheapo HID bulb in an H4 housing....

You are referring to the Sylvania Xenarc system. It was super bad, but they quit making HID retrofits. Sometimes they show up on Jeep websites or even ebay.

You are right though, you should NOT put an HID bulb in an H4 housing, The reflector design of an H4 is patterned for the conical light of an H4 bulb, whereas HID is mor spherical. Someone on here sent me some HID headlights so that I could measure the reflectors and preliminary measurments confirm the reflector assembly of an HID bulb is more concave to focus the light reflection. If you use an HID bulb in an H4 housing, the "flatter" reflector will disperse light in a wider pattern, resulting in glare.

People always seem to confuse the extra glare of HID as "having more light". Glare looks bright, but usually is not, think DRL, where the highbeam glows at roughly 60%. The glare is enough to be annoying, but driving at night with DRL's is a lost proposition. Even though in the Daytime DRL's LOOK brighhter than low beams.

You know what I really hate though? Is jerks who drive around with their fog lights on. I always roll down my window and ask if it is foggy. And dont give me that crap about being driving lights, thats even worse. Either way, fog or driving, your owners manual TELLS YOU its illegal to use them when there is oncoming traffic unless there is fog. I hate Lexus drivers especially, because you have to physically remember to turn the fogs on EVERY TIME you start the car. [/rant]