[Frost__2001]

well I don't know if I have Silverstarts in my car but on the package when I got the stocker light bulbs for my Foci when I switched back I got one that said " Ghost in the Machine " on the package I think it was just over $42 for the pair of light bulbs, I only had to replace on bulb recently and that is over 9 months usage on it, the other light bulb is going strong.


All I know is I got the middle of the rack at crappy tire and they are good bulbs.

[Flofocus]

Any of you remember popkorn from DSCR?

I bought his hellas what......4 years ago?

Still orginal bulbs in em ;) :D

[NOS2Go4Me]

Hellas are expensive, no? Also, don't they require mounting adapters or wiring adapters or somesuch?

The only other immediate benefit to Hellas is that I can paint the housings bodycolour, no?

[Flofocus]

You gotta pay to play (please dont take offense to that) :huh:

My hellas were plug and play.

Quote:The only other immediate benefit to Hellas is that I can paint the housings bodycolour, no?

Well that and your gonna get better lighting from them. Night and day difference when I went to the hellas, especially the high beams.

[NOS2Go4Me]

I don't mind paying for things that work as they're intended to.

Obviously a 120-dollar set of headlight bulbs isn't smart if they last less than 2 years. Obviously I haven't quite gotten my money's worth out of these Silverstars. However, given they were subjected to massive DRL duty, maybe I have.

I don't mind paying for things. What I do mind is paying for things, not having them go as expected, and then having to jury-rig things so I can make them work in the interim until a fix is found, etc etc. That's why I'd rather S/C a TB-fed supercharger kit than buy some home-made, low-run turbo setup. I don't have the time of day to piss with tuning settings with a tuner that has never dealt with my particular engine before.

Come after Christmas, there will probably be a bit of play money. I'll have different options available. Custom / new headlights could be one of them. Given the cost of gas and total cost of ownership vs. what I've already spent on the car, I'd rather mod the current Focus a tad than sell it and buy something new.

So, Hellas aren't excluded. They're just not on the short-term radar.

[naz]

dont bother with piaa or silverstars.

if you are cheapo but want more light output get a heavy duty wiring harness and a $10 pair of 100w h4 untinted bulbs. your headlights will have some melting in the part closest to the bulb, but the light output will be awesome.

or just pony up for something with a H7 bulb.. i think the ST170 headlights and the hellas have those? or just get MACHs.

piaa and silverstars, and any other 'superwhite' 'hyperwhite' etc bulbs are marketing crap and a waste of money

[Frost__2001]

naz,Oct 19 2005, 01:27 AM Wrote:or just pony up for something with a H7 bulb.. i think the ST170 headlights and the hellas have those? or just get MACHs.

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You would be correct. Although some Hella's use H9, and H1 for high beams all depends on how old the product is, like my old set using a double set of H7's. ST170's use H7 for low and H1's for high beams.

[SVT ZX3]

I think GE makes some replacement bulbs called "nighthawks". I can't comment on their quality though, as I have never tried them. The Hella's seem like a good way to go, but I've seen more than a few guys who have had the housing or lense crack.

[Frost__2001]

Well if your thinking of changing the lights all together I'd suggest going euro on them, as you can then change the upper grille if you went with the 2002 Facelift model or ST170's, Or since you did the DRL mod you could get the HID's.

I honestly Would avoid getting hella's after all the issues, the cracking of the light in the winter, not to mention the near miss on a fire...... and harness replacement I had... I'm now not the only one on here that has had a issue with a Hella product. If you do get a Hella Product I will tell you get a good warentee with them if you can get it, and when you start to have issues with them get rid of them if you can afford it.

[vealzx3]

Don't have much to say, but I can say that the silverstars are definatly way too fragile. Can't even close your hood or hit a pothole without blowing those things.

[ANTHONYD]

i recommend stock lights. they work.

[guilty]

If you want a reliable headlight with improved lighting, I'd say get a set of the ST170/euro 2002+ headlights. They arent *that* expensive considering you get OEM Ford of Europe quality, better light output, signal light functionality (which gives you some options of running different grills), style upgrade (everyone loves the euro style), etc.

[NOS2Go4Me]

Apparently my other headlights came with Eurolite 60/55W H4s. Says so right on the buggers. And they're not yellow, so meesa happy Focus driver.

OK, headlight n00b here *puts on headlight n00b hat*. Which are the ST170s? Are they the ones with the dual enclosed HID beams? The enclosures themselves are similar in dimension to the stock NA Focus Gen 1s, but the guts are way different?

And how much is not *that* expensive? I take it Mitch can get them?

And does buying them relocate the signals to the headlight enclosures? Yay, more wiring that needs to be done perfectly to ensure nothing fries at the wrong moment.

[SVT ZX3]

ZX3TUNING,Oct 5 2005, 01:23 AM Wrote:i could do them for $475cnd shipped plus tax
hopefully i will be getting them again soon.
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Here's a pic of the ST170 from Europe

It has the intergrated turn signal light. Looks much better than in the grill. I don't know how hard it would be to wire these in but it can't be that bad...

[NOS2Go4Me]

That's a reasonable price by far, and it looks good.

I'm going to have to read up on these some more.

The only other headlight set I was considering was the "SVT" black-out headlights. Everything that's normally chromed on the car (that isn't a reflector for the beam) is pre blacked-out at the factory. Looks good, and would go well with the car's current config.

[ANTHONYD]

NOS2Go4Me,Oct 19 2005, 03:55 PM Wrote:That's a reasonable price by far, and it looks good.

I'm going to have to read up on these some more.

The only other headlight set I was considering was the "SVT" black-out headlights. Everything that's normally chromed on the car (that isn't a reflector for the beam) is pre blacked-out at the factory. Looks good, and would go well with the car's current config.
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The ST170'S Adam are one smokin' nice light!

[Flofocus]

Ive been thinking about selling my hellas and going with the ST's but my hellas arw working so good.....its hard to let them go. :lol:

[guilty]

NOS2Go4Me,Oct 19 2005, 01:26 PM Wrote:And does buying them relocate the signals to the headlight enclosures? Yay, more wiring that needs to be done perfectly to ensure nothing fries at the wrong moment.
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The wiring is fairly simple, it's almost the same as wiring the Ford HID headlights with a couple wires switched or something. I made my own wiring harness adapter for my car and have been running them in all weather for around 2 years and havent ever had a problem.. and at the time I was something of a wiring novice.

2002 European headlights:


ST170 headlights:


They are the same thing, only difference is a dark gray housing instead of a chrome housing. If I didnt already have the HID headlights, these are what would be on my car..

[dBlast]

Here are some pictures of these headlights with euro style grills on FC member's cars:

ST170 with euro style metal mesh grill


Euro 02+ with ST170 grill


Euro 02+ (painted black inside) with euro grills 98-01

[residentdud]

NOS2Go4Me,Oct 17 2005, 06:21 PM Wrote:*bows down to Guilty's unclosing power* :D - you leave my house alone! :lol:

Anyways, my experience has been that the Silverstars yield a much more "natural" white light, unlike the stockers' yellow-ish beam. I remember driving to SL8RZZX3's place in April in the evening. I didn't know the highway, but that didn't stop me from taking it at a good clip. I've driven similar highways (2 alnes, no lights around) with the stockers, and it's NOT the same.

As far as I can tell, Silverstars are worth the coin.

OTOH, I just remembered that my "project" headlight housings came with some non-OEM bulbs. Good on ya, Jarrod. :D

Yay, no coin spent for now. Oh, and PI has the hookup for PIAA stuff... it's NOT for the faint of heart, however. :blink:
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last year I bought those shitty ass xenon immitation lamps from apc...well a few weeks later I found that there was nothin left of my wiring harness...except for bare wires, lol. Yes, yes, they were the right bulbs for my car...just becareful of what you buy. I then bought silverstars for my headlights and fogs...they work awsomely and havn't burnt out yet ( bout a year and a bit ) They look really good in the stock fogs...and bright as hell. Peace.