996 Headlight performance on dipped beam.....

[steve996]

Would welcome others opinions on std 996 non-litronic headlight performance please? I think mine are very poor, I have tried "upgraded" bulbs but all they seem to do is make the light bluer and no brighter. Anyone else think theirs are poor and has anyone successfully upgraded/rectified theirs? For info I think the main beam is fine.

Edited by steve996 on Saturday 4th November 23:27

[radron]

Hi there

I agree mine were very poor also, I bought the hid upgrade kit from ebay for 79 pounds and the difference is extraordinary.

[radron]

Hi there

I agree mine were very poor also, I bought the hid upgrade kit from ebay for 79 pounds and the difference is extraordinary.

[magic torch]

Yep, they're rubbish. Seriously limits performance when it's dark.

There's a recent thread on upgrades if you do a search.

[baptistsan]

Was amazed at how bad they were the first time I drove mine in the dark. Am considering upgraded bulbs, but if they don't work, I'll save for the HIDs.

[fidgits]

they are awful!

[BliarOut]

Ironically the Boxster ones were really good.... Far better than the 996.

[henry-f]

Litronic conversions are fantastic on 996`s. On the race car (we race at night), we also tried different bulbs to no avail. Initially we did a single conversion to the low beam which was great, then converted the main beam as well (illegal for road use) which was spectacular.

As a result a really wise spend of a few pounds.

Henry

[fieldl]

Coming from the S2000 whose lights are great to the 996 was a bit of an eye opener about how crap bulbs can be.
I have upgraded them but they are still not great.

Will search for the thread referred to above
Baptistsan

Damn my typing is crap, and why can all forums not use the same smilie codes

Edited by fieldl on Sunday 5th November 17:24

[magic torch]

henry-f said:

Litronic conversions are fantastic on 996`s.

Henry, would a 3rd party conversion put buyers off in your experience?

Thanks.

[fidgits]

magic torch said:

henry-f said:

Litronic conversions are fantastic on 996`s.

Henry, would a 3rd party conversion put buyers off in your experience?

Thanks.

Jamie, playing devils advocate for a second...

Just having 'Litronic headlights' would surely be a good selling point - whether or not you declare they were aftermarket fitted or not, well, is that important?

A buyers only going to know if he checks your option codes?

I certainly would be interested in knowing how much the kit would be (fitted)..

[magic torch]

fidgits said:

Just having 'Litronic headlights' would surely be a good selling point - whether or not you declare they were aftermarket fitted or not, well, is that important?

I agree, but if it is possible to tell easily, then it may be an issue. Buyers may be aware that early 996s didn't come with Litronic headlights, so may want to check what the upgrade is.

This is the thread I was referring to.

[fidgits]

magic torch said:

fidgits said:

Just having 'Litronic headlights' would surely be a good selling point - whether or not you declare they were aftermarket fitted or not, well, is that important?

I agree, but if it is possible to tell easily, then it may be an issue. Buyers may be aware that early 996s didn't come with Litronic headlights, so may want to check what the upgrade is.

This is the thread I was referring to.

Cheers Jamie...

From my perspective, I'm quite picky when it comes to aftermarket modifications to cars (slightly hypocritcially), but i have to say, the HID conversion, as long as it looked okay (and not a complete bodge job) its one of the few I probably wouldn't mind buying.

[steve996]

Looks like it's got to be HID then!

Thanks to Magic Torch (rather appropriate....)for the link to the previous thread on ths subject - looks like thats got all my questions covered. I did recall seeing the start of that thread a while back but it didn't come up for some reason when I searched this morning before posting....

My last car was a 535 sport with xenons and the difference between those and my porker is huge, maybe the std ones are so poor to get more people to tick the litronic box when speccing their cars up!

[radron]

Hi all

I did the HID conversion on mine and it needed me to drill some holes in the back of the headlights, but in case I need to put it back to normal I also invested in a replacement set of headlights from ebay at an extortionate 48 pounds!

[fidgits]

radron said:

Hi all

I did the HID conversion on mine and it needed me to drill some holes in the back of the headlights, but in case I need to put it back to normal I also invested in a replacement set of headlights from ebay at an extortionate 48 pounds!

just out of interest, how difficult would you say it was?