Purple HID

[Cadillac Jim]

I gave up on an HID conversion because one that would work well would have to have its own housing and reflectors mounted at a height comparable to that of the headlights, and there is no way to do that on the front of my Eldorado. It's been a couple of years, and my lights still look pretty bright, but I think that I might have an open mind about new bulbs for the winter. It's a whole new world out there in terms of high-performance headlight bulbs. Cadillac does use a relay system for the headlights, according to my 1997 FSM. The headlights are operated by the PZM.

[JasonA]

For what it's worth, this thread prompted me to try a set of the GE Nighthawks in our 2003 Grand Caravan (which takes a dual filament 9007). I have to say, I wasn't expecting much of a difference, but I really could tell. GE's marketing claims an average 33% increase in light output from the capsule bulbs, and while I can't measure that, I won't argue with them either. The light also appears "cleaner". I think they are supposed to burn at about 3600K, which is 400K higher than a standard halogen bulb. I will not doubt that a SilverStar would still have whiter light. But I know that these Nighthawks would give them a run for their money in terms of light output -- they really did make a noticeable difference. There's certainly not double the light, but I really can tell...

But that's also with a really good headlight reflector/housing design. The 2001+ Caravan/Town & Country reflector is about the best I've seen from a production headlight system. The beam pattern is VERY wide (washes the road with light), but it also projects pretty well down the road. The two differences I saw with the Nighthawks are 1) a better quality light ("whiter") on the road in front of me, which was more cosmetically pleasing, and 2) a more reflective 100, 200, 300 foot "out there" pattern so I could see the lane markers WAY down the road.

My Seville's lights, by comparison, have a rather narrow beam pattern. Not a whole lot of "side light". You can see why when you look at the housing design. There's no "wrap around". But they do a fairly good job of projecting a straight beam down the road. I have Sylvania XtraVisions in it now, but I'm very curious to see if the Nighthawks would give some more light.

Someone on the Chrysler minivan board said that he couldn't tell any difference with the XtraVisions in his van. That, coupled with the fact that GE's Nighthawk is a much newer design and the fact that GE does claim a higher increase than Sylvania for their XtraVision, I'm betting that I could get even more light from the Caddy.

[Cadillac Jim]

The headlight pattern on the STS is probably more focused than the pattern of the van headlights. That would give better light down the road, and the cornering lights would fill the gap when necessary.

The guy with the Chrysler minivan on another board may need to have his headlight adjusted to get better visibiliy down the road with any bulb.

[JasonA]

I think the differences in headlight pattern between my Seville and van can probably be explained a lot by the era in which they were designed, and the vehicle style.

The van uses "wrap around" headlight housings that many vehicles use today. There's a lot of good side vision with those. But there's also a very strong reflector behind the light bulb itself that projects a lot of light way down the road. You get both the close up "road wash" (although unlike fog lights), and you get good light way down the road. The way the Seville and Eldorado were styled, the headlights are very much "in front" of the car. The cornering lamps do help in when the signals are on, but still, the headlights themselves have a very small window in which to work. That's also complicated by the fact that the US versions of our lights use two separate bulbs for high and low beams, and thusly have two separate "compartments" in each housing for each bulb. Interestingly, the export version of our lights uses a single, dual-filament bulb, which allows for a much larger headlight bucket.

The reflector/housing is also very different. The van uses a much larger housing, with the "clear plastic" lens (almost similar to the '97+ DeVille). Our Sevilles have a glass housing with a multi-faceted inner surface that accomplishes some of the beam aim, much like sealed beams did. Our headlights were designed for the 1992 Seville/Eldorado. Our van's lights were designed for the 2001 van. Over 10 years of improvemental development (or developmental improvement!).

The beam pattern on the Cadillac is more focused, but I also can't see further with it. It was really poor before I adjusted the aim a little. They were very low and to the right side. I tried to straighten them out a little, and raise them just a bit. It helped, but they're still not stellar lights. But I also wouldn't expect a light designed in the very late '80s or early '90s to compete with what's out there today.

[Bill K]

Here is some real good bulb info: http://www.bmwcca.org/members/AM/Template....ight&page=3

I am useing the HIR bulbs in the high beams and notice a difference. What I am not sure of is the amount of heat they produce. I know that a 100 watt bulb will burn/wreck the reflectivness of the projector housing. I dont know if the HIR is hot enough to do that or not since I have switched to HID.

Any experimenters out there????

Am told that John Deere parts has HIR bulbs for $10 ea. Pt.# AH211917 its a 9012 bulb that requires appx. 3mm trimed off one of the tabs to fit the 9006 housing. Ebay has the 9005 & 6 bulbs for $26. ea.

[JasonA]

I understand that the HIR 9011/9012 bulbs don't really run a whole lot hotter. There is the issue (minor) of trimming the tab. I think that with the relatively un-shrouded bulb location on these lights (no front face to the shroud) and the glass front cover, ours would be a good application for those. Is the rest of the headlight bucket (the reflector) still plastic?