(Step by step lighting improvement pictures included below text)
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(Step by step lighting improvement pictures included below text)
FYI - Standard GP headlights are 55 watts on low beam, 65 on high. The standard fog light bulbs are 27 watts.
*** My lighting alterations were done December '99. I understand recently (late '00) PIAA released their 9007 Super White Platinum halogen headlight bulbs for our cars. The claim is this lamp produces a very bright, white light comparable to 100 watts. From the few e-mails I've seen from guys who've installed them, they are impressed. Much brighter than our stock lamps with no wiring harness upgrade. Haven't tried them yet and don't know if they'd accomplish what I did here, I.E. will they work well with the smoke covers. Any input is welcome and other alternatives or opinions will be posted here!
They are available at http://www.autobulbdepot.com for $69.00 a pair. (About the same total price as using 80/100 bulbs and the wiring harness upgrade mentioned below).
Brian Tomasiewicz has a good page here with tests he's done on the new PIAA lamps.... http://www.superchargedgtp.com/piaa.htm
A great way for all of us to find out which method works best would be if someone out there has done the 80/100 - harness upgrade like I did (below) could compare their lamps to another GP with the new PIAA bulbs! Let us know....
According to the threads I followed late '99, I think I found a good formula if you wish to run bright as possible with GTS "Smoke" headlight covers. It takes a little time and money, but from what I've seen on the GP.NET, that's no big deal to people who agree our lights are already lacking in brightness... So it's quite a challenge to put the dark covers on the lights and hope to still see where you're going!
The following price list is approximate... you may be able to do better.
GTS Headlight Smoke Headlight Covers - $40
80/100 watt replacement Halogen headlight lamps - $36 for both
Heavy Duty headlight lamp wiring harness - $35
BlazerTech 2200 Fog Light replacement kit -$60
http://www.motorsportsperformance.com also offers custom brackets for the BlazerTech 2200 fog lamps if you don't want to spend the time altering them yourself. Their bracket also utilizes the factory lamp adjusting mechanism.
Recently I found CATZ http://www.fet-usa.com/catmsc.htm also makes a good replacement fog light kit. Some say the light pattern is better than the BlazerTechs. Haven't researched it, but I've seen email pricing them at about $160.
Total cost, using BlazerTechs, is about $175, not counting custom brackets for the foglights, but your headlights will shine through the GTS covers close to as brightly as standard 55 watt bulbs and the BlazerTech 2200 fog light replacement more than makes up the slight difference!
The 80/100 "German Flosser Clear" lamps and the heavy duty wiring harness came from Competition Limited near Detroit. They are halogen lamp and wiring specialists. Some people say they've had problems with it, as from what I've heard, sometimes the lamp sockets/connectors on the harness can "burn/short out" leaving you with no headlight(s). If it does happen, you'd only lost one lamp at a time. So for testing purposes, I've kept a 10mm wrench in the car, so I can hook the OEM harness back up in case it happens (original wiring/sockets still hang behind the headlights). I've had no problems in more than a year running this way. Some guys say the harness "burnout" is related to the ground wires, so be sure you ground the new HD harness well.
As far as I've been able to determine, from communication with no less than three GP.Net members who've all also run them for over a year, the factory wiring supports the BlazerTech 2200 (55 watt) foglights with no problem. Since I'm not an Electrical Engineer, I certainly don't guarantee this to be true, but I'm going with it like many others have. For those of you who aren't aware, replacing factory fog lamp bulbs with higher wattage does tend to melt the OEM plastic housing. I've been told they've melted/distorted from increase to only 38 watts, let alone 50 or 55! Not only do the BlazerTech lights' housing prevent this, they have a much brighter, more efficient color and light dispersion pattern than the OEM fog lamps. I've also been running this for more than a year with no problem.
Also pulled the DRL (daytime running lights) fuse in order to not to burn out the 80/100 bulbs prematurely by running them constantly during the day, as the OEM setup does. Bulb life is shorter with brighter ones. Consequently you have to turn on the lights "manually". The car does "ding" to warn you though if you've left the lights on (like in the old days)
You can leave the foglight switch ON and they'll also come on with the regular headlight switch. That is, all 4 (head and fog) lights come on with the standard (now manual) light switch. Also, if you wish, the foglights only will come on with the switch in Parking light mode.
This picture shows how it looked with one OEM headlight and one new 80/100 lamp. The GTS Smoke headlight covers are on the car in this shot. BlazerTech fog lights are also installed.
The shot below has the GTS "Smoke" covers removed. Still with one OEM light and one 80/100 light. Basically just shows the difference between 55/65 and 80/100 lamps on low beam.
Picture below includes the GTS "Smoke" headlight covers, the new 80/100 Headlights/HD Harness and the BlazerTech 2200 (55w) fog lamps. As you can see, all 4 lights have approximately the same brightness. In my opinion, driving the car like this is slightly better than the OEM setup (not bad with Smoke covers)
Turning on the brights now does not increase brightness, since OEM electronics cut the fog lights and the brights are now dimmer than the foglights from the dark covers. You can play around with BlazerTech's recommended aiming procedure a little. They can be aimed higher than recommended without blinding oncoming traffic (remember they're as bright as the OEM headlight low beams - 55 watts).
