http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33710

Check out ebay, and saw those lights. I think they look nicer than the stock WRX's headlights, and I was just wondering is there anything you have to do special or different to install those?

My main question is on the stock lights it looks like that there is a piece of plastic on the outside of the lights, then the actual light housing is behind it. Would that be the same with these? Or would you lose that peice... My thinking is what if it's raining or a rock hits the bulb.. with the peice of plastic out the outside it would protect it...

Can you paint the housing as well?


Thanks :-)
-Nigel

 

Stay away from these lights. They are very poor quality, the wiring is wrong and has to be modified to get them to even work properly, and the light output from them will not be an improvement over the stock lights. Unlike the other replacement lights that are available which use projector low beams, these are simple reflectors.
Save up your money if you really want to upgrade your lights, and go for a set of Morettes, UK300s, Prodrives, STi's, etc. depending on your tastes and budget. You and your car will be far better off.

 

Originally posted by NewShockerGuy
Check out ebay, and saw those lights. I think they look nicer than the stock WRX's headlights, and I was just wondering is there anything you have to do special or different to install those?
I'd avoid those lights unless someone on these message boards has something nice to say about them. They don't come with instructions and information about them is spotty, at best. The price seems to indicate a cheap knock-off of the genuine aftermarket replacement lighting systems like Prodrive and Morette. They may also be for a right-hand drive vehicle.

Here's a link to wrXratd's Prodrive conversion page.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Darn :-( Are there any sort of lights that kind of look like that? HID's are so expensive... $1000+ is alot for lights.... I have xenon bulbs in my jeep and they are very bright compaired to normal lights... I just don't like the orange that the stock WRX lights have...

I found a site (fastwrx) that has the Morettes. They also have the JDM's which I think look very nice. Could you show me a link that has the UK300s, Prodrives, and STI's? One question if I got the JDM's.. since they use regular halogen bulbs, can you change out the orange bulb for a white one? I was never a fan of the front headlight assembly to see any orange.. all white (including bulbs) just looks very clean to me.... Another thing that I am finding most lights, JDM's above are for a right hand steered cars... what does this mean for normal US made WRXs, will light be more spread out or will it be unsafe for me to drive at night?

*Edit, another note I just picked up was that the standard lights from Subaru is a 9007 bulb.. high/low. For the JDM or even Orciari lights, there are two bulbs, one for a low and one for a high. What do you have to do in that aspect?


I thank you guys for telling me an honest opinion about those on ebay! :-)


I don't have my wrx YET... but I'm going to so many sites for upgrades and such..etc. I almost want to start buying upgrades before I get the car...lol


Thanks again,
-Nigel

 

You don't have to buy HIDs to upgrade your lights. Morettes, Prodrives et al. are halogen lights as sold, those who add HIDs are installing aftermarket kits. Even in their halogen form the lighting is far superior to the stock lights because they use projector type optics with an E-code beam pattern, which has a sharply focused cutoff and puts the light where it is needed.
Non-HID Morettes can be had for around $5-600 depending on where you buy them. Unfortunately you just missed out on a great group buy at Z1 for them, maybe by the time you get your car they will be setting up the next one.
The JDM lights use a RHD beam pattern as you mentioned and this is really not ideal for use on US roads as it is the opposite of the correct LHD pattern. There is another version of the JDMs that is LHD, those are the "EDM"s (European Domestic Market). They are the identical lights but have the correct pattern as they are installed on cars in LHD countries (Switzerland, Germany etc.). There are occasional group buys for these as well although they are more expensive than the JDMs due to the smaller supply.
FYI the beam patterns look like this:
LHD-

___/ ___/

RHD-

\___ \___

As you can see the RHD pattern shines up into oncoming traffic whereas the LHD pattern illuminates the right side and shoulder of the road. There is no way to change the pattern on RHD lights to LHD other than a very risky and complicated procedure of completely taking the lights apart and modifying the internal baffle plates.
As for the replacement lights having two separate bulbs, there is nothing you have to do in this regard. The internal wiring of the lights allows them to work properly, and they all come with bulbs installed. The Morettes incorporate relays that allow the low beams to stay on with the high beams, on the others the lows go off when the highs are on.