gregmitch

Great write up @spartansix !
A few things that I learned from our testing session last night:

1-EVERYONE should check to make sure their headlights, whatever they may have, are aimed properly. Doing this test exposed how bad (most) of our headlights were aimed to start with.

2-I agree with @Goughary and I don't hate the look of the Audette LED...when you first mounted them to your car, the design actually looked really nice and not offensive like some other aftermarket upgrade options. Once they were properly aimed, I was really impressed with how they threw light. Very wide throw for the low beam.

3-After this test session, now I am torn between installing Rus's relay kit with higher wattage H4s that's been sitting on a shelf or these Audette lights...

EDIT: @S2K993 Great point about the Merritt Parkway night time driving

Peteinjp

Thanks for this guys- really nice to have a solid back to back. Since I drive in the mountains main driving issue at night is actually being able to see into a corner. Sounds like the Audette/Phillips 7” led is the way to go is it not?

I have set of the earlier bucket that he sold (sells?) with the city lights in the bottom and my main complaint about those is that the way the the is suspended with 2 rubber buttons does not adjust well at all. I ordered a set of the new ones without the city light and am hoping that they use a system that similar to the originals….. or at least that really allows adjustment in 2 planes.


Best-

Pete

Spyder_2011

Excellent write up, thank you for taking the time to put this together!

I drove some canyon roads at night and was shocked at how poor the stock lighting is. I was driving maybe half my normal canyon speeds and still out driving the lights 😬. An upgrade will be in my future and this thread will be a great reference.

spartansix

If you want wide, I think that the Audette is the way to go.
They are kind of a pain to adjust like all headlights but they are nearly impossible to fit and adjust if you don't bend the H5 headlight mounting tabs back.
We had to look up the instructions after it was clear something wasn't right.

Brig993

Wow amazing work. I was going between the flat6 led and H4 with relays before this testing.

How do the audettes look on the car? Do
you have photos of them installed during the daytime?

I ask bc I’m not sold on the overall look while acknowledging the performance is there. I’m also guessing you couldn’t run an H4 fluted lens with the audettes bc it would mess with the beam pattern.

spartansix

I can take more photos of them on the car but unfortunately I don't have painted trim rings for them yet so they don't look as good as they would with those.
You can't run fluted lenses as it would destroy the beam but everyone agreed that they looked pretty good in person.
It helps that they are a 7" reflector design inside a bucket, very similar to that on a 356 or 911.

Goughary

Pete- yes the audette are far better in terms of being able to "see into" the corner. They are way wider view and the light is very clean so when you are using your own peripheral vision, aside from looking directly into the corner, there is just more information there.

klokwerk

Thank you all for putting in the hours! Have some 'solid' information to use next time I'm considering changing up the headlights.

tjb616

Im not necessarily disputing this, but I am curious why some LED headlight makers such as 9Haus offer the fluted lenses if this is the case.

spartansix

I don't know.
I shouldn't make that claim so conclusively since we didn't test a LED headlight w/ fluted lenses that was designed that way from a seller.
We only tested the LED bulbs in the fluted H5 lenses, and in that application there was a lot of overall light output but not great beam pattern or throw.

Here's the high beam pattern from the H5 with LEDs. I think the weird diagonal bright parts of the high beam are likely the result of the fluted lenses.




In the end, I'm not sure how many or if any of these aftermarket headlight manufacturers for the 964 are testing their headlights in any scientific way. I've certainly never seen test results (which is why I wanted to generate some)

Peteinjp

Daniel Stern- highly recommended vendor. He does compare products scientifically and lectures at lighting conferences etc. This article is getting a bit long in the tooth but still holds true today. He strongly discouraged me from using fluted lenses with the 7" led units that he recommended (left hand traffic as I'm in Japan.)

Optics of Halogen bulbs and why Led/hid bulb retrofits are not suited for halogen designed lenses.

kos11-12

Hi Spartansix,
Thanks for the time, those are very interesting informations !
From your test my choice will be to try Russ set up.
I actually did a search and could not find anything.
Does anyone have a link for buying Russ set up ?
Msny thanks
Konstantin

mby

At least some parts of it are no longer true as the H4 LED bulbs offered by Porshe are tested and officially approved and as such are perfectly legal in Germany and many parts of the EU (as long as used with the E4 6 glass).

Harry Apps

Perhaps DS should consider updating his comments to reflect (no pun intended) the latest technology in LED developments.which can provide a very accurate light source location.

s65e90

My headlights were made using the newer 2.5" projectors w/ built-in LED drivers. Very easy to DIY and you still retain all the OEM adjustments. I can't see forking out the money some ask for these aftermarket lights.