===

---Joshua Van Tol  wrote:
>
> Actually, those "high performance" bulbs are a poor idea because the
> connectors will melt under the increased amperage. Not only that,
the beam
> pattern on those babies is so poor that it won't make much difference
> anyway. Even if you could get a metal based 9004 style bulb with
larger
> connectors (which you can't) the housings of those rectangular
lights are
> usually plastic, which will melt.
>
> I have 7" circular Bosch e-code motorcycle lights on my '85 vanagon,
and
> they work very well. The lenses are of glass and metal construction,
and
> the bulbs have no plastic. They are 65/100. On high they get HOT.
BTW, the
> reason for using motorcycle lenses is that they have no provision
for city
> lights, and they were real cheap due to an ordering mistake by the
parts
> guy.
>
> If you don't beleive me, check out this excellent lighting FAQ by
Stern
> Lighting. http://lighting.mbz.org/faq/, and when you're through,
check out
> their main page at: http://lighting.mbz.org
>
> I've never dealt with these people, have no affiliation, etc, but
they do
> have the straight dope on lighting, so I strongly suspect they are ok.

not to start a massive thread on this but in my experience,  the
higher wattage bulbs were a massive improvement in both range and
pattern.  i have checked the connectors several times since
installation and have yet to find any damage,  heat related or
otherwise.  as long as you wire in a relay,  problems should be
nonexistent.  having owned over 35 cars of various pedigree from 356
speedsters to a recent volvo turbo wagen,  and having converted almost
all of the headlights to higher wattage,  i feel that i have a large
enough field for comparison.  have yet to experience a bulb related
problem (okay,  on one 64 356 sc the generator light refused to ever
go off below 3000 rpm!).  i read the stern lighting faq and found a
large percentage of it to be hogwash.  an example of which is the
reference to melting plastic lenses w/ high wattage.  most modern
lenses that i have encountered are lexan which will not melt (my 91
explorer is proof of that w/ 55/110 for 3 yrs).
sorry for the length of this but FWIW some empirical evidence rather
than old wives tales

cheers
jim catterson
91 syncro
93 ev  gl     ny
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