John E Davies

Has anyone mounted powerful long distance driving (spot) lights on a Gen 4 TL SH-AWD? I am _really_ happy with the HID low beams, less so with the highs, even with HIR bulbs. On really dark back roads I need lots more lumens far ahead.

I think the only practical place would be in the lower grills just inboard of the brake cooling ducts ... but I would rather not take the hacksaw to my car before I receive some input or see some pics.... There is a bunch of usable space behind the grills - you could hang a couple of pieces of 1/4" x 2"x2" aluminum angle from the bumper beam, and end up with a very secure mounting system for 4 inch round lights. I like these:





http://piaa.americommerce.com/store/...-Lamp-Kit.aspx

with clear film covers instead of the off-road guards....

I don't want LEDs - too weak, and I don't want HIDs - too slow to reach full bright.

I normally would mount driving lights as high as possible above the bumper, but I don't see how that is possible on this car. Can anyone post pics of aux lights? Any and all comments are welcome.

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

gibbyisgibby

I dont think you'll be able to do it cleanly. What if you retrofitted the fog lights and made them more powerful with a better housing?

The housing would deteriorate with too much heat if you just upgraded the bulbs.

John E Davies

I don't want to eliminate my fog lights. I want to add an extra set of narrow focus long distance lights. I can do this mod cleanly - that is not the issue.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Edward'TLS

John E Davies

OK, let me rephrase that - can someone post pics of aux lights _on a Gen 4 TL SH-AWD_?

I can view rally cars with big @ss lights all day long.....

BTW: that second pic is so ugly, I can't begin to describe how much I hate that light pod..... If it extended outboard another 8 inches it would cover the hideous round googly eye headlights, and that would help a little.

Nahhhhh. Nothing would help.

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

potmilkz

no one has done this and you wont get any pics period.. closest you will get to any pic os thise wrx rally pics./.

dwest1023

if you need lights that bright, maybe you bought the wrong vehicle for your needs? Jeep?

John E Davies

Here's my daily driver - the TL belongs to my wife:



The first time you use some serious driving lights, you will understand how inadequate factory high beams are in the boonies - I'm talking about rainy, isolated back roads with no lighting and no other cars. For droning down a well striped highway in DC, there is nothing at all wrong with the TL.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Edward'TLS

If you prefer not to butcher up the car, consider installing a roof rack bar (eg. Thule). Then mount as many high power driving lamps on the roof bar as you see fit.

gibbyisgibby

What do you think of something like this:

http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/t...iew-53441.html

Mr Marco

^Cept: The great thing about aux lights is how they also light up the road way right in front of your car. If you mount them on a bar you miss out on that -AND- you also light up all the weather (rain & snow).

OP, just mount them in the brake duct hole. It's a waste of space that just dumps extra air inside the wheel well.

John E Davies

I had already been studying the Baja Designs products. They are innovative and very high quality. They are also very pricey: .. http://www.bajadesigns.com/products/...-led-light-bar

The problem with LEDs is that they don't project way down the road like a halogen or HID driving (spot) light. They are superb at lighting up the entire area in front of you for a few hundred feet (and no pesky horizontal cut-off line). Plus they are definitely not DOT legal. I do think that they are way cool and as the price continues to drop we will start seeing them used in street legal versions.

I can imagine two of those bars mounted inside the upper grill slot on my TL - that would look pretty amazing at night. A bright happy face smile. Hmmm, maybe not amazing.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Slithr

Aircraft landing lights work like a champ. Mounting is the issue.

fsttyms1

How about upgrading your factory lows/projectors to a set of 3rd gen Bi-Xenon hid projectors where you also have the high beam with the projector and get a set of zxw-r lenses to go with them. You will have much more light output and visibility

Why Acura didn't put Bi-xenon in the 4g is beyond me and quite frankly a down grade.

John E Davies

I bet this is a tough job. How much $$$? Can you send me somewhere to read about this? I didn't even know the older cars had bi-xenon HIDs. I feel cheated now. I guess that explains why my car seems a little lumen challenged on hi beams.

My main worry is the legality of the swap and the labor involved....

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

fsttyms1

Its just a matter of taking your time. People have been doing projector swaps for a long time now. There is SOO much you can do to lighting to make it better. As far as legality, there is NO reason it wouldnt be as long as you aim them properly. Plus no one would even know anyway. browse through the threads below. I would use the TL bi-xenon as they are known to be the best out there.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/forum.php

gibbyisgibby

Its actually pretty inexpensive to do. If you talk to AckTL05 or JnC they will do the job for you and send you an exchange set in return for yours. So your car wont have any extra downtime.

I had AckTL05 swap out my low beam lenses for TSX-R, he blacked out the housing and put in halos. Huge difference in low beam intensity and beam width.

The bi-xenon conversion may be a good route for you!

John E Davies

Cool, thanks for the info. I have to do some thinking.....

John Davies
Spokane WA USA