H4 headlights only use about half of the reflector

I never really realized this. This article really made it clear. http://lighting.articles.mbz.org/sealed/ The low beam shields block off 40% of the reflectors. That means that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Oh well, I'm converting to Hella 90mm lights with a headlight relay kit.
Speaking of relay kits, the Hella Rallye 4000 relay kit is about the best one that I've been able to find. Nothing says that you have to use it on Rallye 4000s.

aspera said:

I never really realized this. This article really made it clear. http://lighting.articles.mbz.org/sealed/ The low beam shields block off 40% of the reflectors. That means that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Click to expand...

Obviously, you don't understand what quality headlamps do. The whole point of upgrading to European-spec H4 headlamps is to put more light where you need it, while eliminating light where you don't need/want it. On low beam, they have a very sharp horizontal cut-off so the brighter light they produce doesn't blind oncoming drivers.

The 40% of the redlector that's not used is the bottom "half," which is the portion that would reflect light up into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Altering or removing the shields to use this portion of the reflector on the low beam setting would essentially convert it into a duplicate of the high beam and get a lot of people very upset with you for not dimming your lights for approacing traffic. This does not strike me as an "improvement."

I think he (and the linked article) refers to the little 'cup' within the H4 capsule itself. No way to get at that without disturbing the gas & trashing the bulb.

Quality headlamp upgrades are often hard to explain to someone who has been using OEM type DOT sealed beams. My experience has been limited to using Hella & IPF E-code lenses & H4 bulbs...and I like them. Some of the lenses I have seen (ebay and chain auto parts stores) appear to be gimmicky and/or low quality, for not a lot less money than the real-deal.

NO..., the RED ZONE is for loading and unloading ONLY... :twak:

Eagle said:

Obviously, you don't understand what quality headlamps do. The whole point of upgrading to European-spec H4 headlamps is to put more light where you need it, while eliminating light where you don't need/want it. On low beam, they have a very sharp horizontal cut-off so the brighter light they produce doesn't blind oncoming drivers.

The 40% of the redlector that's not used is the bottom "half," which is the portion that would reflect light up into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Altering or removing the shields to use this portion of the reflector on the low beam setting would essentially convert it into a duplicate of the high beam and get a lot of people very upset with you for not dimming your lights for approacing traffic. This does not strike me as an "improvement."

Click to expand...

Well, I used to have pair of H4 200mm and 5 3/4 lamps (also H4) on my MR2. So I think that I have a feel for the beam pattern of E-code lamps. I experimented with higher wattage bulbs and even had yellow headlights for a while (back in '95, before y'all ever heard of Super Street). :wave1:

I had just always assumed that most of the reason for the different beam was that the filaments were in different places. I never realized that THAT MUCH of the low beam's light was wasted.

I'm not suggesting that anyone attempt to remove the 'spoon'. I don't think that's even possible. It would be dumb anyway. I've removed bulb shrouds on OEM driving lights, but that is a different thing entirely.

What I'm saying is that there's a whole lot of room for improvement. Personally, I'd like to see the aftermarket step up and offer 200mm rectangular LOW ONLY headlamps with a hybrid DOT/E-code beam pattern that use an H9 bulb. Then some high beams could be mounted somewhere else. The new high beams would have their own reflectors and not have to deal with the painted bulb tip that the H4 bulbs use.