997.1: What headlight bulbs do you like?

[aboyandhisdog]

My manual says for low beams: H7, 65w high beams: H9, 65w and my stock bulbs are halogen.

Would I want to go to a LED bulb or stick with the halogen? I've heard that sometimes the LED bulbs don't get hot enough to melt snow off the lens...is this true? I'd like to stick with the best night visibility I can get but without going to those annoying blue or very white bulbs (annoying to me, I know tastes differ!). I'd also like them to be long lasting as I do have daytime driving lights (low beams) and my car is driven most days.

Any input on bulbs much appreciated! Thanks!

[Norville]

This is not 997 specific, but in general LED conversions only work if you do the entire light assembly. The LED may not me in the same spot as the incandescent filament resulting in poor focus.

I’d go with a good incandescent replacement from the major suppliers - Hella, Osram, Phillips, etc. Back in the day everything was about PIAA, but not sure they’re in the business anymore. Even a “super white” incandescent is probably 3200K, where HIDs were 4400+ K, and LEDs can be up to 6500K which is an awful blue color. My experience back in the day with motorcycles was the higher the claimed performance, the whiter the output and the shorter the life.

Maybe something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sylvania-H7- ... hbdg=L1200

[aboyandhisdog]

Thanks a lot, Norville. I went to Amazon and put in H7 65w, and it looks like an H7 halogen only comes in 55w yet my manual says H7 65w. And they offer a lot of LED H7's which look like they would plug right in, but I take your point that they may not be calibrated the same in my car. I'll probably stick with the halogen but do wish I could find the 65w.

[Norville]

It took me a minute, but then I remembered:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/prod ... ducts.html

If anyone can help you, it’s Daniel Stern. Looks like the major players discontinue d the 65w version but he has a source. I found some 80w versions, but they may be too hot.