MotorLegends.com: Let There Be Light!

by David C. Holzman

Published: July 25th, 2009

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

motorlegends com let there be light

David C. Holzman

I'm a freelance journalist covering science, medicine, and automobiles.

More by David C. Holzman

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2 of 43 comments

Wheeljack on Jul 27, 2009
@ Daniel J. Stern: The H4, the world’s first two-filament halogen headlight bulb, was state of the art when it was introduced (and quickly widely adopted) in Europe and elsewhere outside America in 1972. U.S. regulators first allowed the H4 bulb to be used in U.S.-spec headlamps two decades later. There have been some good H4 headlamps, but there have also been some really pathetic ones. An H4 (or other European-spec) headlamp is not necessarily better than a U.S.-spec headlamp, though neither is the reverse true; good headlamps are better than bad headlamps. Also keep in mind that subjective impressions of headlamp performance are often way off the mark with respect to the lamps’ actual safety performance. Believe me, I'm well aware of the multitude of lousy H4 housings out there to replace the standard 7" round headlamp - many of my fellow "Jeepers" have been sucked in by some of the crappier ones sporting such silly "features" such as "bars" behind the lens, or the vile faceted reflectors and clear lenses that never seem to perform well. The irony is that one of the Jeep specific magazines tested a number of H4 housings and proclaimed a well known German brand [starts with an "H" ;)] the best of the bunch, and they were cheaper than most of the others in the test! I really wish that same magazine had tested the housings I chose [a French brand that starts with a "C" ;)] since I believe they are one of the better choices out there based on the information I have seen.

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Anonymous on Aug 01, 2009

The brand-C units are indeed substantially better than the brand-H ones, from the beam performance standpoint. Both are about the same from a build-and-materials perspective. It's a crying shame the ones once made by the other French brand starting with "M" were discontinued years ago; they were head, shoulders, knees and toes above any of the others.

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