Brightest PIAA's

[espnfreak]

I want a set of PIAA's that are relatively small but extremely bright. While i was at the store the other day, i saw some 1700X i believe and they were bright and small. How much do those go for, and are they the smallest ones that are the brightest? (sounds like a dumb question).
Thanx guyz

 

[beavis195]

Any PIAA is going to be really bright and last forever. That's why they cost so much. Usually the smaller ones seem brighter because there is less of a beam to project through the lens. I know PIAA makes a light that isn't certified, so basically it's illegal, because it's really bright. Check on their site for it. But my friend has the 980's and he has them aimed really high on his Jetta and in the middle of a cloudy day, which is about everyday here in Seattle, they make you squint.
Just my 2 cents

 

[drmoore71]

i've got some 1552's in the factory foglight location on my '95. all i can say is that they are BRIGHT. they pretty much drown out my piaa superwhite headlights! they are also only like 2" by 4" (pretty small)

 

[Stephen S]

I am also interested in info on this topic. DrMoore, I'm pretty sure the 1552s you mentioned are 6 inches wide, which is why I don't have a set already. They wont fit in the bumper slot with a licence plate there. No factory fogs for me.
I too am thinking about the PIAA 1700s but I'd like to be sure that they (or any other of PIAAs smaller lights) will perform as well as the 1552s that I wish I could get.

 

[Bill Kemp]

The www.autosupermart.com has the candelpower listed for the PIAA lights. The smaller lights 1400, 1700 1100 dont have any where near as good a driving beam as the 1500 or larger lights.
Might as well stick to the fog type lights in the smaller sizes.

 

[mattadams]

wow, how the hell did I miss this thread? LOL.
"The smallest but the brightest", never find it, heh heh. I've never seen the 1700's myself but I have seen pics and they look pretty good. I'd recommend the 1400's for ya. Rick and Bill Kemp both use them as backup lights and I'm hoping to mount some up soon as well. They are really small and the light they produce is amazing. The fog's have a great spread on them. I have some pics of them mounted on Ricks bumper somewhere, I'll look for it and try to post it.
The 80 XT's or the 80 Rally's are going to be the brightest you can get from PIAA, but they are also the biggest. The exception is the HID system they offer, which are quite size efficient, run a low wattage, but also cost a whole hell of a lot. They are rated at a little less then twice the candlepower of hte 80 XT's, as I recall the HID's produce 550,000 candlepower per bulb, while the 80 XT's produce 385,000.
The 1500's will be one of your best fog lights, but they aren't super small. And they have unfortunately enough discontinued the clear fog version.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Hay Stephen S., Dont know why I didnt think of this before.
You might try the CATZ MSX as a light for the oval opening in the bumper. I have them as fogs on my Caddy and think they are a very good light. They also make the driving style which I havnt tryed. Piaa 959 & 910 & Pilot 704 will also fit in the oval opening.
Use an angle brace/bracket to mount the light to the hole that is already in the bumper on each side.

 

[Stephen S]

Ya know Bill, I did look into the FET Catz MSX superwhite driving lights. I like them a lot. They are smaller than the PIAAs 1552s so they will clear the bumper. The trouble is, my pocketbook doesn't like them. It likes the PIAA 1552s that I can get from Matt for 170 +shipping. But, I will look into it further. I just need a place that I can buy them from. I have a Catz brouchure, but there aren;t any dealers in my area where I can get a decent price. Do you know of any??

I measured the space I have on either side of my front plate to the bumper. It's about 6 3/4 inches to the edge of the curve. I know the edge of the lights are squared off but I still think this just might be enough to squeeze the 1552s in there.

 

[DocVijay]

Bright PIAA's

I have the 1100X Platinum lights. They are plenty bright. Plus they are small enough to go just about anywhere. Only problem is replacement bulbs are $$$$expensive$$$$.

 

[aldive]

Re: Bright PIAA's

Originally posted by DocVijay
I have the 1100X Platinum lights.

These lights look great on your truck.

Could you explain how you mounted them in the lower grill area, please?

Thanks....

 

[DocVijay]

1100X Install.

The lamps were actually rather easy to install. The wiring is a breeze thanks to the harness PIAA supplies. The lamps themselves were mounted to the bumper. There is a bumper support right inside the bumper right above the hole. I used the double sided tape supplied and stuck the bases right onto that. The distance turned out to be perfect, and the lamps are centered vertically in the cut-out. Just make sure you clean both surfaces VERY well before sticking the lamps on. I could have used the bolts but then I would have had to drill holes.Then I just used a couple of zip ties to secure the wires out of sight. All in all a simple install. About 1.5 hours if I recall. I've had them for just over two years now, with no problems.

 

[aldive]

Re: 1100X Install.

How difficult is it to drill holes in that location for a more secure mounting?

Thanks in advance.....

 

[DocVijay]

Drilling holes...

Well the difficulty in drilling depends on the tools you have. A regular power drill probably wont fit in the limited space. If you have a Dremel type tool with that flexy attachment I guess you could manage. I just didn't bother. But like I said, I've had them on for over two years and the tape is still holding fine. When I aim the lights and they wiggle at all. So the tape is good enough. PIAA also has that alarm attachment if you want to connect the lights to your alarm system. That way if anyone tries to take them, the alarm will go off.

 

[aldive]

Re: Drilling holes...

Do you get any light movement ( vibration or bounce ) when on a rough surface when mounted with the tape?

Thanks...

 

[DocVijay]

PIAA mounting.

So far, the tape is as sturdy as can be. I don't get any vibration on rough surfaces, or if I do, I can't tell. Adhesives these days are really strong. I have a friend that's in Mechanical engineering, and she says that some you have to be careful with some, becuase once they're stuck, they are stuck for good, and nothing except a big hammer will get them apart. I wouldn't worry about the tape mounting. I haven't had any problems or worries about it.

 

[aldive]

Re: PIAA mounting.

How do you use these lights? In combination with high or low beam or by themselves?

Thanks....

 

[DocVijay]

Light wiring.

I wired the realy of the lights to the driving lights, so I can use them with or without the headlights. I'm going to install a set of PIAA 510's in the stock fog light opening, and those will be wired to come on witht he high beams. The 1100's can be turned on as long as I have the driving lights turned on. The only problem is that they will flash witht he alarm if I don't turn them off amnually also. That can shorten the bulb life, since they also flash once when locking tha car with the remote.

 

[Diablo3305]

Hey Matt, what do you think of the Piaa 910 driving lights? I was loooking for something to put on either side of the license plate in the front...

 

[mattadams]

I had them on my 98 F-150 in the bumper using the PIAA bumper bracket. I thought they looked extremely cool and had a tremendous amount of light for being such a small light. Check out this handsome guy next to his old truck with the PIAA 910's.

 

[Diablo3305]

thats exactly the placement I was thinking of...only difference would be me standing next to my truck . THanks for the info