PIAA vs HELLA?

[jzrocket]

I want to get driving lights to put on the grill guard.
I am torn between the PIAA and the HELLA.
In a 7" light is there realy that much of a diff?

 

[DOGMAN]

The PIAA is more expensive, but I believe it is a higher quality light.

 

[leebo]

try a search....there have been several posts on this subject before. I do know that there's a purchase going on right now for the Piaa's

 

[4Wheelin]

PIAA all the way, I had a set of Hella 500's and now have the PIAA 40 Round series light and they are like ten times better. The PIAA's are definitly worth the extra money.

 

[Mr. Daylighter]

PIAA's are much better. KC's are good too Seriously, go with the PIAA's, I think they are great lights.

 

[newbz]

Definitley PIAA, Go with PIAA and you'll be much happier

 

[Sinjin]

askdjklsjdckmcapdksaopdkspaodkpsadokaspmvfdknvfdovn (thats all I have to say about that)

 

[leebo]

it just about all depends on what you're looking to use it for. I've got a set of Hella 500 right now. Once I got off my a@@ and used the relay(I know I know) these weren't too bad at all for the price. I will say that I have had a few problems with the install, but from what I've heard they've redone the harness. If you want a light that will be used every once in a while I'd say that the Hella is a great buy for the price. I'd also say that if cost isn't an issue.....go with the Piaa's

What are you looking from in the light

 

[mattadams]

Originally posted by jzrocket
I want to get driving lights to put on the grill guard.
I am torn between the PIAA and the HELLA.
In a 7" light is there realy that much of a diff?

do you want to land planes, or light up the area directly in front of you? . As someone already mentioned, the Hella 500's are not the greatest but some of their higher end lights (the 1000 series, 3000's, 4000's, etc.) have been greatly improved from what I hear. In lights, as with everything else, you usually get what you pay for, and yes there is a large difference between the hella 500 and say the piaa 40 rounds.

 

[jzrocket]

I don't need to land planes with my truck, I do enough of that at work. I do most of my driving slow in the woods, and dark backroads. I want the extra light to be somewhat bright down the road (to see deer), but most of the light around the front and sides to see obsticles in the road.

 

[<<MONOCHROMOUS>>]

AAARGH, go for Hella, woo hoo, i have the 1000's very bright and they match my color scheme. wouldnt go for anything less than the 1000s though, i heard the 500s suck. I LOVE MY HELLAS, european pride, all my relatives in norway have hellas on their volkswagen rabbits!

 

[Stephen S]

I'm almost ready to buy myself a set of lights (maybe PIAA 910s if a driving pattern is chosen) but I'm having trouble deciding on a driving or fog beam pattern. I want to see better and farther down the road but I don't want to blind other drivers when I have them on. Some of the dark roads I drive on usually have oncoming traffic.

My girlfriend has a safari bar on her RAV4 and has decided on a pair of PIAA 40 Rounds, but has the same driving/fog pattern concerns that I do.

Will PIAA's fog pattern provide enough light far down the road or are they only good for in front and to the sides of the vehicle?? I know the driving pattern will provide what we are looking for but will they blind oncoming traffic when they are on?? I'm afraid that the driving patterns will be too much like spot lights. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[DarkFox1]

I say go with piaa.. I have piaa on my front end and am very happy with them.. I have been considering increasing the size of my lights on my guard tho, they are just too small I beleive, but I can't find a piaa light I like, the 520s look silly with that grill over them and the 510s I think are still too small

hella is aight, but I just think piaa is a higher quality product.

 

[Bill Kemp]

You don't need a set of lights....You need TWO sets of lights...

If you can see really good down the road the oncomming drivers are going to be blinded. No way around it that I have found for the X.

The best lights I have found are a set of projector headlights I put on my daughters Honda. With PIAA 85/130 superwhites they really light up the road without blinding oncomming traffic.

But, for us, it's fog & driving lights if you want to see it all......

 

[Clint]

some of u are comparing a 80 dollar light to a 200 dollar light and u wonder why the piaa would be better but u have to compare price to price.....quality to quality

 

[mattadams]

you must have missed the thread where I praised Hella (see: Poll: Which brand of Lights?)
I actually had a chance to give the Hella 1000's a pretty thourough inspection while out in Attica, on a jeeper who was covered with Hella's, and for the Hella 1000's I am actually able to give a brand by brand comparison to the PIAA 80 Rally's, since they are the same size and actually darn near equivalent in pricing. This guy said he had paid about $125 per lamp and didn't buy the $45 wiring harness. The PIAA 80 Rally's run $130 per lamp plus a $75 wiring harness (so a bit of a difference in price but compared to comparing $225 PIAA's to $50 Hellas...). here's my impressions.
The Hella 1000 were a highly improved version of the Hella 550's as far as construction. They had improved the watertight seals, had made the lenses more durable (though this guy said he had already broken two of em, doh!) and beefed up the wiring harness (compared to a cheap relay, cheap switch, and low gauge wiring it was at least sufficient). However, you didn't quite have the customization options. His Hella 1000's used an H1 bulb, he tells me there also available in an H3 version. Both are single mode (one beam only). The PIAA 80 Rally's use an H4 bulb which is higher wattage and has from the factory with the factory wiring harness, at least three different ways of hooking up the switches (so they come on with one triple mode switch (off, hi beam, lo beam) or you could use the second switch (which is included) to hook it up so the triple mode switch says when the lights come on, the second double-mode switch to determine if your using the hi-beam lo-beam. or you could just use the one double-mode switch so whenever, say, your hi-beams are on, the PIAA 80's will be on, and the switch will determine if you are using the hi-beam or lo-beam. The hellas weren't quite that configurable, but they could be with an extra relay and an extra switch and some knowledge in wiring. he also informed me that the Hella wiring harness wasn't preassembled. I was kind of shocked that you'd pay $45 for a heavy-duty relay, a bag of wires and a bag of connectors and still have to put everything together. I can't even imagine. Maybe by now their wiring harnesses come preassembled.
I wasn't able to do a side-by-side comparison, since I didn't have my Explorer with me, but it was much improved over their cheaper Pep Boys versions.

Now, don't get me started on the Hella 550's. Yes they are cheaper cost and they'll work for someone who just want's lights on their vehicle, but if you use em a lot, spend a few extra bucks and at least get the KC's.