The only option that my car was missing when I got it that I really cared about was the Xenon headlights. Both of my parents JCW's have them and compared to my previous car, a 2003 Subaru Outback, it's a night and day difference, literally.

Because of this I have been looking into alternatives to give me that day glow that warms my heart and keeps deer off my windshield. However, I am conscientious of other drivers on the road, and, to a lesser degree, the law. With that in mind, drop-in HID's are a no go, and I don't want to hack apart my headlight housing to retrofit an HID projector kit.

Two options I have been considering are:

1. LED Driving Lamps on VIP Rally Light Brackets:
For example, these Recon 4.65" LED Driving Lights. These things are super bright, super durable and I love the smoked lense. Based on my estimates they should fit on the brackets without a problem.

2. LED Light Bar tucked into the grill scoop (part number 4):

The scoop opening is about 24"x1.75". This would allow me to mount 1-3 6", 1 or 2 10", or one 20" light bar.

At 1900 (6") to 6200 (20") lumens these things would be brutal for oncoming traffic, but you could wire them to the high beams only, or on a separate switch for those late night back road jaunts.

This video gives a comparison of HID headlights, PIAA 510's and the 20" light bar. Check it out

Has anyone else done or considered something like this? Any thoughts good or bad would be appreciated, because right now I am feeling a little "in the dark"

 

Best HID LED I have ever used.. Beats anything. I have had them for years on my Offroad racing truck: http://www.visionxusa.com/LED/c1/index.html One thing that was super nice, I damaged them on a run and they replaced my light and housing for free.. lol

Btw, where are you going to put this in? The scoop opening?

 

I looked at the vision x, but the problem is the height of the housing. The scoop opening is only 1.75" and the vision x lights are at least 2". That is why I was looking at the Rigid Industries SR lights. At 1.675" they should fit in perfectly.

I plan to tint the lens so that it blends in a bit better and then wire it into the high beams. If possible, I would like to hook it up to a rheostat and set a relay up so that it will reduce power for low beams and full blast on highs.

EDIT: rheostat is a no go because the units turn off below 9VDC. Back to the drawing board on a low-beam supplement.

The guy I emailed at Rigid suggested the 20", but I was considering two 6" because they would fit perfectly between the fins in that scoop. Just drill a couple holes and put a washer and nut on either side. With a 20" I would have to cut out all the fins and mount it to the flat part of the plastic. Either way is workable, but I'd rather not destroy the scoop if I don't have to.

 

Ahh.. gotcha! Well just wanted to be of service!

 

Just a thought, mount a 10" and two 6". Aim the 10" down for a 'low beam' and the 6 inchers higher as high beams

 

That is an interesting thought, and I did give that some consideration. The only problem is that each 6" light is about $200 and $275 for the 10" (both for the less expensive "hybrid" models) where a 20" bar is only $500.

Besides that, I think the light output on even one 6" bar might be too powerful for oncoming traffic. Two would definitely be overkill on low beams.

I just discovered an alternative with Baja Designs Stealth LED light bar. A little pricier, but some very cool options such as user adjustable optics (blend spot and wide pattern optics), a reduced output "dusk mode", and a lower color temperature (5000K vs 6000K).