Does anybody know how deep a light would comfortably fit on the Out Motoring brackets on the lower grill? I'm interested in the Rallye 4000 compact lights from Hella. The're a little less than 2" deeper than the Hella 500's.

 

Nobody has any experience with these huh?

 

I looked up the specs on that light and compared them to the FF200s and they are 2" deeper. The outmotoring brackets can be placed in a low or high position in the bumper (look at the pics on their website). Sitting in the high position I doubt they will clear the lower part of the bumper cover cause I got about 1/2" clearance to the cover. Sitting down low they "might" but they are also 2" tall.

The other thing you need to consider is that is the 4000s are driving lights and do not belong down there ... especially if using the lower position. Those belong up on the grille but are going to be huge in perspective to the car. Just a thought

Good Luck

 

I also have the FF200's mounted on the Out Motoring brackets. Driving lights belong on the upper grill, not lower. In your post, you mention the compact Rallye's. They aren't that big and should mount nicely on the upper grill. If you really want to mount them down low, they require 1.5" more clearance than the FF200's...I still don't think they will fit. Check out the link in my sig for some pics. One shows a fairly decent shot from the side and there isn't more than an inch of clearance between the light and the bumper. As chow said, it might work if you mount them on the lower mount but then your really into fog light territory.

I just want to make sure you understand that by mounting driving lights low, they are not going to have the best performance. They belong as high as possible. I'd recommend you take a look at Madness brackets for mounting them on the upper grill.

 

I agree with kapps, mount the lights high if you can. One problem that you may run into is that those Rally 4000's are big & somewhat heavier than most of the lights people mount above the bumper. I wonder if the brackets that are available are heavy duty enough. IMO nothing is worse than a driving light with it's beam bouncing up & down.

 

Thanks for all the replys. I've considered all the things that were mentioned (been thinking about mounting lights since I bought the car almost exactly 1 yr ago). Honestly, I'm not that worried about performance. This is really purely a style issue. I don't live in the boonies and the xenons do the job adequately.
As it turns out, I recently got in touch with the admin. of one of the local clubs and he has solved my problems for me. My dream set up was to mount four accross the lower grill (love the look). I think the alta bar is probably best for that set up. Problem was, in NY you need to have a front plate. Got some pics from one of the members here who got around that by mounting the plate high on the bumper, but I thought that ruined the look. So I was resigned to 2 lights. I really like the cats eye look (called celis by the manufacturer) and the chrome housing the rallye's have.
Turns out the admin has 4 across with the alta bar and the plate sits behind the 2 center light, partially obstructed. I'm willing to take the risk and go for that set up. He says the lights supplied (IPF) are plenty bright (I might do the Hella 500's anyway). Anyway, thanks all.

Anyone have a preference for the Hella 500's vs. the IPF?

 

i think the 500's are physically larger than the IPF's - they may not fit.

 

The Hellas are spec'd at 6 3/8" width while the IPF's are 6.5". Should fit (don't know for sure). As it is, I'm leaning more towards the IPF's now as there is an 85W upgrade bulb that uses the 55W draw. May be excessive, but nice to have the option. Doesn't seem to be tremendous difference between the two and it seems most retailers sell the bar with the IPF's.

 

My bad - i thought the IPF's were 6" lights....

keep us posted - and add pics!

 

That's just a bulb. All companies sell bulbs as 55w=85w or something like that. Heck, even my yellow fog lights are 55w=70w. You can easily replace the bulb yourself with one from PIAA, Hella, Nokya, etc. Just don't get a bulb that has an actual draw of 85 or 100w or you might start melting things .

Since your in it more for the look, get the one's you like better. Hella and Cibie are the two brands to look at if you want maximum performance.

 

There is NO such thing. NO free lunch. See http://danielsternlighting.com/tech/...uperwhite.html

"The "55W = 85W" type claims are a sham."

Kind of like the vortex generators on eBay.

 

Well then I guess it really doesn't matter.

 

Any specific reasons you consider Hella and Cibie to be the better brands?

 

Those brands have just been known more for high performance lighting. PIAA is also good but they seem to be more associated with looks than performance. I can't comment on IPF.

 

The only look I associate PIAA with is fugly. That plastic grill (which I'm sure is removable) looks so cheap.

 

From what I understand some, but not all of the PIAA lights are good. I agree that plastic grille is ugly. I think Hella's are a very good light along with Cibie. I don't have any experience with IPF, but from what I've seen they seem cheaply made.

 

Hellas usually come with three different grilles: The black grilles, the clear plastic, and the full stone shield. The black grilles exist for a reason, obviously, to keep the big rocks out.

Both Hella and Cibie have been around for YEARS. PIAA is Japanese and the new kid on the block (relatively speaking). Some people prefer the European vendors more than the Japanese.

 

It strikes me that most people who have mounted and written about the Alta light bar and IPF's on this board, and others, have only good things to say. Maybe that's because they spent the money and don't want to feel like it was a waste, but I haven't seen any negative reviews. If I change my mind down the line, I'll switch them out for hella's and sell them here or on ebay. At this point the only advantage I see to Hella's are that the covers are more attractive.