Hella Brand Headlights and Fogs

[SixteenLaramie]

I have not seen a ton of write-up on the Hella brand for headlights and fogs. This thread will be specifically for that.

Feel free to mention other brands but only if you've had Hellas to compare to.

If you currently have Hellas let me know what you like or dislike.

Do you have Performance Series, Optilux, Standard, Design?

Do you run 55W, 65W, or 100W?!

9005 / 9006

 

[SixteenLaramie]

I am looking to buy and wanted feedback on.......

Fogs: Optilux Hella XY Series Xenon Yellow Halogen Bulbs 55W

Headlights Low: Hella High Performance 2.0 65W

Headlights High: Hella Optilux XB Series Xenon White Halogen Bulbs 65W

 

[kurek]

I haven't used Hella brand bulbs in oe housings but have used 500 series driving lights, they produce a good clean pattern and the price for what you get is excellent but they're not built as well as similar PIAA driving lights (520's)

Hella makes a really wide range of lighting products from really cheap stuff to high end commercial and marine.

 

[SixteenLaramie]

I haven't used Hella brand bulbs in oe housings but have used 500 series driving lights, they produce a good clean pattern and the price for what you get is excellent but they're not built as well as similar PIAA driving lights (520's)

Hella makes a really wide range of lighting products from really cheap stuff to high end commercial and marine.

I was wondering if they were made too cheaply. The price suggest that. But it's also the price that attracts me. I'm not wanting to spend the money for PIAA even though I know PIAA are a good product

 

[kurek]

The difference in construction quality is huge, for the driving lamp assemblies:


Hella 500FF on the left, PIAA 520 on the right. Hard to tell but the Hella uses just one bolt friction fit against plastic to establish beam elevation, the plastic is pretty much guaranteed to compress and become loose and require retightening PIAA uses two bolts and metal-to-washer-to-metal friction so once it's on and torqued down it's set until something hits it or bubba leans on it.



PIAA's relay on the right, though I guess there's no way of knowing what's inside it without taking it apart. But it's a whole lot heavier than the Hella relay on the left. You can also see that the Hella wiring is just bare ends you have to crimp yourself, everything clicks together on the PIAA's.



Wire gauge, Hella on the left PIAA on the right.


Here is "what's in the box", minus one lamp for each set. The PIAA's cost 4 times as much, real world retail - but at least there's more to it than just a name.

But you can buy a whole replacement pair of hella 500s for the price of one replacement glass lens for a piaa 520 and that is worth considering too.

I went with piaa 410s on my ram because of physical dimensions and am still waiting for the upfitter switches i ordered a month ago.. So i have no idea how well they illuminate but the construction quality and engineering effort on them appears very good so far.

 

[SixteenLaramie]

The difference in construction quality is huge, i will put up photos later i had a set of each at the same time and shot a couple comparison photos.

But you can buy a whole replacement pair of hella 500s for the price of one replacement glass lens for a piaa 520 and that is worth considering too.

I went with piaa 410s on my ram because of physical dimensions and am still waiting for the upfitter switches i ordered a month ago.. So i have no idea how well they illuminate but the construction quality and engineering effort on them appears very good so far.

It's highly likely I will buy the ones I listed above simply because of price. If I do I'll post pics of them and give a review. And follow up down the road with another review

 

[kurek]

I'll be curious about the low glare fog lights the Xenon Yellow ones - currently I'm using Wagner Night Defense and Philips Nightguide in my Ram's low and high beams, respectively and they both work very well but I think Nightguides are discontinued so what's left on the shelf is it. Reduced glare is a big priority for me - both for my own comfort and that of oncoming drivers.