warrior
09-13-2006, 10:33 AM
"I'm looking for something that will give my 1999 Subaru Legacy GT some better light compared to the stock flashlights!"
Yes, quite.
Subaru pulled a dirty trick when one of the areas in which they decontented the Legacy for '98 was the headlamps. They made 'em look nifty with a fully-clear lens, but they took a *lot* of money out of them. The result is reduced performance (narrower beam, much more upward stray light to cause backdazzle in bad weather) and no more onboard aiming device. Regardless of whether or not you have fog lamps, your headlamps will continue to sabotage your seeing in bad weather. They don't work all that well in good weather, either.
Don't know what your budget is -- there is a *really* good quad projector beam headlamp conversion set for the '96-'99 Legacy that vastly improves low and high beam performance and totally obviates the need for fog lamps, but it's not cheap -- around $600 or so complete. Worth it if you're keeping the car and driving it a lot at night and/or in winter.
The other headlamp performance improvement option is to swap on a set of the '96-'97 headlamp assemblies. Pricy from the dealer (you'd wind up spending about as much as the quad projector conversion!), but you can find good used ones easily at www.car-part.com (http://www.car-part.com) , searchable used auto parts clear across the continent. Search on 1997 Subaru Legacy headlight assembly, left then right. Search results are sorted in descending price order. Make sure the ones you get are "insurance quality", that is, as new. (But, watch out for the "New" ones listed; they are Taiwanese copycat items). These will physically drop in place of your '98-'99 headlamp/turn signal assemblies and the turn signal wiring will fit right on. The headlamp socket is different, which is just as well, because marginal headlamp units are only half the problem with late Subarus. The other half is very poor headlamp wiring (not fixed as of 2000 ... our Y2K Legacy has too-thin headlamp wires, too!) This starves whatever bulbs in whatever lamps you use, and significantly degrades nighttime seeing. Installing headlamp relays and decent wire per http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... elays.html (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html) (Parts package that prevents you having to cut any original wires, RIK-H4R, $55 from me) solves this problem. With good wires feeding good headlamps, and a set of good bulbs ($19/ea from me) you'll see quite well.
Yes, quite.
Subaru pulled a dirty trick when one of the areas in which they decontented the Legacy for '98 was the headlamps. They made 'em look nifty with a fully-clear lens, but they took a *lot* of money out of them. The result is reduced performance (narrower beam, much more upward stray light to cause backdazzle in bad weather) and no more onboard aiming device. Regardless of whether or not you have fog lamps, your headlamps will continue to sabotage your seeing in bad weather. They don't work all that well in good weather, either.
Don't know what your budget is -- there is a *really* good quad projector beam headlamp conversion set for the '96-'99 Legacy that vastly improves low and high beam performance and totally obviates the need for fog lamps, but it's not cheap -- around $600 or so complete. Worth it if you're keeping the car and driving it a lot at night and/or in winter.
The other headlamp performance improvement option is to swap on a set of the '96-'97 headlamp assemblies. Pricy from the dealer (you'd wind up spending about as much as the quad projector conversion!), but you can find good used ones easily at www.car-part.com (http://www.car-part.com) , searchable used auto parts clear across the continent. Search on 1997 Subaru Legacy headlight assembly, left then right. Search results are sorted in descending price order. Make sure the ones you get are "insurance quality", that is, as new. (But, watch out for the "New" ones listed; they are Taiwanese copycat items). These will physically drop in place of your '98-'99 headlamp/turn signal assemblies and the turn signal wiring will fit right on. The headlamp socket is different, which is just as well, because marginal headlamp units are only half the problem with late Subarus. The other half is very poor headlamp wiring (not fixed as of 2000 ... our Y2K Legacy has too-thin headlamp wires, too!) This starves whatever bulbs in whatever lamps you use, and significantly degrades nighttime seeing. Installing headlamp relays and decent wire per http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... elays.html (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html) (Parts package that prevents you having to cut any original wires, RIK-H4R, $55 from me) solves this problem. With good wires feeding good headlamps, and a set of good bulbs ($19/ea from me) you'll see quite well.