Volkswagen GTI Forums - My Fast GTi banner

Headlight Unrestrictor

4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  kootenaydub 
#1 ·
I'm not sure if anyone has ever heard of this, but the guy i bought my '08 GTI from siad that there is a modification that you can get that will unrestrict your headlights, and make them usable like they are in Europe. Supposedly in Europe, there are headlights on the GTI that are very, very bright, and were deemed illegal in the US, but they did not remove them, from the car. I cant remember what he called the modification, but he said that you can use the super bright light headlights with the modification when you flash your headlights. Wouldn't be an extremely useful modification, but would be cool to have.
 
#6 ·
Do you notice a big difference with the FTP headlights teamed with the high beams, or does it not illuminate much more?
with fogs, high beams and ftp all lit up, the road is like daylight. I still have the oem ftp bulbs, but If I got a higher temp to match the hids it'll be even brighter.
 
#7 ·
with fogs, high beams and ftp all lit up, the road is like daylight. I still have the oem ftp bulbs, but If I got a higher temp to match the hids it'll be even brighter.
No, higher color temp is achieved by filtering light to shift the color balance,
so it won't be brighter if it is discarding some of the light.
Both HID and FTP stock bulbs together should be as bright as you will get
without exceeding stock wattage with replacements.
With all those lit, road signs become blinding bouncing back all that light.
At night, the FTP bulbs will only be lit when hi-beams are on,
so theoretically no one will ever see them
as you extinguish them whenever another car appears,
so who cares what color they are? Brighter is better ;)

When I first read the original post, I thought OP was asking about projector lens and shutter upgrades,
like these: OEM bi-xenon headlight updrage DIY or Project: Improving OEM Bi-Xenon light output

BTW I post under the name JetTurbo in the golfmkv.com and VWvortex forums
 
#8 ·
No, higher color temp is achieved by filtering light to shift the color balance,
so it won't be brighter if it is discarding some of the light.
Well, actually, around 4300k is the optimal temp for max lumen output, 4300k is the stock hid bulb. The oem ftp bulb has slightly lower temperature, so if I upgraded to something closer to 4300k, I should gain some more light output.
 
#9 ·
Well, actually, around 4300k is the optimal temp for max lumen output, 4300k is the stock hid bulb. The oem ftp bulb has slightly lower temperature, so if I upgraded to something closer to 4300k, I should gain some more light output.
There is no one optimum color temperature for all bulb types.
A bulbs optimum color temperature for max lumen output will vary with bulb type.
Within a single bulb type, material variations, operating voltage
and output wattage all will affect the optimum color temperature.
i.e. a HID will have a significantly different optimum color temperature
than a quartz halogen incandescent bulb.

In the projection world, quartz halogen incandescent bulbs are at their optimum around 3,200°K - 3,400°K.
With the larger Xenon arcs used in projection, the optimum color temperature is around 5,600°K
(5,600°K is considered by many sources to be the same color temperature as noonday sun).
The variances in materials and lower wattage of automotive HIDs
have a lower optimum color temperature than high wattage projection bulbs.
 
#10 · (Edited)
There is no one optimum color temperature for all bulb types.
A bulbs optimum color temperature for max lumen output will vary with bulb type.
Within a single bulb type, material variations, operating voltage
and output wattage all will affect the optimum color temperature.
i.e. a HID will have a significantly different optimum color temperature
than a quartz halogen incandescent bulb.

In the projection world, quartz halogen incandescent bulbs are at their optimum around 3,200°K - 3,400°K.
With the larger Xenon arcs used in projection, the optimum color temperature is around 5,600°K
(5,600°K is considered by many sources to be the same color temperature as noonday sun).
The variances in materials and lower wattage of automotive HIDs
have a lower optimum color temperature than high wattage projection bulbs.
You're absolutely right, I fully understand what you've said above. I specifically researched the bulb I'm looking to replace and found that the temperature that matches the hids is the highest lumen output for that bulb and wattage.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top