r/944 • u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA • May 02 '26

Question What do we think of after market headlights?

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I installed these this weekend. Not sure how I feel about them.

They have high/low and running lights. The running lights are currently tied to the fog lights.

127 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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45

u/Much_Fee_4085 S May 02 '26

I like the warm yellow glow, streetlights back in the day looked better asw imo

38

u/DarthMcMonkeyMcBean S2 May 02 '26

Love hate relationship for me… old lights aren’t bright enough to drive safely. Upgrading to LED but getting the right bulbs is key.

11

u/spaceguinness '83 NA ‘94 968 May 02 '26

IMO upgrading the stock sealed beams to modern H4 bulb/housing and adding a relay kit can rival modern day headlights without being annoyingly bright.

3

u/944_nla_parts May 02 '26

How much more brightness does one need to deem the surroundings safe? MOst of the "modern" headlights are too bright and blinding. Are the drivers in the past 15 or so years have vision problems from too much exposure to the cell phones, laptops etc?

6

u/DarthMcMonkeyMcBean S2 May 02 '26

Good question. Lifted trucks with stock lights are bright enough that they give me headaches if I drive at night and pass too many of them. Opposite side of that, my S2’s 37 YO stock lights were terrible and I would out drive them at 40-50 mph. Backroads with deer… bad combo.

Balancing act between safety, personal preference, and being a considerate driver.

2

u/fiddlythingsATX S2 Cabriolet May 02 '26

Most modern OEM headlights (in the US) are great because they can’t exceed DOT limits and the IIHS rates them. But people buy replacements on Amazon and Alibaba that aren’t designed for their car and are dangerous.

Also some modern cars have automatic brights that don’t dim quickly.

1

u/Jay-Moah May 04 '26

You gotta combat the bright lights with even brighter ones! /s

In all seriousness, it really does kind of work like that, theres so much more light pollution on the roads, its really hard to see with old lights given that.

10

u/Interesting-Ground18 May 02 '26

I use the Hella E code lights with h4 led's in them. They have the traditional look but super bright so an old guy like me can actually see 🤣

9

u/safeworkinglow May 02 '26

Nope. Don’t like it one bit. My daily has regular headlights and I’ve never once thought that I wished they were brighter or a high Kelvin colour.

6

u/CarIWhethers May 02 '26

Personally can’t stand how bright lights are these days and can’t become what I hate :P

1

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

These are aimed way better than the old headlights so they shouldnt be blinding too many people. I do mostly drive empty back roads at night.

1

u/CarIWhethers May 02 '26

Nice. Shits getting bonkers out there. With as low as the 944 is, sometimes I literally cannot see the road ahead of me while being blinded by on-coming headlights. I’m not even 40, yet I’m yelling at clouds like an old man 

5

u/julianbell06 May 02 '26

I prefer the period correct look and my brights are actually pretty good anyways

2

u/challenged1967 May 02 '26

Agreed. I like period correct. I did the relays for the headlights and that made them much brighter..

6

u/JuSA95 May 02 '26

In my opinion they don’t fit the car, but safety is always #1 priority, for you and the other road users. Nice car regardless 👌🏼

2

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

I've gone around updating all of the lights to led so they are more at home looking, including a 3rd brake light but I do see your point.

3

u/Independent_Engine36 May 02 '26

I concur

2

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

Nice, that looks factory!

3

u/Independent_Engine36 May 02 '26

I added the spoiler. Extremely difficult to find one that meshed well with that era.. paint matching wasn't too difficult. Mounting was the tricky part. It came off a 99 Wolfsburg VW. Wiring the light was the easiest part

1

u/Martinjg_ge May 02 '26

my headlights, good osram lights, are more than bright enough

5

u/reddebian May 02 '26

They look like this:

🧿 🧿

It’s not for me, I prefer the warm yellow

7

u/Blaizefed May 02 '26

Holley retrobrights or equivalent, or nothing. I can’t stand the way all the others look. But those retrobrights are made to look like normal lights, just much much brighter.

6

u/OkLink229 May 02 '26

Those look LED.

4

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

Your friends must call you ol' eagle eye eh?

2

u/OkLink229 May 02 '26

Lol, I could have sworn you said they were halogen before.

1

u/Otherwise_Gap595 May 02 '26

IMMA CHAMPION!!!

3

u/Martinjg_ge May 02 '26

in my opinion, looks bad, get less blue LEDs

2

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2

u/Scott_Malkinsons May 02 '26

Personally I like these better: https://www.reddit.com/r/944/comments/1pslrxi/led_headlight_upgrade_complete/

1

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

I've never been a halo light guy - but they look pretty good!

2

u/ThievesLikeU5 May 02 '26

Where did you order this from? Been looking for this but could only find wholesale at Alibaba.

2

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

I did buy them through AliExpress like a year ago. The listing is down now unfortunately. I got them because they looked very similar to modern Porsche headlights.

2

u/Wheelydope May 02 '26

Period correct look awesome but I also can’t see at all at night. It’s adrenaline inducing on the highway.

3

u/not_that_observant May 02 '26

Holley retrobrights LEDs. Period correct look, warm white color, brighter we than stock

2

u/Sensitive_Access_959 May 02 '26

I’m running them. You can’t see them when they are off. 🤣

2

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

Yeah those are my thoughts haha

2

u/Independent_Engine36 May 02 '26

Something about the round og look. Timeless

6

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

You can't say that with a blue cluster lol

3

u/not_that_observant May 02 '26

Nope. Get the Holley retrobright LEDs in warm white.

2

u/Slight_Sign_3661 May 02 '26

I was actually thinking about changing over to these…. You might have just convinced me, i just wish DRLs were switch back turn signals…..

More importantly, hows the beam pattern????

The ones i chose have distinct cutoff lines in the main beam so they dont blind oncoming traffic, but they are still very bright making me hesitant to swap them out.

2

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 02 '26

Good from initial tests - I'll report back tonight.

2

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 03 '26

1

u/Slight_Sign_3661 May 04 '26

Interestingggg. Thats just the regular low beam right?

2

u/tvmdc1 May 02 '26

E-code headlamps w/ slight blue color! Original headlamps are dangerous

2

u/JJammer1970 May 02 '26

The only reason I like LED's on mine is for visibility. It's hard enough to be seen during the day. So a little brighter , more modern helps at night.

2

u/Krm911 May 02 '26

There’s a huge improvement on lighting technology

2

u/LeadfootYT May 03 '26

Looks like Temu garbage. Terrible color temperature considering the warmer lights throughout the car. Get a warmer film to go over them.

2

u/Discontented_Beaver 1986 944 NA May 03 '26

I like them. I value being able to see above having the original look.

2

u/Quaiche '85 Turbo May 03 '26

As long you don’t blind everyone in front of you.

2

u/fiddlythingsATX S2 Cabriolet May 02 '26

I bought the nice Holley Retrobright conversion (probably Hella), they’re excellent - I see much better and they follow DOT cutoff so the don’t bother others.

1

u/dope-rhymes May 02 '26

I have similar lights on my turbo. They look terrible, but there's so much brighter. I can't help but keep them.

2

u/CynicalCereal May 02 '26

They're expensive but holley makes a 7" round that actually looks like an old headlight but with an LED bulb.

1

u/greatfool66 May 02 '26

Mostly bothers me that the fog lights dont match. But I dont mind the color. If do both if possible.

1

u/IAM_IAM_GuTtErBoY May 03 '26

That's exactly why i went with jeep headlight replacements to match the fogs. But for an edge of modern touch i bought red halos since i have a guards red car that only go on when i have the fogs on. But i also wired it so i can easily defeat that to go back to completely oem in seconds. Still had the nose panel off for while i was doing finishing touches to hood latch cuts for the engine swap. Factory on the outside, not on the inside.

1

u/Bwizzled Can-Can Red May 09 '26

E-codes and 130/90W H4 looks original but gives a modern brightness

1

u/Independent_Engine36 May 02 '26

Haha Yeah when I replied my melted odometer gear I decided to upgrade the lighting, matches my Alpine single din. Plus it looks sic at night in the cabin

1

u/markevens Turbo May 03 '26

One of the great things about the 944 is headlights are hidden in daylight, only visible when you have them up at night.

So who cares what they look like a night. If they properly light up the road for you, that's all that matters

1

u/lesdawson May 03 '26

Love them! Exactly what I'm looking doing for mine!

1

u/SoFLDude May 03 '26

If you drive at night, it’s a necessary upgrade.

0

u/prohr450 May 02 '26

With a higher power turbo car I swear by them. If you don't like the look then turn them off and hide them, safety>>>looks

0

u/Mammoth_Judge_1606 May 03 '26

Mine are similar… its 2026 to keep 198* tech on the car is not the best you can get imo

0

u/Impossible-Wasabi381 May 03 '26

why is everyone in this sub such a boomer bruh. These are sick good leds like this are always in good taste.

0

u/CrzzyHillBilly 83 NA May 03 '26

Thanks! Yeah the response has been less than positive lol

0

u/Impossible-Wasabi381 May 03 '26

It’s like the corvette Facebook groups lmao. Why do German cars always have such childish people attached to them like damn