PIAA 90 PROXT

viper37

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These lamps caught my eye a while back, and I've been looking around for a pair. Does anyone know anything about them, and if they are even worth it? Image for reference:
pi90proxldus.jpg
 

Alaric Darconville

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These lamps caught my eye a while back, and I've been looking around for a pair. Does anyone know anything about them, and if they are even worth it?

These are almost surely junk, like most (all?) of PIAA's products.

The "extra blue" color on that projector is especially troubling (perhaps the lens is clear and is just showing the color of the installed bulb). Blue filters remove large portion of the useful red/orange/yellow light, leaving behind the blues and violets which aren't all that great to see by.

Additionally, I see some marketing materials for it stating things like:
Powerful 55 watt Quartz Halogen XTRA bulb equals the intensity of a 100 watt bulb on the projector fog side and an 85 watt Quartz Halogen XTRA bulb performs similar to a 130 watt bulb on the driving side.
That "XTRA" bulb is a blue-tinted bulb -- and has marketing associated with it like "Power usage: 51W, Light output: 115W"
Light output is not measured in watts, it is measured in lumens.

PIAA is well-known for marketing hype, and for the most part, untruths.

All you'll get is a "great" warranty, but such a warranty is essentially meaningless. It's easy to build such a product that lasts, but it's not so easy to build one that works. This is certainly one of those cases where ability is preferred to durability.
 

monkeyboy

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I don't know about that particular product but, +1 on that, PIAA stuff is junk.
Many years ago, before my CPF days, I fitted out my car with PIAA bulbs after buying into all the marketing crap. What I got were some overdriven blue filtered bulbs with a weird tint which lasted about 6 months with light use.

The clear bosch bulbs I replaced them with were better and much cheaper too.

Their LED replacement sidelights are a joke.
 

-Virgil-

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My experience: these lamps do not hold up well, and have a price that is not justified by their meager performance. There really aren't any small combination fog/driving lights like this that work well.
 

TheExpert

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I think you would be better off to save some coin and buy some "burners" from walmart for $20 they work that is it. I think you will like Rigid Industries lineup of led lights they have.................... hint hint
 

viper37

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Nothing Rigid makes is road legal. Also, if I wanted bright lights I'd continue using the 5 Hella 4000 HID's I have on my race truck. I'm looking for something for road use.
 

TheExpert

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Yes, this is true. and very disappointing they are great lights. but still technically illegal. The thing I like I about the Rigid is that it comes close to HID performance in some ways but use dont have to worry about changing bulbs and what not. And they are very tough. Do you have any personal experience with them? Not trying to say they are the best but, you might like em.
 

viper37

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Yes I do, they are not as bright as HID's and do not support the speeds at which I travel.
 

TheExpert

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Yeah, led technology is great just not quite up to HID's just yet, but it will get their with time. Good luck with your search let us know what you come up with.
 

Hilldweller

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I have some driving lights from JW Speaker and am waiting for a lightbar to mount them on. They're an updated round version of the TS 3000.
Once I get them mounted I'll compare some LUX numbers to my friend's HID 4000s at 100 yards.
Probably won't be 'til next month though.
 

Hamilton Felix

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When I first saw combination driving and fog in one unit, I thought it clever, especially for those with limited mounting space. Then I got a "deal" on a pair of these combination "driving and fog in one lamp" lights. I ended up using them as auxiliary offroad backup lights on a Suburban (big alternator and didn't care if I was using 220 watts on the rear). But I quickly realized I'd have been unhappy if actually trying to use these as driving and fog lights. There was no adjustment of one reflector relative to the other. So even if I'd managed a mounting height that was at the high end of OK for fogs and the low end of OK for driving lamps, I would have been able to correctly aim my driving lamps OR my fog lamps, but NOT both. The pair I bought was cheap, don't recall the brand. Although they were lousy driving and fog beams, they worked fine to put lots of white light behind the 4x4 rig in the woods at night. I appreciate the lesson they taught me.
 

Uncaged94

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I agree about the combo lights in that they never do as well as a dedicated beam. But I really like the PIAA brand. They have served me well for many years. Back in '05, I bought a set of the 2100i ion foul weather driving lights for a '94 Tracer LTS 5-speed. I've since given the car to my nephew. A few months ago he sold the car and asked me if I wanted the PIAA's back. I said heck yea! I'm blind in one eye and now in my later years glare is really becoming an issue. I like the amber hue and the reach it has over "fog" lights. I liked the 2100i so much that I bought a set for my '94 T'bird. They are still working quite well. And when I bought my 2011 F150, I put a set on it. I had to find the parts to build that set because they are discontinued. Now I've added a set of the PIAA RS600 HID shock lamps to the truck on the front grill guard. These things are sick! I have property in Keyser, West Virginia and those things light up the whole mountain :laughing:. Now that I've found this forum. I have better information on what is really available. But I still like my PIAA's...........:D
 

Lightdoctor

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The only bulb I'll ever buy from pi@@ is there 55W gold H3 for use in fog lights...their other bulbs are junk. (I'd gladly buy 55W gold H3's from the top three IF they still made them...DARN IT!)
 

Alaric Darconville

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The only bulb I'll ever buy from pi@@ is there 55W gold H3 for use in fog lights...their other bulbs are junk. (I'd gladly buy 55W gold H3's from the top three IF they still made them...DARN IT!)
If I had my 'druthers, I'druther use Dupli-Color MetalCast Yellow to make the lenses selective yellow, and use Narva RangePower +50 H3 bulbs. The bulb coatings and colorants in use today don't seem to work very well.

If it gives you satisfaction and pleasure, why not?

So long as said satisfaction and pleasure does not also bring a reduction in safety for himself and others.
 

-Virgil-

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+1 on making the lamp yellow and using a good quality bulb. Better overall lamp performance that way. Those dichroic-coated yellow bulbs were really never a good solution. PIAA's bulbs are not recommendable; their filament placement tends to be very sloppy which seriously degrades the beam focus of the lamp they're installed in. And the astronomical prices they go for are just not defensible. There are reports that Dupli-Color MetalCast Yellow is either discontinued or hard to find; Krylon offers the same thing.
 

Hamilton Felix

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Sounds like I'd better order some now, if I want to try tinting fog lights.

In my limited experience with PIAA (one set driving lights, one set dichroic projector fogs and one set standard rectangular fogs,), they uhhhh... well, they work, but they do not come close to the outrageous claims PIAA makes for them. But they do light up. PIAA wiring harnesses are minimal at best, their relays small, but their lights are fairly heavy.

Oh yeah, I have some small PIAA driving lights that a former long distance rider gave me. Tried them briefly on the motorcycle. NOT a driving beam at all. But fashionable, I guess...

That PIAA 90 Pro XT interested me, but I'm glad I never spent the money. Perhaps someday a maker like Cibie or Marchal may put out a combination driving/fog light with independent elevation adjustment, like the way the high beam on the Marchal Amplilux can be adjusted separately from the large low beam reflector and the rest of the light. That "all in one" concept seems attractive for vehicles with limited frontal area. But you'll still have to compromise on mounting height.
 
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-Virgil-

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I found myself with a little extra time after lunch just now, so I called up PIAA USA in Oregon and asked them some questions. Here is a transcript:

***************************************************************************************
Me> Hi, I'm just wondering, I'm looking at your bulbs, trying to decide which ones to buy; it looks like you have Plasma Ion Yellow, Night-Tech, Intense White, Xtreme White Plus, and Super Plasma GT-X, all with different amounts of blue tint to the bulb glass except the Plasma Ion Yellow is yellow, right?

PIAA> Yes, that's correct.

Me> So I'm wondering, the blue ones, do they actually produce more light than a regular bulb?

PIAA> Yes, they do. They produce the equality of double the light output.

Me> I'm not sure I understand what "the equality of double the light" means. Does that mean they actually put out twice the light?

PIAA> Yes, they put out twice the light. So for example you have a 55-watt bulb, it puts out the equality of light from a 110-watt bulb.

Me> OK, but your website says they're DOT approved, and I've got the DOT Federal headlight bulb regulation on screen in front of me, and it looks like each bulb type, 9004, 9006, H7, whatever, they all have a specified light output maximum, like they specify an output and give a tolerance of, like, plus or minus ten or twelve or fifteen percent. So how is it possible to have a bulb that puts out double the light and still be DOT approved?

PIAA> They're DOT approved because if you aim them right they don't bother other drivers.

Me> Good, OK, I'm sure I'm just not seeing the obvious, but it looks like the DOT regulates not only the headlight beam in terms of does it bother other drivers and how is it aimed, but also the actual raw output of the headlight bulb, so I don't understand how a bulb that puts out twice the light specified for its type is DOT-approved. Can you help me understand?

PIAA> Yes, go ahead, did you have more questions?

Me> No, just that last one.

PIAA> Hello? Hello? Are you still there?

Me> I'm still here.

PIAA> Hello? *click*
***************************************************************************************

I'm trying to figure out how to describe PIAA's attitude here. The word won't come to mind. "Professional" isn't it, but I can't quite remember the word I'm looking for. (OK, I was playing dumb, but it looks to me like they were playing fraudulent. HEY! THAT'S IT! FRAUDULENT!)
 
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