I've been wanting an aftermarket upgrade to my lighting for quite some time now and foglights just do nothing for me... I was after some good driving lights. I came across these new Hella 90mm modules with the H9 bulb that puts out 2100 lumens from a 65w bulb. That's almost as good as an HIR 9011 bulb. These are hibeam modules which means they throw a somewhat dense beam of light downrange.

In addition to these, I do have the stock HID projector lowbeams and the stock hibeams with 9011 HIR Toshiba bulbs swapped in.

Here are some pics:
http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_glam.jpg
http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_front.jpg
http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_illum.jpg
http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_closequarter.jpg
http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_mounting.jpg

Once I figured out how to mount them, it was really easy, but I've had this stuff sitting around for damn near a year now waiting for me to figure it out. The final solution was EASY and extraordinarily sturdy, in addition to being very easy to adjust aim.

The parts I used are as follows:
from subaruparts.com
Fog Lamp Trim Kit RH and LH (prepainted) $65.21

from rallylights.com
(2) HL68136 90mm High Beam Lamp, H9 Bulb $58.75 each
(2) HL97300 Mounting Plate, Stainless Steel $10.20 each
(2) HL95663 Adjuster Kit $13.85 each
(2) HL87193 H9 Connector with terminals and seals $6.70 each
HL87123 Hella Mini 5 or 6 Terminal with bracket (relay receptacle) $2.43
HL87118 Hella 40amp 12v relay, dual 87 terminals

wiring supplies
Sealing triple-shrink 3M shrink tubing (partsexpress)
SPDT switch (allows on-anytime or on-w/highbeams) (partsexpress)
12ga outdoor lighting wire (homedepot)
terminal block crimp female disconnects (partsexpress)

All connections are soldered and heatshrink-protected. The relay block is mounted right next to the fusebox in the 06 engine bay on one of the empty bolt holes in the strut tower. The switch is in a blank receptacle in the dash.

nice, i have a pair sitting here also. you beat me to it :D
how do you like the light output on the road?

Shane

nice, i have a pair sitting here also. you beat me to it :D well i sure as hell wasn't trying :lol: I bought these in January!

how do you like the light output on the road?

Shanethis may sound weird, but i haven't got enough road time at night with them to know. I'll get out during night hours soon enough.

ha, i have had mine sitting here since i bought my old car back in 03 :D nothing like parts sitting in boxes for years :D

get some night pics also :D

Shane

Very cool. The Hellas are wonderful units. Did you consider goin' with the projector H9s?

what projector H9s?

I'm only aware of the ones I have, an HID unit, and a version with an H7 and city light...

edit - oh wait do you mean the lowbeam version? nah not what i want at all. i need distance-lighting.

Now that is a very nice looking upgrade. Two thumbs up for sure! :)

-Biggly

I think the Hellas are still aimed a bit low... the first animation here is on a downhill slope so the car may be leaning down a bit and exaggerating how much the foreground is illuminated, but here are some examples.

"HID" are the stock headlights. "H9" are the hella 90mm's, "9011" are the stock hibeams with HIR bulbs.

http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_2.gif
http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/90mm/90mm_1.gif

very nicely done, but this seems to prove the idea that driving or high beams shouldn't be mounted below the bumper. (like my FF1ks)

make sure to update with more driving impressions!

yeah it's weird because from the driver seat it doesn't look like that at all.

i really think it's because of the downhill slope that it looks like that.

it's hard to find a dark place where i can park and take several photos that shows off the light output.

Looks real good!

I'm gonna hack my grill and put some driving lights in up there.....and find some good fogs for the stock location......the stock '06 fogs are a joke

nhluhr:I like the fog's on the your 06. Looks muscular. For some reason on the 04-05's the small fog lights that are resessed make the front wimpy looking. I was thinking of putting rally fogs in the lower grill.. Cant see paying $$$ for the JDM and getting the new beam etc.
What did you have on your other STi?

I'm gonna hack my grill and put some driving lights in up there.....and find some good fogs for the stock location......the stock '06 fogs are a jokeI hear the Hella Micro DE Fogs are superb foglights... and their light-tunnel beam pattern sure seems to back that up:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/hella%20images/Micro_DE_Fog_Pattern.jpg

They might even fit in the stock fog holes nicely.nhluhr:I like the fog's on the your 06. Looks muscular. For some reason on the 04-05's the small fog lights that are resessed make the front wimpy looking. I was thinking of putting rally fogs in the lower grill.. Cant see paying $$$ for the JDM and getting the new beam etc.
What did you have on your other STi?Well, for a short time I had a set of Hella FF1000's bolted on the front bumper (http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/sti_ff1000/mounted.jpg). I didn't like this setup at all. Even with a reinforcing beam bolted in place behind the bumper skin, they were way too bouncy, as well as being very exposed and "look-at-me". I have never liked the "lightbar" look of a set of lights protruding out from the car's front end.

I had those same lights (FF1000) on my 02WRX and was completely in love with them which is why I tried so hard to get them onto the STI.

In the end, I'm extremely satisfied with what I've got now. It's clean-looking, throws a hell of a lot of light, and is VERY sturdily mounted.

I can see how they "MAY" cause xtra attention:D I found something that may work well with my STi. They are PIAA : http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/p-9000.html
They are small compact, pack a punch. I would like to mount them in the lower grill either upside down or regular. I have never removed my front bumber cover, anything sound to mount to?

For lights that small, you can probably get away with mounting them through the plastic skin, but if they are heavier than they look, you may have to mount to the bumper beamp itself...

I was thinking right here. I just made this real quik, using my paint program. I have other blue stuff, thats why im leaning towards them, and the ring glow will look different.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y95/ADR04STi/Picture2441A.jpg

take the blue tinting off your headlights and you won't need the aux lights ;)

Im more opted to the PIAA : 004XT XTREME WHITE . A driving light with 25* long range.Look easy to install ,lightweight. I guess the angel eyes/ halo arent all that bright, and almost $100.00 more.. .Ill go for less frills. These satisfy my needs with the blue lense, has a really good H3 bulb that I can replace with both their ion yellow or Super Plasma GT-X. I can get the kit shipped for $132.00 from LTB motorsports thats with free shipping too.

PS: Long range is a must.. . its almost deer season here in Upstate,NY.

Lights are fun. :D

The lights look stock even to the trained eye. :)

Im more opted to the PIAA : 004XT XTREME WHITE . A driving light with 25* long range.Look easy to install ,lightweight. I guess the angel eyes/ halo arent all that bright, and almost $100.00 more.. .Ill go for less frills. These satisfy my needs with the blue lense, has a really good H3 bulb that I can replace with both their ion yellow or Super Plasma GT-X. I can get the kit shipped for $132.00 from LTB motorsports thats with free shipping too.

PS: Long range is a must.. . its almost deer season here in Upstate,NY.

you have to be kidding me...

you want the blue lens, and you want to put a yellow bulb behind it? :slaps forehead:

are the lights the same size as stock? and is the cover stock too or larger.

looks great!

well, the sti comes with nothing stock, but if you mean the optional foglights, then yes, these are definitely a bit bigger. I used an air grinder to open up the hole slightly. You need a hole roughly 3.6" in diameter for the lights to poke through. You could easily use a hole-saw for this but I used a dremel cutoff wheel to cut my hole and then the air grinder with a sand roll to smooth it.

do you have the spec size of the lights by any chance?

you should be able to find any info you need here: http://www.rallylights.com/hella/90mm_modules.asp

bump from the past. how are you liking these lights? after almost a year on the road, do you use them a lot? how are they holding up?

Shane

so far so good. i run them pretty much every time i use my highbeams which is frequently... Everything is holding up as if it were OEM and I haven't had to do any maintenance at all. Since I've got a good number of hours on the bulbs, I will probably swap them out soon, opting for the 100w replacements.