# show: Mk4 Gti projectors



## Bryoc (Apr 24, 2009)

been looking around, trying to get some ideas. help me out show me what you got. thanks in advance :beer:


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

Why do you want projectors? Nothing beats a nice big reflector!


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

Why do you like reflectors so much?


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## Bryoc (Apr 24, 2009)

haha. just trying to get some ideas. not trying to blind other drivers


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## PA-TDI (Feb 10, 2009)

That is all. Retrofits are hands down the best way to go if you can afford them.


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## Bryoc (Apr 24, 2009)

thanks man, yea retro fits are too much for me right now. what ones are they. they look good


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## PA-TDI (Feb 10, 2009)

Retrofits are hand made.. by yourself or by someone willing to do it. I made those last year.


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## Bryoc (Apr 24, 2009)

:screwy: for some reason i was thinking retrofits were the conversion kit. nice work. what housing is that?


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## PA-TDI (Feb 10, 2009)

Those are GTI headlights with the fog moved to the high beam spot and dual turn signals, the projector is a bixenon FX-R with a clear lens swap.


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## Bryoc (Apr 24, 2009)

they look good, thanks for the help :beer:


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

MechEngg said:


> Why do you like reflectors so much?


They are compact, simple, and inexpensive - and work well when you have room for them. Best lights I've had were the big Hella "aero" E-codes on my MkII Jetta.

But it's more about what I don't like about projectors. They're usually smaller and present a small bright spot of light to oncoming drivers. Then people put blue bulbs or HIDs in them and that makes the light even more annoying.

They are good if you are trying to design a car with a small area for the headlight. But why take one and put it in a car that has a large headlight? And then put an angel eye around the projectors to try and make them look bigger? If you get a big one then they are sometimes too deep to fit.

But the thing that bugs me the most is that people think just because they are projectors you can slap an HID "kit" in them and they will become HID headlights.

"Bi-xenon" HIDs are about the only projectors that make much sense to me. But those waste a lot of light blocked by the low beam shield. But that's OK because HIDs produce enough light that you can afford to waste some. But even bi-xenons have the same beam pattern for both high and low beam with the exception of the light blocked by the shield. But you augment that with a separate halogen high beam and also use that for "flash to pass".

Just my two cents!


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## gti vr6er (Oct 8, 2010)

^^^Wow, I was considering this but, through your obviously knowledge of GTi lighting and your informative explanation, I've changed my mind. I actually did think it looked funny with our size housings with tiny dollar-coin size HID's in them. Plus I'm not down for the obnoxiously blinding style lights. Thanks :beer:


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

dennisgli said:


> They are compact, simple, and inexpensive - and work well when you have room for them. Best lights I've had were the big Hella "aero" E-codes on my MkII Jetta.
> 
> But it's more about what I don't like about projectors. They're usually smaller and present a small bright spot of light to oncoming drivers. Then people put blue bulbs or HIDs in them and that makes the light even more annoying.
> 
> ...


 I am going to have to argue against quite a few of your points here but lets start on what we both agree on: 
- Slapping an HID kit in headlights which are not specifically designed for HID bulbs is not a good idea. Headlights not designed for HID bulbs include reflectors, halogen projectors, and proflectors (the mixture reflector/projector like in an early model 350z) 
- reflectors are compact simple and inexpensive. I absolutely have no problems agreeing with you here. They are all these things, the only downside to this however is that they do not put as much useable light down on the road as a proper set of HID projectors with 4300K HID bulbs. I think you will agree with me on that point. 
- smaller projectors suck. Even if they are HID projectors, the smaller the lense and projector are, the more it will tend to have a laser like beam pattern and distract drivers. The OEM HIDs have very small lenses and therefore their cutoff is sloped up on each side quite dramatically, throwing more light into the eyes of oncoming traffic. However they are not powerful enough and don't have a very wide beam pattern so they are within code. BIG PROJECTORS on the other hand are a different story. I have a set of TL projectors with clear lenses on my mk4 Jetta and this combination gives a truely flat beam (except for the raise in the cutoff) with no flaring on the edges and it gives a very even distribution of light, rather than just a laser beam of light shooting straight out from the bulbs. I have also put in a 50W HID "kit" if you will (bulbs, ballasts, high beam solenoid) into my TL projectors and that has increased my lumen output to 4750. The e-code reflector lumen output is only 1700 at best with the silvania silverstar ultra bulbs and they can both now be equally compared because they both do not blind drivers on the road and they both have the same color bulbs. 

So in conclusion i am going to argue to the OP that the route to go is doing a retrofit if he has the money because of the increased light output (if you use 4300K or 5000K bulbs) and the look (if you do it correctly). 

However if you don't have any money or don't want to put in any effort an ecode reflector with upgraded HALOGEN bulbs is a good alternative


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## gti vr6er (Oct 8, 2010)

^^^Yes, but the question is: Will larger projectors like the TL ones fit into a GTi housing? Because, just judging from the looks the Jetta housings have alot more room, particularly in the lowbeam portion. I could be wrong but I think that's why you see so many GTi's, including OEM HID's, having small projectors- which eventhough their small, people still say it's a really tight fit. 

So what route would you recommend for a mk4 GTi/golf owner to upgrade their lighting and visibility? I myself have tried all sorts of halogen bulbs, cleaned/shined the reflectors, cleaned/refinished the lens to clear and aligned/aimed them but my visibility at night is just poor regardless of what I do. It seems my lights are bright but have no travel down the road further than a car or two-which is def not enough visibilty to give u enough time to react safely if a ladder was on the road. 

I just can't see! 

P.S sorry I'd this feels like a thread jacking but im pretty sure the orig poster has the same questions as it seems we're on the same boat.


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## PA-TDI (Feb 10, 2009)

TL's will not fit into a GTI/Golf headlight. I've tried, trust me.. I'd say the best projector that WILL fit into a GTI/Golf housing has got to be the FX-R projector.


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## gti vr6er (Oct 8, 2010)

PA-TDI said:


> TL's will not fit into a GTI/Golf headlight. I've tried, trust me.. I'd say the best projector that WILL fit into a GTI/Golf housing has got to be the FX-R projector.


 Are they be big enough to give a decent spread of light and not a sharp beam as the posts above are mentioning? Also, what shrouds did you use? There are GTi ones but I've heard of GTi's using the e46 ones. If so, I'll look into that route as i can't see sh!t at night.


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

gti vr6er said:


> ^^^Yes, but the question is: Will larger projectors like the TL ones fit into a GTi housing? Because, just judging from the looks the Jetta housings have alot more room, particularly in the lowbeam portion. I could be wrong but I think that's why you see so many GTi's, including OEM HID's, having small projectors- which eventhough their small, people still say it's a really tight fit.
> 
> So what route would you recommend for a mk4 GTi/golf owner to upgrade their lighting and visibility? I myself have tried all sorts of halogen bulbs, cleaned/shined the reflectors, cleaned/refinished the lens to clear and aligned/aimed them but my visibility at night is just poor regardless of what I do. It seems my lights are bright but have no travel down the road further than a car or two-which is def not enough visibilty to give u enough time to react safely if a ladder was on the road.
> 
> ...


 TL's will not fit in the golfs/GTI's without pretty major modifications. Hell they didn't even fit in my jetta without MAJOR modifications. I have 2mm cleanance between the shrouds and the front lenses and 2mm between the back and the washer fluid container and zero space between my new housing and the battery. 

You can probably fit FX-R projectors in the low beam side of a GTI fairly easily. Again a bit of modification is always necessary. Another few options are the e-46 and e55 projectors. With these ones you can use home depot PVC fittings for shrouds and everything will come out nice.


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## gti vr6er (Oct 8, 2010)

MechEngg said:


> TL's will not fit in the golfs/GTI's without pretty major modifications. Hell they didn't even fit in my jetta without MAJOR modifications. I have 2mm cleanance between the shrouds and the front lenses and 2mm between the back and the washer fluid container and zero space between my new housing and the battery.
> 
> You can probably fit FX-R projectors in the low beam side of a GTI fairly easily. Again a bit of modification is always necessary. Another few options are the e-46 and e55 projectors. With these ones you can use home depot PVC fittings for shrouds and everything will come out nice.


 Oh I'm pretty sure "they" were using the FX-R projectors but using the e46 shrouds for some reason . Is there a reason for that? Projector-wise though, I think I'm leaning towards the FX projectors as they have the best reviews but not sure on the shrouds and plus/minus ot benefits of using different shrouds.


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## GNAR (Aug 3, 2010)

I got me some projector halos:









Very, very, bright headlights. When I flip on the inner fog light bulb people just move out of my way on the highway. They were very inexpensive too.
:laugh:


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## gti vr6er (Oct 8, 2010)

GNAR said:


> I got me some projector halos:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sweet man, what brand are they? Helix? I know I came across some halos for crazy cheap too but i dont remember the website(i know i have it saved somewhere). Although personally, I'd opt for the black Joey mod style housings since my GTi is reflex silver and black/smoked themed.


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## GNAR (Aug 3, 2010)

Yeah these wouldn't go with that theme. But I do believe they were called Helix or something similar. I like them alot because they go really well with my clear side markers and (currently not so)shiny stock wheels.
You can almost see them all together in this crappy phone picture:








I think my phone camera can't figure out how to focus anymore..:what:


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## gti vr6er (Oct 8, 2010)

I totally agree with the choice u made on clear...with ur color car it looks good. Good job man. Enjoy! And do come tell us if they broke or caused probs so we have a headsup!


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