PIAA vs. Hella: Is there any practical advantage of one over the other?

I see three common descriptions: Driving, Pencil, Fog. And a forth with Hella, Cornering. For general auxiliary offroad lighting, is there a preferred style? Cornering seems to have the widest beam spread. Pencil seems out.

Does anyone have experience with a particular model number from either company that they can chime in on? Any advantage of round over rectangular?

ON the same truck, I have personally run Hella 500 driving lights, and IPF 960's....


Both are 55 watt, but the IPF's blow the Hella's away - literally.


I have had fogs, pencils, and driving lights, and IMHO - a *good* driving light is the best for all around use.


In my opinion - the *best* driving light for a good deal is the Hella 500's - roughly $65 for the complete pair of lights, wiring kit with relay too :)

Originally posted by dngl
PIAA vs. Hella: Is there any practical advantage of one over the other?

I see three common descriptions: Driving, Pencil, Fog. And a forth with Hella, Cornering. For general auxiliary offroad lighting, is there a preferred style? Cornering seems to have the widest beam spread. Pencil seems out.

Does anyone have experience with a particular model number from either company that they can chime in on? Any advantage of round over rectangular?

ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT ITS FOR..
for general trail use: i perfer what is refered to as a euro beam by hella, a modifyed tear drop by ipf, or a driving light by piaa...

for highspeed use.. a combo of a driving and pencil beams seems to work good..

and generaly, round outperforms rectangular in most situations.. fog lamps seem to be the exception..
as far as brand?
piaa makes some good compact "dicronic" driving lights i prefer pt# 1192
hella probably makes the best hid'd and compatition lights ie: 4000 series
ipf is an EXELENT all around light and the 960 is killer if you have room for it!