HELLA 700FF Series 12V/55W Halogen Driving Lamp

These lights, all things considered, offer a great value. For less than a hundred bucks you get a complete kit with everything needed to mount them to just about any vehicle. There are, however, some pretty big issues that should be addressed.

First, the relay and wiring harnesses are NOT suitable for anything but 55w halogens and even then, you’re really pushing your luck. Ideally, for 55w bulbs, you would have 14AWG wires and for 100W-130W bulbs, 12AWG wires. I’m not sure what size comes with the kit, but they’re definitely way too small. They’re also not copper core wire; maybe zinc plated something or another? Regardless, they’re not copper. If you do decide to use the included wiring, be VERY careful as it is quite fragile and the insulation tears easily.

I had the best luck by throwing away all of the wires that came with the lights and running 12AWG wire directly from the battery and into the light and to the bulb. I also threw away the included relay and purchased a 30/40A 4 pin relay from RadioShack. Running 100W or even 130W halogen bulbs is no problem. The relay gets slightly warm but the wires are cool to the touch.

The beam produced is OK but I feel like it could definitely be better. Can’t really complain for the price, though. It’s not a pencil beam nor is it a flood beam – it’s a “driving beam” which is supposed to offer a mix between spill (flood) and throw (distance).

First of all, look at the price and consider “value for money”
These lights definitely improve on stock high beams giving you more reaction time when there is wildlife or debris on the road. They are cheaply made, hence the price, but they do a great job.
Housing is plastic, covers are not easy to snap on/off and they are overall very lightweight.
Comes with a complete wiring kit making installation a quick affair.
These do their intended job very well at an excellent price point. I tried many LED driving lights on various price ranges and none of them come close to the usable light output of old school halogens.

Ok, these 700FFs are identical to reflector design of the 500FF but much larger in diameter. How large are they? A full 7.5″ in diameter. I have owned the 500FFs in the past and I am very familiar with the light pattern and distance the 500FF throws. Now that I have driven with these 700FFs with the same type and wattage of bulbs I have to say I like the 700FF over the 500FFs (IF YOU HAVE THE ROOM). If not, then go with the 500FFs.

My experience with Hellas is very simple, I’ve used them on my cars and Landcruisers exclusively since 1985. They make damn good driving lights both on and off-road. I say that the 700FFs in stock form do a nice job in the city. However, if you do any off-roading AND these are the only auxiliary lights you have, then I would recommend upgrading the bulbs to a 100W or 130W. Don’t buy knock-off bulbs, only use Hella branded bulbs. Why, because I have personal experience with the cheaper offerings and they DO NOT last as long nor are they as bright. Of course the modification to the higher wattage bulbs will make them unusable in city driving. But why would anyone need or use them in city driving anyways where the ambient street lights are more powerful than the wattage of the vehicles headlights?

This version of the 700FFs are the Fun Cubed reflector design with plain glass front. Personally I have adopted these as fog lights with crystal ion fog bulbs from PIAA. The PIAA crystal-ion bulbs and Hella 700FFs are a perfect match and work great in snow and dense fog.

I know some of you are thinking why didn’t I just buy the fog light version of the 700s? I can tell you most ALL “fog” reflector designed aftermarket lights perform poorly in heavy dense fog or heavy white-out condition snowfall. For some reason they all emit light above the height of the hood of the vehicle. In fog, this causes glare, in heavy snow it’s even worse!

This is especially bad in heavy snow conditions where the visual effects are so impairing one feels as if one is on the Starship Enterprise and is going through a bad warp drive initialization with stars floating in front of you and towards you in a streaking fashion. I have never experience this effect using the 500s or the 700s with the PIAA Crystal-Ion bulbs as fog lights. The combination is simply awesome.

I think my opinions are valid because I drove in blizzard conditions for 6-years in the winter months where they get 250″ to 305″ of snow per year! That is no joke.

ADDITIONAL INFO: I have a FJ Cruiser with a grill guard where these puppies are mounted on the lower crossmember close to the ground. This is the best place for FOG LIGHTS. However, a pair of 700s are not enough to illuminate the back roads of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I drive at night. If you want to get excellent illumination I HIGHLY recommend the Hella Rallye 4000s with the Hella 130W optional bulbs. I have these mounted above the 500s on the top crossmember of the brush guard (same height as the factory headlights – optimum mounted height) . When you turn the 4000s on at night I will guarantee you that you will see EVERYTHING in front of the vehicle to 1/2 mile!

One of the bust purchase for my car. Driving in night is bliss now it compliments headlamps very nice shows whole road upto 25ft. Speedbreakers are not a problem any more

Great lights, I wish I could have found a flood beam, but these show further than the fog lenses do. I mainly wanted something that just lit up the night, but these work well enough when aimed right. The housings are tough, they stay adjusted and don’t move. The covers are durable, look great when in place and remove easily, replace with a tad more difficulty, but won’t come off unless you want them to. Since the lenses are glass, it’s important to use the covers when not using the lights, to prevent pitting from sand and chipping/breaking from rocks, to get the most life from them. Mine are wired independently of the headlights; the instructions show how to wire the spot beams (like these) so they come on with high beams (plus they have a switch so they stay off); the fog beams are wired to come on with low beams. With the beams aimed so the centers touch the road surface at 50-75 yards in front of you, they do a fantastic job of augmenting the high beams, or can be used without headlights at all to see at a distance. the pencil beams just don’t do very well at illuminating the ditches close-up, unless you specifically aim them that way, but then they don’t help with distance. Great lights, and I don’t see how the LED racks can do the job like these do.