Even the most familiar trail looks completely different at night. With deep shadows, dark corners and obstacles you now see only at the last moment it’s almost like exploring an all-new area. As much as we appreciate the last second thrills however, we’ve always been the type that likes to see anything headed our way long before it meets the front bumper, and nothing helps light up the trail better than a good set of lights.
PIAA has been making high quality aftermarket lights for everything from desert racers to casual trail riders, and it’s been our experience they work extremely well. Recently we installed a pair of the PIAA RS600 H.I.D. long range driving lamps on the front of our Polaris RZR4 900.
The RS600 shock lamp features a 6 inch, 12V, H3 H.I.D 35 watt lamp, and is designed to be used on any type of off road vehicle with no extra battery or heavy duty charging system required. We really appreciate that the RS600 design doesn’t require any stator or electrical system change to the machine. The RS600 also features a tough, nylon housing, hardened glass lens, adjustable mounting system, and internal ballast.
We opted to mount the two RS600 lights on top of our new EMP bumper and thankfully we didn’t have to drill any holes. Depending on where you mount your lights however, you may end up doing a little drilling. Make sure you have enough wire to reach the lights, switches, and power source and when you’ve determined your wire routing go ahead and drill the mounting holes. We did have to extend our main power wires from the battery to the lights, but thanks to the battery location on the RZR4 that’s no big deal. All wires were routed to our dash switch, and we made sure all connections were sealed with silicone and tape. Try to do a neat job of routing wires, avoiding anything, hot, sharp, or moving parts that could damage the wiring, and secure everything in place with lots of zip ties. 
TIPS: Have a buddy help. We also recommend sealing all connections with silicone, including the back of switches.
With our lights installed all we needed was to wait for night but it wouldn’t be dark for long. Once we flipped the switch the woods lit up like never before and our RZR4 took on the look of either a desert racer or an alien craft escaped from Area-51. It’s beyond bright! Forward vision is greatly increased, but the RS600 lights projected nicely to the side as well. About the only improvement we would make is to the adjustment system. Despite our tightening the lights would sometimes slowly creep down as we hit whoops. We believe the housing deforms slightly when you tighten the adjustment screw, and a metal sleeve insert, or possibly wave washers embedded in the housing would prevent any slipping. For increased vision though you’re not going to believe how bright these lights are and how they light up the woods. The next time you see the Aurora Borealis, (Northern Lights) it’s probably just us out for a night ride.
TIP: Don’t forget to turn your new lights off for oncoming drivers. You don’t want to blind them!
PIAA Corp.
800-525-7422 or 503-489-6666
