Headlight Bulbs

[Smudger]

My nearside dipped beam bulb has blown, and I'm looking at a replacement, but there seems to be a wealth of 'Super Brilliance' or blue or xenon or HDI bulbs, so the questions are, what is the benefit? Are they legal on the road?

I was happy with normal bulbs before, so I'm probably not missing anything...

[kalniel]

Ignore HID effect etc. Just go for normal colour, but the 50-100%+ brighter etc. within the normal colour ones are worth it, quite a noticeable difference IMHO, though there's always a 'new bulb vs old bulb' effect.

Something like this:
http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/ph...eadlight-bulbs

Replace the pair, obviously.

[finlay666]

As reference Philips bulbs seem better than the Osram nightbreakers (I got nightbreakers and found the bulbs to be inconsistent in the amount of light they provide)

[Smudger]

Right, ordered the Philips X-treme Vision ones, let's see how they turn out. Only thing is, I'll have to wait until the weekend to fit them, cos it's dark by the time I get home...

[Jasp]

My entire route to work everyday is practically speed bumps lol, only bulbs that seem to last more then a few months are the Halfords Reinforced ones designed for trucks lol. I've had Philips ones in the past and they do make a difference.

[circuitmonkey]

As reference Philips bulbs seem better than the Osram nightbreakers (I got nightbreakers and found the bulbs to be inconsistent in the amount of light they provide)

Was just about to order a pair of these as my drivers side bulb went sometime prior to yesterday, will now be going for the Philips instead

[DanceswithUnix]

My dipped beam was rubbish, got a pair of +50% bulbs from Halfords (yeah I know, but I was desperate ok?) and they have made a big difference.

A HID bulb needs to go into a lamp that was properly designed for it, there is info out there as to why the HID conversion kits you can get cheap on e-bay are a bad idea and usually illegal.

[finlay666]

Was just about to order a pair of these as my drivers side bulb went sometime prior to yesterday, will now be going for the Philips instead

If I remember this week I'll try and get a photo so you can see what I mean, thought the headlights were misaligned first time the difference was so noticable when either looking at the car or driving

A HID bulb needs to go into a lamp that was properly designed for it, there is info out there as to why the HID conversion kits you can get cheap on e-bay are a bad idea and usually illegal.

Technically speaking all HID conversion kits are illegal under the strictest letter of the law (IIRC it requires them to be kitemarked and they won't kitemark after market upgrades)

[Yosh]

My entire route to work everyday is practically speed bumps lol, only bulbs that seem to last more then a few months are the Halfords Reinforced ones designed for trucks lol. I've had Philips ones in the past and they do make a difference.

I cannot leave my house in either of 4 directions without going over humps, i do this daily and i only use the Tesco bulbs and they always last 6-9 months quite easily.

[Larkspeed]

My entire route to work everyday is practically speed bumps lol, only bulbs that seem to last more then a few months are the Halfords Reinforced ones designed for trucks lol. I've had Philips ones in the past and they do make a difference.

You know I never thought about vibration

We seem to go through quite a few bulbs, they rarely last more than 4 months.

There are a lot of block paved streets here so a lot more vibration than normal roads so that could very well be what's causing them to blow so often.

[Jasp]

You know I never thought about vibration

We seem to go through quite a few bulbs, they rarely last more than 4 months.

There are a lot of block paved streets here so a lot more vibration than normal roads so that could very well be what's causing them to blow so often.

Not just speed bumps tbh, gotta remember I live in Hull which has some of the worse roads in the UK.

[finlay666]

I live in Hull which has some of the worse roads in the UK.

So if you went on the M62/A63 you'd be on the highway to Hull?