Looking for a better headlight bulb

canhefixit

I have h4 55w 3 pin bulbs which dont give off that much light to be honest and i was wondering without spending crazy money could someone recommend a brighter better bulb, driving these evening in the dark and it drizzling/raining becomes much more a task when ya can hardly see out right lol

colm_mcm

What car is it?

canhefixit

Ah soz its for a mk1 transit connect

Atlantic Dawn

Philips Xtreme Vision are good.

colm_mcm

You could look at Osram Nightbreakers, Philips Extreme something-or-other, or the ones I'm using which are Halfords. They're quite expensive - ridiculously so, but if you know anyone with a Halfords trade card you get them for less than half RRP.
Ive gone through so many Nightbreakers at this stage that I'm giving the Halfords a go. They're every bit as bright and white as Nightbreaker Unlimiteds.

These ones
http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/bulbs/halfords-xenon-hid-style-4400k--30-percent-477-upgrade-pack

CIP4

I have been using night breakers for the last good while I have always found them good. They normally last at least a year 40k km and that's with them on a fair bit of the time. But as with any performance bulb they won't last as long as a standard bulb as the filament is at a higher temperature.

corks finest

colm_mcm wrote: »

You could look at Osram Nightbreakers, Philips Extreme something-or-other, or the ones I'm using which are Halfords. They're quite expensive - ridiculously so, but if you know anyone with a Halfords trade card you get them for less than half RRP.
Ive gone through so many Nightbreakers at this stage that I'm giving the Halfords a go. They're every bit as bright and white as Nightbreaker Unlimiteds.

These ones
http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/bulbs/halfords-xenon-hid-style-4400k--30-percent-477-upgrade-pack

Osram are v good,had them on my last car,40/50% brighter than standard

colm_mcm

Problem is that they don't last very long. I've had them on a good few cars and they never made it to a year.

Alun

Depending on how old it is, you might also look at getting the headlight lenses restored, or do it yourself. They go cloudy / yellowish over time which can seriously degrade the light levels coming out of the headlights. Seems to start affecting a lot of cars after 10 years or so.

jimgoose

Alun wrote: »

Depending on how old it is, you might also look at getting the headlight lenses restored, or do it yourself. They go cloudy / yellowish over time which can seriously degrade the light levels coming out of the headlights. Seems to start affecting a lot of cars after 10 years or so.

Toothpaste, a toothbrush and about a half-hour of elbow-grease.

jimgoose

Eee by 'eck, I see I could merrily spend €200 and more on a pair of each of high-performance H7 and HB3 bulbs for the General. Mightn't be a bad idea for the Winter. Maybe for the Christmas!

fancy pigeon

I had night breakers in H4 guise. I didn't find them much of an improvement over what was there before. Only differences are the light is a little whiter, but still not great.

I found the best bulbs in this particular setup were unbranded 55/60w 3500k yellow bulbs, not HID's. Not only was the distance improved but I could see all round me infront. And a fraction the price of night breakers.

I can't speak for other bulb sizes for night breakers but for all the good stuff I heard about them, I wasn't impressed

corks finest

colm_mcm wrote: »

Problem is that they don't last very long. I've had them on a good few cars and they never made it to a year.

Had mine for over 2 yrs,must have been lucky

BMJD

colm_mcm wrote: »

You could look at Osram Nightbreakers, Philips Extreme something-or-other, or the ones I'm using which are Halfords. They're quite expensive - ridiculously so, but if you know anyone with a Halfords trade card you get them for less than half RRP.
Ive gone through so many Nightbreakers at this stage that I'm giving the Halfords a go. They're every bit as bright and white as Nightbreaker Unlimiteds.

These ones
http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/bulbs/halfords-xenon-hid-style-4400k--30-percent-477-upgrade-pack

I found the Halfords ones very good, lasted much longer than Osrams too.

MarkR

I got a set of the halfords ones over the weekend. Pleasantly surprised so far. Buy one get one free, so wasn't too bad.

http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/bulbs/halfords-extreme-brilliance-hbu477eb-h7-car-bulb-x-1

Alun

jimgoose wrote: »

Toothpaste, a toothbrush and about a half-hour of elbow-grease.

Depending on how bad they are it'll take a bit more than that especially with modern toothpastes that are nowhere near as abrasive as they once were.

oldsmokey

MarkR wrote: »

I got a set of the halfords ones over the weekend. Pleasantly surprised so far. Buy one get one free, so wasn't too bad.

http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/bulbs/halfords-extreme-brilliance-hbu477eb-h7-car-bulb-x-1

27 quid is taking the p*** for a bulb...

MarkR

oldsmokey wrote: »

27 quid is taking the p*** for a bulb...

Definitely, I knew they were on offer, wouldn't have touched them otherwise.

listermint

Got a set of Osram Cool Blue Intense from http://www.powerbulbs.com/eu

last week, they are brighter than the sun (well not really but they are superbly bright and no they are no blue its a white white light the name does them no favours.

There is a 30% offer off on power bulbs presently.

There service was fast and friendly would recommend to anyone.

Dero

I got a pair of Philips X-tremeVision H7 bulbs from Amazon recently for ~€28. They are much better than the standard H7s they replaced. They have the H4 version also, and they're currently even cheaper.

I can't speak to their longevity as they're only in a couple of weeks, and they're the first "upgrade" bulbs I've tried.

listermint

Oh also i have no idea where the Osram longevity issues come from, ive had them on for 18 months (older yellowish ones) for 18 months, no issues with them at all. They will be kept as spares.

dastardly00

MarkR wrote: »

I got a set of the halfords ones over the weekend. Pleasantly surprised so far. Buy one get one free, so wasn't too bad.

http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/bulbs/halfords-extreme-brilliance-hbu477eb-h7-car-bulb-x-1

I've had a few sets of those on my Ford Focus before. Very good brightness from them, but they just didn't last that long. Bulbs often don't last long on Focus' though! :pac:

joujoujou

Just FYI.

One of my Nightbreaker Unlimiteds has blown recently. Has been replaced (spare bulb, not nightbreaker always in the boot) as soon as I noticed that (within an hour, I'd say), as I hate to drive one-eyed monster. Here's the difference if anyone's interested:



Think I don't have to clarify which one is nightbreaker and which one is not? :pac: