Front headlight bulbs

Soldato
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Without spending lots to transition to xenon, has anyone got any recommendations on the brightest halogens money can buy? My existing lights are rubbish, don't think they've been changed in 8 years.
 
Soldato
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Philips X-tremeVison Pro150
Osram Night Breaker Laser

Be aware that the typical trade off with Halogen is brightness vs lifespan. Both of the above are '+150%' bulbs but will have relatively shorter life expectancy than the same companies regular bulbs.

I think Philips may also do 'Racing Vision' bulbs that are +200% but not sure if these are road legal.

Edit - quick check of Philips site suggests they are road legal, so those are probably the best bet if absolute maximum brightness is your goal.

https://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/12972RGTS2/racingvision-gt200-car-headlight-bulb

Link to example as H7 bulbs, you'd obviously need the appropriate fitment for your car.
 
Soldato
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What Kenai said. The flame that burns twice as bright burns only half as long.

One thing worth considering is how difficult they are the swap out on your particular car. For the extra few quid and a quick job I'd be happy to buy some really bright halogens with a short lifespan and replace as required, but my bulbs are a wheel arch removal job and I can't be arsed having to do that regularly.
 
Caporegime
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Also worth mentioning that brighter doesn't necessarily mean better throw, so not necessarily better. Cleaning and polishing your lights (assuming not brand new) is likely to make more of a difference than brighter bulbs.
 
Associate
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nightbreaker laser here.

not sure about the 'burns twice as bright burns half as long' analogy because the last set of nightbreakers lasted me about 4 years. quite a lot of night driving as well. i only swapped them out because the laser model had superseded the ones i was using.

in fact i still have the original pair as my spare set of headlight bulbs. needing to change both bulbs if one happens to pop
 
Caporegime
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Fitted Osram Night Breaker Laser on my Suzuki last month. Decent lights. Only problem with these kind of lights they normally only last 18 months. Had Philips 150% before and same thing. I normally just buy whatever Autoexpress rate as their number 1 at the time for H4 :p

I pretty much commute in darkness all the time minus a couple of months in summer.
 
Soldato
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I only just replaced the ones on my daily with Osram nightbreakers. Plus LED retrofits for the side lights. Much better.

OEM halogen bulbs are often rubbish, not sure why. I think they must have someone testing for the worst bulb, then that is the one they fit :p
 
Soldato
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Nightbreaker Lasers here, ~30 months old in one car, ~20 months old in another, and ~7 months old in a third. Im curious about these 18-24 month guaranteed failure ideas... are they blowing in that time or are they just getting dimmer, or what?

If one goes soon I'll probably go for Twenty20 Daylight 150s or the Nightbreak Lasers again. If the new Phillips RacingVision GT200s were available in H1s I'd grab them, but they arent...!
 
Soldato
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Nightbreaker Lasers here, ~30 months old in one car, ~20 months old in another, and ~7 months old in a third. Im curious about these 18-24 month guaranteed failure ideas... are they blowing in that time or are they just getting dimmer, or what?

If one goes soon I'll probably go for Twenty20 Daylight 150s or the Nightbreak Lasers again. If the new Phillips RacingVision GT200s were available in H1s I'd grab them, but they arent...!

Judging in months is entirely pointless as the life expectancy is measured in hours - someone who only drives half an hour a day and only in the dark when it's winter, could get a good few years worth before they hit Philips quoted 450h for the Pro150s.

Someone who spends most of their time driving in the dark for an hour long each way commute might tear through that 450h estimate in a year of use.
 
Caporegime
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Judging in months is entirely pointless as the life expectancy is measured in hours - someone who only drives half an hour a day and only in the dark when it's winter, could get a good few years worth before they hit Philips quoted 450h for the Pro150s.

Someone who spends most of their time driving in the dark for an hour long each way commute might tear through that 450h estimate in a year of use.

Pretty much this. My Gt-Four has fancy H7's but is hardly driven in the dark. Those bulbs have lasted years. Our little Suzuki is constantly driven in the darkness and they barely last a year. Not that it bothers me as bulbs are hardly expensive. I much rather have decent light output. Well the best you can get with halogen bulbs.
 
Soldato
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Ceredigion
Judging in months is entirely pointless as the life expectancy is measured in hours - someone who only drives half an hour a day and only in the dark when it's winter, could get a good few years worth before they hit Philips quoted 450h for the Pro150s.

Someone who spends most of their time driving in the dark for an hour long each way commute might tear through that 450h estimate in a year of use.

You are quite right, of course. Hours is the only metric you can use to assess bulb life, and those stated time frames are rather irrelevant. Here's the kicker: The 30month year old bulbs are in my 850 - which means the dipped bulbs are on as soon as the key hits PosII. I spent a minimum of 3 hours a day driving for ~21 of those months. That's been shelved dramatically in the last 9 months, and I've only done another 6000mi or approx 20 hours worth of driving. Thats some 1280 hours, if my mental math is correct - far beyond the estimated lifespan of most bulbs. That is why I was asking how people are defining bulb failure, as bulbs blowing or as a noticeable decrease in performance?

My post was not a brag or something like that, I'm just curious as to what people experience as a failure as mine are getting long in the teeth!
 
Soldato
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you beat me
number of bulb on/off times, especially at low temps would be a strong component in lifespan, I'd even thing that trumps hours.
 
Soldato
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Incandescent hours is pretty much unlimited if you never turn them off and the power supply is stable. The oldest one is something like 120 years old and it hasn't been switched off in decades. They get dimmer though.

LEDs are the worst when they start to go as they can turn in to strobe lights :/
 
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