PCFormat Forum Archive

Hi Guys.

Just wondering what light bulbs do you use in your head-lights.

I heard about some new lights called night breaker plus.

Was wondering if anyone uses them and if there is anything better?
http://www.osram.com/osram_com/Consumer ... index.html

If I had a car it would be HID xenons.

HID's are better, but they require the car to either come with them or a conversion kit.

yes but the kits are plug 'n play- so no biggy.
Wanna do the conversion on my GSXR as well. Just don't have the time now (read: moola)

I don't see the point though, I don't drive/ride much at night.

I do enough night time riding to warrant it.

THe default lights should be fine in your car. You shouldn't be looking for the brightest lights but rather the most reliable. Bright lights are much more of a hazard.

HID kits are the best. But if you don't want to spend so much money, but still want a decent low cost bulb, buy Osram's Cool Blue bulbs. Damn, those things are great and very cheap. Gives you a nice blueish/white light and shines much further.

Lights with a yellow tint are more visible to other drivers than blue ones

SykomantiS wrote:If I had a car it would be HID xenons.

I got HID's.... won't use anything els ever again!!!

Siemens wrote:THe default lights should be fine in your car. You shouldn't be looking for the brightest lights but rather the most reliable. Bright lights are much more of a hazard.

Its the reflector and the lens more than anything else. They deteriorate with time and heat.

Messing with your car's headlights is stupid - If you end up in an accident, there is a good chance your insurance won't pay.
Depending on what you do to them, it may also be illegal. There are SABS Standards for Roadworthy and Lighting. Go have a read of these before you mess around to much.

Prime wrote:

Siemens wrote:THe default lights should be fine in your car. You shouldn't be looking for the brightest lights but rather the most reliable. Bright lights are much more of a hazard.

Its the reflector and the lens more than anything else. They deteriorate with time and heat.

Messing with your car's headlights is stupid - If you end up in an accident, there is a good chance your insurance won't pay.
Depending on what you do to them, it may also be illegal. There are SABS Standards for Roadworthy and Lighting. Go have a read of these before you mess around to much.

Show me where in a insurance policy where it states that it won't pay out if the lights were upgraded? Never heard of that.

Yes, there are legalities regarding certain colors.

IcePick88 wrote:

Prime wrote:

Siemens wrote:THe default lights should be fine in your car. You shouldn't be looking for the brightest lights but rather the most reliable. Bright lights are much more of a hazard.

Its the reflector and the lens more than anything else. They deteriorate with time and heat.

Messing with your car's headlights is stupid - If you end up in an accident, there is a good chance your insurance won't pay.
Depending on what you do to them, it may also be illegal. There are SABS Standards for Roadworthy and Lighting. Go have a read of these before you mess around to much.

Show me where in a insurance policy where it states that it won't pay out if the lights were upgraded? Never heard of that.

Yes, there are legalities regarding certain colors.

If they think your car isn't road worthy, they won't pay a cent. One of the requirements for your car to be road worthy is that the lights need to meet the SABS standards for vehicle lighting in this country, they also need to pass the SABS standard on which the road worthy process is based.

It's stipulated in the road traffic act.

If your upgraded headlights causes another driver to go blind for a brief moment and crashing in to you then of course the insurance will say "lol i dont think so"

I use Osram silverstar bulbs, expensive but they are quite a bit brighter that standard bulbs and last way longer they also have a pure white colour which is quite nice.

i feel that my standard lights are too dim at night. most new cars today have these super bright lights.

How can any lights on sale make your car un-roadworthy? i would think that all lights need to go through a testing to make sue they are not to bright for an oncoming car?

My car uses standard R30 H14 bulbs. its got this yellow light. just feel its too dim at night because if i drive on a road that has no street lamps then i can barely see more than 10 meters ahead(whats on the road).

Some old cars have good lights, my car is a 12 year old Mercedes C180 classic with 280 000 on the clock and it has some mean headlights. The lights have all sorts of settings, about 8 or so in total. Once we were driving along the N2 on the Natal south cost and with the lights in their brightest and widest angle you could see the signs and cats eyes far ahead of you lighting up even on the side road(R202, that was along side the N2) the signs and cats eyes were lighting up . I had a look at how many bulbs there were inside the headlights and there was millions, the large main bulb, a smaller one and 2 other small ones and then in the second compartment there was another massive bulb

[quote="DeathStrike"]i feel that my standard lights are too dim at night. most new cars today have these super bright lights.

How can any lights on sale make your car un-roadworthy? i would think that all lights need to go through a testing to make sue they are not to bright for an oncoming car?

My car uses standard R30 H14 bulbs. its got this yellow light. just feel its too dim at night because if i drive on a road that has no street lamps then i can barely see more than 10 meters ahead(whats on the road).[/quote

BEcause people don't have any scruples. They just import and sell ***** because they can.

Look, it's not as simple as brightness.

Assuming the reflectors were designed for a certain type of bulb, you should be able to fit any bulb of that type in. The thing is that changing to different bulbs can have a whole host of effects. If that bulb runs hotter, it could stuff up your light fitting. If it draws more power, you will probably find the fuse going quicker. If the filament is in the wrong place, the beam won't focus properly. Then there is the colour (quality) of light and the power radiated per m2 which is intensity.

An Osram kit is probably fine, but use common sense. If you have doubts, contact the manufacturer and find out.

+1, don't go and put those stupid blue lights in or those ridiculous after-market Chatsworth special headlamps which not only look stupid but also do not focus and will decrease visibility at night . Do the right thing and get some decent Osram bulbs, the Silverstar bulbs which I use are pretty good .

I just use the stock standard ones...

Nothing wrong with using the standard bulbs , but the reason why I use those bulbs is because the original bulbs blew and that was all the spares shop had. I like them though, they are much brighter than the original bulbs and shine further.

Get the lights from a Fiat car. They are insane. Every time I encounter one, which isn't very often since they sell so badly, they blind me.

My bulbs are some nice brand but they are offset so the one stick up in the air-I leave it like this to warn people not to try anything

People pay attention to things that blind them. They tend not to pull out in front of you in a risky situation.

Fitting an HID Kit to a car not originally designed for them is illegal... Reason being, is that if you fit it into a car with standard reflector type lenses, it will blind oncoming traffic. A lot of cars now are coming with projector type lenses which should be fine to fit an HID kit into *Should be fine - Not all of them are the right spec!

Fitting higher wattage halogen globes into standard headlights is also illegal, and a safety risk from melting lamp enclosures to possible fire from overloading the OME wiring. Aftermarket globes also tend to burn out more quickly than OME stuff.

Yea, I hate those cars that blind you at night I feel like throwing some nails in their path so they get flat tires. After-market stuff is usually not as good as the original but if you have to replace your bulbs go and get something that is recommended by the manufacturer.

THE_STIG wrote:Yea, I hate those cars that blind you at night I feel like throwing some nails in their path so they get flat tires. After-market stuff is usually not as good as the original but if you have to replace your bulbs go and get something that is recommended by the manufacturer.

Exactly. Didn't Doom 3 have some sort of nail gun or something? As Prime said, It’s really the reflector that contributes to the brightness of your lights. You can have the brightest globe in the world, but with a deteriorated/Badly designed reflector, it’s not going to help with getting that light onto the road.