Lights, blinding lights!

[Stanky]

So, I've just procured a pair of Halfrauds finest 'Extreme Brilliance' H4 bulbs for the Almera which boldly claim they give out up to 90% more light than standard bulbs. 

 

Now, on the basis of the amount of light given out by the 2 bulbs I've removed, this would equate to approximately 1.9 candlepower. The (fully working, but feeble) bulbs I've removed gave out about the same amount of light as a tealight. The new bulbs should be an improvement, but my hopes are not high of these being a 'revolution in lighting technology'. The bulbs were BOGOF though, so only cost about 30% more than a pair of new 'regular' ones would have, which is how I've justified the purchase to domestic management.

 

Does anyone else have any experience of these super-bright* bulbs? do they make any difference? I'm fairly sure that most of the reflective stuff inside the headlamp unit is still intact and the lenses are cleaned several times a week, so this seemed a logical place to start. 

 

Obviously I could fit OMGXENONSYO but since just one of these will cost about 10x the value of the almera it did seem a little churlish. On the flip side, I'd probably be able to see more of the road ahead by taping a pair of torches to the wings and not bothering with the headlights at all, such is the power* and intensity* of the current dipped beam. 

 

Opinions? I've bought them already and savaged the packaging getting them out so there's no hope of returning them if they are crap, but thought I'd see what others think.

 

 

 

 

[saucedoctor]

I bought Osram Nightbreakers for the Rover. They do seem to be brighter, although that may be the "placebo effect". Blue-ish as well.

Back in the day, I bought 100w/80w for my Escort IV - what a difference!

[brickwall]

The colour is important. If you had orangey-brown lights you could see a lot more detail, but not as far. Blue is mean to highlight things that reflect or are painted in light colours.

 

Audis just fecking blind you with their whizz-bang lights.

[willswitchengage]

Mainly they piss off other motorists and in fact make driving more dangerous as nobody around you can see anything.

 

Never had any problem ever with boggo Halfords bulbs, there is literally no point whatsoever in upgrading. My motor-sickle has only one bulb and I can drive around safely with that all night in any weather condition. 

 

You just present yourself as a more hazardous road user.

 

Also what Brickwall says is true - the human eye is more receptive to yellow as its in the middle of the visible spectrum. Blue is at its extremity so the blue tint bulbs will actually hinder your viewing when compared to conventional bulbs.

[jonny69]

Back in the day, I bought 100w/80w for my Escort IV - what a difference!

 

They were beasts. I wonder how they stack up to the brighness of modern lights? I thought the whole point of limiting headlights to 55W was to limit how bright they were. Same with the rears. The whole HID / LED thing has sort of blown that out the water.

[Sigmund Fraud]

My 740 came fitted with those Halfrauds super-bulbs. They give the light a bluish tinge but seem to do sweet FA otherwise.

 

If you want proper lighting POWAH, some re-engineering is required : fit a set of 100W bulbs and wire them using a separate pair of relays to minimise voltage drop. Alternatively, fit a pair of Super Oscars and some stickers and pretend that your Almera is a rally car replica*.

[a60rod]

May I point you in the geneal direction of candela (sp?)/lux/lumen etc.

Forgotten most of it but it's a funny old science.

Bit like fog and autolights.

Autolights won't come on in fog as fog can be bright and glary as fuck but you can't see 10ft.

While on the subject.....how the hell can cars get type approval that have just day time running lights on the front?

Noticed it first about three years ago, M25 tootle along in fog, OMFG WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT COME FROM???

Car in front no lights on.

Pass it as think fuck that someone will pull across in front and I'll get dragged in to the carnage....

front is lit like Blackpool!

Utter win.

Volvos at least had front and rear daylights.

[cobblers]

All the halfords bulbs make about the same amount of light, those super brilliance ones are just a bit whiter. The only real upgrade is the 100w "Rally Bulbs" they sell, £5 a piece on trade and they make a MEGA difference, providing they don't set all your switches and wiring alight.

 

I've run them in 5 or 6 cars and always been well impressed, most of all when I put a pair of 100w H1s in my mk3 golf for the full beam, it's fuppin fantastic! They are illegal like, but I can hardly imagine you getting any grief over them considering the amount of total ballbags running round every day with £30 MEGA BLU HID kits fitted badly, glaring the absolute fuck out of people.

[Stanky]

Thanks Cobblers,

 

I'll try out the 100w H4's when I next feel flush and/or blow a bulb, the bay of evil has them in a variety of colours starting at about a fiver a pair. I have a fire extinguisher in case the worst happens!

 

Obviously these will be used strictly on private land, as I'd never break the law and endanger the nuns and kittens by using these on a public highway officer.

 

I agree about the HID kits on a lot of cars, the number of times I've been totally blinded and just aimed to the left of the dazzling glare and hoped for the best on the A32 on my way home from work of an evening beggars belief. 

[cobblers]

I'd probably avoid the ebay cheapo bulbs that come in all kinds of colours, they don't tend to last very long and the filament alignment isn't always any good (so they dazzle people even when the lights are correctly aimed!)

[skattrd]

I used to use 80/100w's in my Scirocco a few years back, they came in boxes marked "off road use only" but after a while I felt guilty about blinding people and changed back to std wattage bulbs. I did put 100w bulbs in the spots which come on with main beam, so I got good light on main beam ... I think you can get 55/100w bulbs, which may be an idea for those of us in rural areas which get very dark.

I have heard of 100w bulbs melting headlight lenses and wiring a bit, so be careful.

 

The main thing I would say for the older motor with crap lights is to check the voltage getting to the bulbs, I've seen 8/9v on some of my previous motors. New or upgraded wiring can make a huge difference.

[tooSavvy]

I fitted hfraud Bloos..... kept failing - lots of free swapps until banned by manager 'you must have faulty wiring!!' Sir.

 

Toasted manager, gently, near a gaggle of customers.... Full Refund

 

Bought ring Bloos - excellent - 2yrs & counting. Yeah, $hite wiring in my car....

 

 

TS

[spike60]

Years back I ran a 1980 Manta when I lived out in the sticks and as dip was appalling I put 100/130 watt bulbs in. Main beam was marvellous but dip largely unchanged making those seconds when a car comes the other way stomach tightening scarey. In a short space of time it burnt the dipswitch out, 22 Amps(?) with no relays w2as just too much. Back to the drawing board.

[brickwall]

My uncle was a Lancaster pilot during the war and they used to wear different goggles for different situations. It would vary between people, but the yellowy browny orange helped a lot. The blue seemed to hurt the eyes and gave a too sharp a short range vision and was only used for close formation flying.

 

He had to land in France several times to pick folk up from the resistance and stuff in a converted Lancaster and found the the them helpful for depth perception and spacial awareness.

 

It was the same in the desert, but on the ground. Tank and moto-bike guys would wear orange and pilots would just wear clear as the Moon would sort the lighting out.

[Des]

Many years ago, when idiots were proper idiots not like these shit modern idiots we now have everywhere, I followed the progress of a complete spoon named Turf with his Suzuki motorbike, the numerous modifications he made were hysterical, big green diamond glued to the petrol cap, that kind of thing. He mounted a very large fairing with baler twine and woodscrews, it sat about 4'' forward of the headlight in spite of being wedged back against the indicators, to address this issue he painted the inside of the fairing white and was utterly delighted with the dazzling brightness even a dipped beam would provide. Whenever I see those harsh white or blue lamps I'm reminded of Mr. Turf.

[Spiny Norman]

I discovered a few years ago the best (if not the cheapest) way to see better in the dark was a new windscreen.

 

It's amazing the difference a nice new pane of glass makes, free from the years of wiper scratches and millions of tiny pock-marks from all the debris that's big enough to leave an impression but not big enough to leave a bullet hole.

[Richard]

I used to fit 100/80 bulbs in my SAAB 900s. With them being hotter they didn't last too long and I would refit one of the original bulbs when one of the 100/80s blew, and I could never tell which light still had the bright bulb.

 

The 90% more light claim is achieved by walking around with a light meter and recording the brightest spot in the beam, the rest of the beam could well be 90% dimmer.

 

 

My uncle was a Lancaster pilot during the war and they used to wear different goggles for different situations. It would vary between people, but the yellowy browny orange helped a lot. The blue seemed to hurt the eyes and gave a too sharp a short range vision and was only used for close formation flying.

 

He had to land in France several times to pick folk up from the resistance and stuff in a converted Lancaster and found the the them helpful for depth perception and spacial awareness.

 Off topic a bit, is your uncle still with us? My grandfather was a bomb aimer in 550 Squadron at North Killingholme but he didn't survive.

[Stanky]

Interestingly my grandfather was a Lancaster Navigator during the war, he's still with us (aged 92 in Jan) and is a member of the 'Caterpillar Club' on account of his life having been saved by a silk parachute after he was shot down over Dortmund. Apparently only the pilots and navigators got parachutes - he was the only survivor after his plane was shot down.

 

I shall ask him about different coloured lenses in goggles when I see him next week - I'm sure he's got some interesting tales on the subject.

 

Despite breaking both legs on hitting terra firma following the shooting down, he is a passionate cyclinst and regularly racks up in excess of 12,000 (yes, twelve thousand!) miles a year on his push-bike, despite being a nonagenarian now! 

 

I'm not sure which squadron he was in, nor where he was based but can find out.

 

small world eh?

[Stanky]

Interesting observation (see what i did there  ) Spiny Norman,

 

My windscreen is a genuine Nissan item so probably the original one - its now 18 years and 104k miles old and has a few chip repairs and some fairly dramatic scoring over the swept area. I've been pondering a replacement for a little while but a couple of friends who are windscreen fitters say that pattern replacements are nowhere near as good a fit and to hold on to the genuine Nissan one for as long as possible.

 

I may have to fork out and get a new screen done at the end of January, I hadn't considered that the lights might be fine but the screen is so farked its hampering my vision at night. I know its a sod in low sun as the scores catch the light and its as though the screen is covered in cobwebs but hadn't thought it might be screwing up my perception of illumination at night.

 

Thanks all!

[dollywobbler]

I discovered a few years ago the best (if not the cheapest) way to see better in the dark was a new windscreen.

 

It's amazing the difference a nice new pane of glass makes, free from the years of wiper scratches and millions of tiny pock-marks from all the debris that's big enough to leave an impression but not big enough to leave a bullet hole.

 

This is true. The laminate also goes off with age and becomes slightly opaque over the decades. 

[willswitchengage]

I discovered a few years ago the best (if not the cheapest) way to see better in the dark was a new windscreen.

 

What idiot invented that screenwash bar on Citroens?

 

I had a superb winter journey home last week, having to periodically put my hand out of the window with a squirty bottle of Flash just to keep the windscreen clean!

[brickwall]

 

 

 Off topic a bit, is your uncle still with us? My grandfather was a bomb aimer in 550 Squadron at North Killingholme but he didn't survive.

 

Alas, he is not. Some of the stories were so vivid they could nearly induce brown trousering. When he died I found his official RAF operations diary, thrilling stuff in there as well as some horrific stuff.

[PhilA]

Having driven Beetles and mk3 Escorts and various Vauxhallage over the years, I can say with a fair bit of certainty that getting the headlight aim cock-on is getting halfway to seeing where you're going.

 

I've noticed the difference between older and new H4 bulbs- the filament gets all old-sock looking instead of nice coily-spring and although the light still comes out, it's diffuse and definitely not as bright.

 

A new set of standard bulbs can help if it's just the filaments getting tired.

 

If the silvering's going or the glass lenses are cloudy or indeed the windshield is scratched and hazy... anything's an improvement.

 

--Phil

[Pete-M]

Headlight aim does make a huge difference.

 

My Focus has factory xenon HID things. Make a huge amount of difference. The best headlights of anything I've ever owned, by a mile.

 

I was driving a brand new Superb early yesterday morning and after the Focus the Å koda headlights didn't seem that good. They are good lights on the Skoda but proper HID lights pretty much blow them away.

 

HID is the future.

[HillmanImp]

Headlight aim does make a huge difference.

 

My Focus has factory xenon HID things. Make a huge amount of difference. The best headlights of anything I've ever owned, by a mile.

 

I was driving a brand new Superb early yesterday morning and after the Focus the Å koda headlights didn't seem that good. They are good lights on the Skoda but proper HID lights pretty much blow them away.

 

HID is the future.

 

Yeah GR10 for you seeing ahead of you. Fuck the poor buggers coming the other way. 

 

Its a sodding nightmare driving home down the back roads at night. When these cars with HIDs etc come past I am literally blinded for a second as they pass. I cant see anything but their lights. If there is another vehicle slowing in front of me its going to get hit. I can't even see where in the road I am meant to be driving and have had a couple of minor 2 wheels off the road 'excursions' in the last month as I have erred on the side of caution (i.e. I cant see where the road is and have opted for the side where I know there is not a 2t chunk of metal hurtling at 60mph). I really have to watch out for cyclists ahead of me well in advance.

 

I went out on Monday and ordered some new specs with anti glare on for £155 in the hope that it makes it a little safer but suspect I have probably just been ripped off and might have been better rubbing snake oil on the glasses I already have. 

 

A new windscreen might help but it will be useless within 20 seconds as there is so much sodding salt on the roads you have to use 2 litres of screenwash every mile just to keep the fucker clean and 'once you squirt, you get more dirt' as the nice damp windscreen just makes it stick more. 

 

My fear is that when I am dazzled by these fucking lights I drive straight into them as I really cannot see where I am going. Its fucking crackers. 

[Pete-M]

I wonder why HID lamps freak the shit out of some folk but not others? My eyes are very light sensitive - always have been - but 99 times out of 100 I couldn't tell if a car driving toward me has HIDs or plain old halogen lamps. Provided the lights are lined up correctly, which with most HID stuff is a given as they have to be self levelling by law.

 

I can spot HIDs as they're warming up but that only takes a few seconds. Focus ones go slightly blue for 2-3 seconds and then they're white as they should be.

 

Definitely the way forward for lights. Safer and just generally brilliant. Biggest step forward in safety since the radial tyre I reckon.

[brickwall]

Mine too, I can't wear sunglasses either. I just can't see anything with them on, but I'm sensitive to really bright lights. Last night in the wet it was terrible and I couldn't make out  indicators on oncoming cars. It makes navigating those silly mini round-a-abouts difficult.

[Pillock]

I don't get on with oncoming HIDs. I figured I was just turning into a grumpy old man complaining about "the youth" and their fancy headlamps.

[robinmasters]

Some HIDs seem to be bad, others aren't. BMW seem to fit lights that that have a self-levelling system which points the headlights at the opposite lane. Mercedes seem fairly bad at keeping the light on the bit of road the driver needs to see too. However, I don't recall being blinded by a land rover or range rover, despite the lights obviously being higher up. 

 

I suspect they are responding to customer demand. This is an actual quote from a BMW owner on a thread I read on another form recently:

 

'Just wondered how many others have a car with xenons and get thoroughly p***ed off with cars coming the other way flashing you because they think you are a knob and driving with headlights on full beam..........I've got the adaptive version on my X5 with the projector type bulbs and am frankly fed up with the number of people flashing from the opposite direction. I always give them a quick blast of full beam back just to make the point though in the forlorn hope they might learn something.....I bet you are one of the drivers flashing because you have never seen xenons before or cant afford them.'

 

They actually believe that (a) everyone else on the road is an idiot who doesn't know the difference between badly aligned and bright headlights, and ( bright lights make other people think you've got more money than them.

 

I've just got some Osram Nightbreakers; they're almost as good as the xenons on our other car, and I've done a scientific* test on them, and they definitely* don't dazzle incoming cars.

 

Just cleaning the lenses properly regularly makes a massive difference though.

[Pete-M]

Last time I remember being pissed off about the headlights on other cars was when the Mk3 (or Mk MCMVLXXXIII if you ask some folk) Transit was launched in the late 80s. I'm sure they had the lights specially set up to blind everyone the minute they left the factory. They don't seem particularly good now but in '89 it seemed that they were the brightest thing on the road.

 

There's a B5 Passat around here with what must be a billion watt aftermarket HID kit fitted. Bright blue with knackered lenses on the lights. No beam pattern at all just blue light. Pointless.