Now winters here and I’m driving in the dark more my dipped headlights (H7 type) don’t seem too bright, my Lupines are better. Volvo V70 1999, the glass & reflectors seem clean and in OK condition so was considering upgrading the bulbs. T’intenet give lots of options some with silly claims and prices.
Any recommendations ?
Daft question, you haven't allowed the headlight "tilt adjustment" to lower the lights have you. Just worth checking.
Though I am interested in any tests of these bulbs, as I'm constantly surprised by the difference in prices of some bulbs for the same car available in Halfords.
I've recently installed some Osram Nightbreaker Plus (£15 quid a pair delivered on ebay)... They are a significant improvement on some already decent headlights. I've not had any one flash yet, so assume they're not too 'glary'...
I upgraded to Philips Vision Plus (about £7 each bulb) and it made an amazing difference. Well worth the effort. NB 2000 Golf.
There was an Auto Express review not long ago iirc. Think you can find it online still.
Anyway, the long and the short of it was that many weren't that good at all, but the top end Philips Bulbs, and the top end Osram, were worth the money. Think both are around £25 per pair of bulbs if you shop around.
The Halfords +90 bulbs scored well too, and at the time were hot on value cos they were BOGOF at £20. They're now about £25 each with no BOGOF though so not worth it, though I had a pair in my old Golf and they were impressively bright.
Avoid coloured bulbs (including blue) like the plague. Tints are no good, you want a bright white light.
EDIT: Here's a link, it's the Philips X-Treme Power bulbs in white that you want...
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/lights/34438-2009-autoexpress-h7-headlight-bulb-review.html
Ta, ordered some Osram Nightbreakers off ebay 
Nights aren't darker, so what's the need for all these brighter headlight bulbs these days? (Seeing as dipped beam is primarily just so you're visible to others rather than to light up the road - which is always what I thought full beam was for)
(prepares to be humiliated for the stupid question, and for answers of questionable/dubious reasoning)
Seeing as dipped beam is primarily just so you're visible to others rather than to light up the road
Have you ever tried driving on just sidelights on an unlit road?! might as well close your eyes!
i just fitted phillips extreme vision h7's in my 200 and h4 in the wifes swift. the difference is literally night and day 
OEM bulbs were like a candle in a jam jar, these are brighter, whiter light with a significantly longer reach.
the further you can see in front of you the better IMO.
Spend your money on good tyres, brakes, light and wipers. thats my motto
Headlight bulbs deteriorate with use, so even new standard bulbs would probably be brighter compared to what's in there now. That said, the uprated Philips X-Treme Power ones work really well.
Some cars, older VWs are notorious for it, have feeble wiring arrangements with thin wire running all the way back to the headlight switch with the result that there's a big voltage drop at the headlights. It makes a huge difference fitting an uprated loom to these, basically run the power direct from the battery and switch it with a relay wired into the original circuit, which makes a big difference if that's the case. No idea if Volvos suffer with this though, I suspect if you have old, standard bulbs in situ, just fitting new uprated ones will sort it.
Go with a recommendation above and avoid EBay - I've bought plenty that were pretty rubbish, no brighter than what they replaced. Though they were cheap which is what I was primarily aiming for.
Philips any day Scruff...
Another vote for Philips Xtremes. Used them in a couple of vehicles and very happy. I've used the Halfords ones in the past too and also good, but only decent value at BOGOF. The Philips ones are usually cheaper online.
If you want to do it properly get a HID kit. As long as you get the right colour temperature you wont look chav! Eg; 4000k
Only problem is the legality and whatever's going to happen with MOT from next year for HIDs. Agree though they do make the biggest difference.
4000k kit in my car looks OEM fitment but still illegal due to lack of auto self-levelling.
HIDs are never really "right" as the lens is designed to be used with std filament bulb.
Might be worth checking that your exisiting bulbs haven't got corroded connections and that there is a good earth.
I've used various ones for years. Osram +50 are the best for lifespan/brightness. The Philips and Osram +90 don't offer that much more in my experience. I also ran Ring 100+, but i'll stick with the Osrams
I had HIDs in for 2 years. Worked very well indeed and never had an issue come MOT time.
Agree that withthe changes next year i'm not sure. But for £30 on ebay you can't do that bad.
Recently got some of the Halfords +120 on BOGOF and have been very impressed.
You have to have self levelling with HIDs otherwise technically they are illegal. They will also blind a lot of oncoming traffic if you have any load in the boot etc...
Personally I found uprated bulbs gave me all the light I wanted...
Nights aren't darker, so what's the need for all these brighter headlight bulbs these days? (Seeing as dipped beam is primarily just so you're visible to others rather than to light up the road - which is always what I thought full beam was for)
Dipped are for seeing with, position markers (sides) are for being seen.
However I do agree that I hate the proliferation of brighter and brighter lamps. HID's are almost always the ones that glare and blind me or appear to be flashing due to their rapid vertical fall-off. Ultimately people only want brighter and brighter lights so they can drive faster at night - as it is I could quite happily see far enough ahead with my old peugeot 205 standard headlights to stop at 50-60 on unlit roads so I can't see why anyone would want more. Well I can, but it's a bit dodgy. And bright lights really mask cyclists, massively.
coffeking, my bike lights are brighter than my car ones...
coffeking, my bike lights are brighter than my car ones...
Yep, and it's stupid that they have to be to be seen on the road. It's daft to create a situation where "normal" bike lights are completely masked by other road users and cyclists are forced to carry around a nightsun with associated battery pack to be seen.
+1 for the annoyance of brighter headlights. I'm sick to death of having to angle my driving mirror so I'm not blinded by cars behind with lights that are far too bright.
I think its more a case of poorly adjusted headlights rather than brighter bulbs which are more the issue.
I get dazzled more often by older cars which have filament bulbs in them, but are simply poorly adjusted and pointing upwards.
Other than when an HID car crests a hill where the beam going upwards is unavoidable, I cant remember driving towards a car with OEM HID lights and thinking i'm getting dazzled by poorly adjusted lights.
Most people have a problem with HID lights blinding them but its only the projector style ones that have the cut off that they complain about there are ones out there that use a normal style of reflector (modified for the light source) and these don't tend to blind as much.
There does seem to be a lot of cars with very poorly adjusted lights around these days.
I think its more a case of poorly adjusted headlights rather than brighter bulbs which are more the issue.I get dazzled more often by older cars which have filament bulbs in them, but are simply poorly adjusted and pointing upwards.
Other than when an HID car crests a hill where the beam going upwards is unavoidable, I cant remember driving towards a car with OEM HID lights and thinking i'm getting dazzled by poorly adjusted lights.
Looks like we'll have to agree to disagree then The problem is that no road is ever flat, which means cresting a hill happens all the bloody time and it's like you're being flashed continuously from behind. I've lost track of the number of times I've thought someone was trying to pull me over with newer headlights. The non-projector ones are just VASTLY brighter than normal headlights which glares and hurts my eyes.
Pet hate of mine, I may be slightly OTT with it, but I'm sick of having cars coming at me blinding me, I take a lot of notice of them
But for £30 on ebay you can't do that bad.
That sounds rather cheap for real HIDs, got a link?
Used to run a T5 Volvo Estate (blimey,they call 'em "Tourers" now!)and standard bulbs a bit dim given the poke it had!.Fitted PIAA High Power bulbs(er,not E-marked!)but I think were about 85w,made a hell of a difference and were cool-blue-white colour.Got them from Demon Tweeks,good firm.
check out http://www.powerbulbs.com
google for 10% off code and 10% quidco. great guys, always deliver quickly.
I'm also sick of this nonsense. It is becoming like an arms race. I am constantly dazzled by arseholes with uprated headlights or simply arseholes who drive audis which also seem to be part of a dazzle max competition.
I've never thought "oh dear, my headlights are very dim" before. I don't see it as a problem. Its one of those things which is limitless, until we are all driving around with small galactic stars tapes to our cars.
For godsake, give it a rest. Just drive your car a little bit slower on country lanes. For everything else...there's street lights.
And finally...of course your bike lights are going to be brighter than your cars lights. You are going offroad, up and down mountains, across rocks, into drops...i would expect less than 0.0001% of drivers do that in their car.
Coffeeking, the whole point of having brighter lights on a bike has bugger-all to do with cars having brighter lights, a Knog Toad or Bullfrog is perfectly capable of showing a cyclists position for an oncoming car. The point for a cyclist is to be able to ride fast offroad while being able to see where they're going. Or had you missed out on the whole Troutlight thing. Of course the brighter lights reap benefits on-road because you can see all the bloody potholes before you hit them. Also cars dip their headlights as soon as they see a high-power LED light because they think it's a motorbike.
As for drivers wanting brighter lights so they can drive faster at night, well, yes, so? The dip beam on my old Puma was woeful, making driving at more than 40mph at night on country roads a problem. My Octavia's lights are much better, dip allowing a steady 50 on windy roads, 60 on A roads.
Coffeeking, the whole point of having brighter lights on a bike has bugger-all to do with cars having brighter lights, a Knog Toad or Bullfrog is perfectly capable of showing a cyclists position for an oncoming car. The point for a cyclist is to be able to ride fast offroad while being able to see where they're going. Or had you missed out on the whole Troutlight thing.
No, but it seems you missed the point of my post. I know what bright lights are for offroad, jesus I've been night riding off-road since the early 90s! The point was that you DO need a VERY bright light on-road these days or you vanish into the haze of car headlights and are virtually invisible - partly what causes me a massive increase in SMIDSYs in the winter - if I run with my offroad lights I NEVER have a car pull across me on a junction, if I ride with my "normal" lights it's carnage.
It's all about the clammer for brighter and brighter lights on the road and I find it a bit stupid and counter-productive. Much like driving a rangerover makes you less likely to get killed by a smaller car impact, with lights it's becoming "I've got the equiv of 400W so I can see everything and everything can see me.....oops, that cyclist got squished because they were masked by my lights" - a bit of thought on the matter might stop the arms race, but I doubt it. It's the same off-road, less is actually more fun than riding in bright daylight (though clearly not everyone rides offroad in the dark for fun) but that's a whole other argument.
The dip beam on my old Puma was woeful, making driving at more than 40mph at night on country roads a problem. My Octavia's lights are much better, dip allowing a steady 50 on windy roads, 60 on A roads.
IF you think the visibility afforded by your brighter lights at night allows you to (equally) safely drive at speeds you would in the day I'm a bit worried for the folk around you.
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