headlight upgrade

[sherbert dab]

Hi all, i have a 52 plate superb, which overall is fantastic.....apart from the headlights!

having read some posts by other members i think a pair of philips visionplus bulbs or similar should improve things but i was wondering if anyone has used higher wattage bulbs for main beams (for off road use of course)!! And if there could be any possible problems with wiring or melting headlamp lenses or fittings? there seems to be 80w 100w or even 130w h3 bulbs available. does anyone have experience of these?

cheers

[Bluefox]

If they're not 55w H7 then they're illegal, basically.

Sticking with legal bulbs, the best I've heard of so far are the Osram Nightbreaker range - although I've not tried the new Halfords range of +75% brightness or whatever they are. Super uber really brilliance or something. The Super Brilliance ones (+50%) are good but only worth it when they're BOGOF.

As for the others? I've used the Halfords Rally (H7 = 80w) in a couple of cars previous and they're certainly bright. Check your wiring's up to it though.

Welcome to the site btw

[sherbert dab]

Thanks for the advice Bluefox,

I will stick to legal bulbs for dip beam, so nightbreakers sound good, but as for the main beams i cant see the harm in a little xtra power as im not going to be driving around with them on all the time, i will leave that to rover drivers!

[cheezemonkhai]

I've heard that Nightbreakers/Philips Xtreme as dipped in H7 and then 100w H1 for main beams has been run by a few peopel on here without issues in other cars so you might have some luck.

[Bluefox]

I've heard that Nightbreakers/Philips Xtreme as dipped in H7 and then 100w H1 for main beams has been run by a few peopel on here without issues in other cars so you might have some luck.

Yeah, this is the sort of setup I'm thinking about. The only other possible is an HID upgrade for the dipped but I'm still chewing that over.

Thanks for the info

[dieselV6]

Even Philips Premium (+30%) bulbs are a very noticeable upgrade for the high beams. I am going to put the Osram Nightbreakers for high beam into the Octavia this autumn.

I would not use the higher wattage bulbs on Superb, yes, the wiring is up for it, but is your plastic lamp enclosure up for double the heat? I very much doubt it.

Regarding the Superb's low beam, Philips Xtreme seem to be the best option nowadays, but they're quite expensive. Bulbs from other manufacturers than Osram and Philips (and perhaps Narva) usually either do not offer better light on the road, or last MUCH shorter, so I'd avoid.

For low beam, if you have projector lamps (at least the 2004+ Superbs do), I'd go with HIDs, you can put ballasts under the bumper to keep them dry. Get Philips ballasts and rebased H7 Philips standard 4300K bulbs, this will put most light on the road and last very long without problems on factory wiring (I checked, 15A wires except inside the headlight). No problems with glare either, as these projectors were designed for both HID and H7 (it is the same enclosure, just ballast added underneath and different levelling logic).

You can even skip the relays usually provided with aftermarket kits and feed the ballasts directly from headlight wiring, thus avoiding "headlight failure" nag on your Maxi-DOT. Keep in mind to hook ballasts outside the headlight, as the wires inside the headlight are very thin (why o why, VW?)

Of course at this point someone will reply that they absolutely, really must have automatic levelling and headlight washers, otherwise it's illegal and so on and so forth.

Well, I have factory HIDs on Octavia, with auto levelling, and it was so badly mis-levelling the headlights when the car was loaded up that after about 5 or 6 VAG-COM recalibration attempts I opted to retrofit manual levelling control knob and hooked it up to front sensor signal. At least it allows to correct levelling when the car is stationary.

So my advice is stay with factory's manual levelling, at least you can adjust the HIDs while driving.

Headlight washers work probably only with snow and mud, otherwise I find them waste of washer fluid. Many people have them anyway on standard headlights.

Of course, a cheaper option is a couple of Philips H7 Xtreme, the light output is getting close to HID (ca 55%-60% brightness of HIDs which is not far for your eyes), but then if you drive a lot at night you have to replace the bulbs quite often if you want the peak light output. Phillips HIDs when properly installed and connected last for many years without a single glitch, in fact I start to believe in the 2000hrs rating on the Octavia now :-)

For legal reasons I have to state that I do not encourage any illegal or dangerous activities relating to your or anyone else's car. You're on your own :-)

[Bluefox]

Very informative, thanks!

[sherbert dab]

Thanks for all the info, appreciate it.

Ordered nightbreakers for both dip and main on ebay, reasonable prices, just hope they last a decent amount of time. Dont mind changing bulbs now and again but have heard it can be bit of a sod on a superb.

Thanks again

[Surrey White]

I replaced my bulbs last year, following the info posted by Supurbia.

You're right - they can be a bit of a sod to change! Definately worth it though.

http://briskoda.net/superb/bulb-replacement/94038/

Now - bumper on or bumper off......?

Hope it helps.

[Bluefox]

I replaced my bulbs last year, following the info posted by Supurbia.

You're right - they can be a bit of a sod to change! Definately worth it though.

http://briskoda.net/superb/bulb-replacement/94038/

Now - bumper on or bumper off......?

Hope it helps.

Yes, yes they are.

Bumper off = pain in the ***

Bumper on = pain in the knuckles!

[sherbert dab]

new bulbs fitted, and what a difference it has made! the nearside bulb was easy, the other was a bit maore of a challenge but after reading info posted by supurbia regarding removal of airbox securing bolt and giving it a good push out of the way job done, just got to wait for the skin to grow back now and all will perfect!

many thanks to everyone for input on this one..