Should I have the xenons?

[Stuart_J]

Ive got Xenons on the Scout & they are great appart from the severe cut off to the right on dip which is a pain if you are pushing on down country lanes. In all fairness I still havent got round to getting the dealer to check the settings but they do move to the right at lower speed so that function is OK. Overall they are good but the cars wont be bad without them as there are various bigger bulb options to std lights

[davepud]

Just had what I think is a very good quote for a new 2.0 VRS petrol. 18000 with following extras

Maxidot

Leather

Full size spare

Met.Paint

Rear Parking sensors

Curtain Airbags and

Xenons

With the 0% finance and no vat I'm very tempted but are the xenons worth the extra dosh?

YES! First had them on my Superb, picking up my new VRs on September the 1st, and it was the first extra I ordered.

[psycholist]

Amonite, go for Silver! Looks amazing, especially once waxed, matches the vRS wheels perfectly, and gives a classy look to the car!

Loving mine. Can't stop looking out of the window at it!

Also a big fan of Xenons. Had them on my last three cars and would never have another without them.

Just back from 1400 miles in France. The 'tourist' mode function through maxidot is very clever & saves mucking around with patches on the lights, or having to get the dealer to change them over.

Dunc

The standard lights can be converted to a flat beam manually with a small screwdriver and it takes a couple of minutes to do. None of the Octy II headlights are suitable for masking using stickers as all the beam shaping is done before the projector lens rather than by the glass in the light, so it's all trial and error (And will take a lot longer than the manual conversion and still may not be legal).

If you don't get a Maxidot instrument panel you'll need to go to the dealer every time you need to convert the xenon lights for travelling, so never get xenons without maxidot if you're planning on continental driving. I wouldn't pay the money for xenon's as a blown bulb is a week's wait and 100+ quid (Assuming the bulb is blown, but you never know whether it's the bulb or the ballast until you've paid your money) rather than a trip to just about any petrol station to get something to tide you over. Not sure whether the mandatory bulb kits you're meant to have with you in some EU countries must include replacement xenon bulbs either, but I'm guessing that'd make for a very expensive spare...

[gadgetman]

Same here ;-) Xenons are expensive to buy and expensive to run once they break down (which they do regularly, if you consider how often you see Xenon cars with different colors in their Xenons)

You mean the morons that buy them too blue or purple rather than a nice pure white? Usually a tell tale of a HID retrofit, or muppet that prefers looks over functionality.

The most common factory fit, and best is around 4500k.

As for which is best:

[cheezemonkhai]

u've got to b kidding me!?!?!?!

have u heard of the terms "lumens" & "kelvin"?

if not, i suggest u google those terms.

Kelvin is a measure of temperature above absolute zero

The Lumen is a measure of light intensity.

You can easily achieve high light outputs with halogen bulbs (you just might need a bit more power in )

[JR RS]

Kelvin is a measure of temperature above absolute zero

The Lumen is a measure of light intensity.

good good....i'm impressed!!

now.......go n find out how much lumens a halogen bulb (oem 55w) outputs vs how much a xenon bulb (oem 35w) outputs.

[cheezemonkhai]

good good....i'm impressed!!

now.......go n find out how much lumens a halogen bulb (oem 55w) outputs vs how much a xenon bulb (oem 35w) outputs.

Well that would depend on the age of the Xenon bulb, the point at which you measure and also the type of halogen bulb.

You can get more light out of a good halogen bulb than a poor xenon bulb that's well into it's lifetime.

Xenon is not the answer, a good Xenon set up will give more light but there is far more than the light or the colour to it.

FWIW I actually prefer the yellow light from yellowed hallogens as it's much easier to drive in fog, snow and heavy drizzle/rain with that than the very white xenon light.

Care to explain how Kelvin is linked to light then.

I do know, but since you take a sarcastic tone back, lets have you prove your knowledge or google skills

Edited 20 August, 2010 by cheezemonkhai

[weyland]

I wouldn't pay the money for xenon's as a blown bulb is a week's wait and 100+ quid. Not sure whether the mandatory bulb kits you're meant to have with you in some EU countries must include replacement xenon bulbs either, but I'm guessing that'd make for a very expensive spare...

Sounds very cheap. Xenons are generally sealed units so very difficult to replace the bulbs, however the bulb life should outlast the car in theory. Certainly for a lot of cars if the bulb goes for whatever reason or the lens/casing is cracked by a stone or whatever you have to replace the whole unit. The cost to replace the xenons on my previous two Hondas was £500 per side for this reason, this is the reason why it is such an expensive option - it isn't just a bulb. This would also make it impossible to carry a spare.

[psycholist]

A friend of mine's 2004 Ibiza has had at least two Xenon bulb changes since he bought it new and it's not like he does a lot of night driving. With the most recent failure it looks like the ballast has failed rather than the bulb this time. I'll stay with normal light bulbs for the same reason I won't buy a car without a spare tyre, namely not being left stranded with a car I can't drive. The VAG Xenons I've seen aren't a sealed headlamp unit, the headlamp, bulb and ballast can be replaced separately.

[gadgetman]

Sounds very cheap. Xenons are generally sealed units so very difficult to replace the bulbs, however the bulb life should outlast the car in theory. Certainly for a lot of cars if the bulb goes for whatever reason or the lens/casing is cracked by a stone or whatever you have to replace the whole unit. The cost to replace the xenons on my previous two Hondas was £500 per side for this reason, this is the reason why it is such an expensive option - it isn't just a bulb. This would also make it impossible to carry a spare.

A xenon bulb can be replaced just the same as a halogen. The difference being the xenon bulb will be £70+ EACH.

The headlight cracking with a stone also applies to halogens. The plastic lens has long been irreplaceable on many makes for years, meaning a whole new casing circa £500.

[RobClubley]

My xenons are still going strong after 6 years and 96,000km. Touch wood

One of the levelling units occasionally sticks then fixes itself.