My old Nissan Primera had a sharp cut-off on the top of the dipped beams. I found this very useful in being able to raise the dipped beam with the dashboard switch to give most light coverage on the road while not dazzling oncoming drivers. I'm talking straightforward halogens here.

On my new Octavia SE I was disappointed last night when driving along a dark narrowish country road to find that I had a poorly defined top to the dipped beams. It was a bit wearing after an hour and a half of that against oncoming traffic.

Is it possible to sharpen the top of the beam or is this, as I suspect, built into the lamp housing/reflector assembly? If this is so, should I just buy a greater light-output H7 bulb from Halfords at £20 which has a good write up from other buyers?

I welcome the experience of others on this...

Mike36

Hello Mike

is this what you mean?

Photo taken from: http://www.rocky-road.com/ipfH4.html

If so, I don't think that there's much that can be done about it. I belive is the way the headlamp is designed that causes this effect.

My old Nissan Primera had a sharp cut-off on the top of the dipped beams. I found this very useful in being able to raise the dipped beam with the dashboard switch to give most light coverage on the road while not dazzling oncoming drivers. I'm talking straightforward halogens here.

On my new Octavia SE I was disappointed last night when driving along a dark narrowish country road to find that I had a poorly defined top to the dipped beams. It was a bit wearing after an hour and a half of that against oncoming traffic.

Is it possible to sharpen the top of the beam or is this, as I suspect, built into the lamp housing/reflector assembly? If this is so, should I just buy a greater light-output H7 bulb from Halfords at £20 which has a good write up from other buyers?

I welcome the experience of others on this...

Mike36

Is it on both beams or just one? If on only one it might be worth checking that the dipped beam bulb is seated properly.

Yes, sojourner_mer, that looks about it.

I'm not really in to fitting replacement headlamps so I guess I shall have to learn to live with it.

Perhaps 'brighter' bulbs might help. I read that the Osram Night Breakers are quite good value for money and reasonably long-lasting. The +50% brighter ones seem to be more robust, and therefore longer-lasting, than the +90% ones.

Thanks for the suggestion, TsvRS. It's both bulbs, so it appears to be a built-in problem as sojourner_mer implies.

Thanks, guys.