H7 Headlight bulb upgrade?

[mac]

Hi All,

Am I able to safely fit 80 or 100 watt H7s to my Octavia please?

Obviously I don't want to damage or melt anything.

Thankyou in advance

Regards

Mac

[k.young]

55 is the maximum legal wattage for road use. If you fit 80 or 100w you will blind oncoming traffic, these higher wattage bulbs are only for competition use.

[Wardy]

As said, you'd be better with an uprated legal set. I've been impressed with offerings from Philips and Osram. Check out www.powerbulbs.com for some options...

[Nathanio]

I just changed the bulbs in the wifes vRS to some Osram nightbreaker plus after getting through 3 sets of Halfords brilliance bulbs.

They are incredibly good and provide a nice crisp light that is on the whiter end of the halogen bulbs.

I have actually replaced the main beams in my octy with a set and I have no problems with vision on county roads now

[vRS_Pagey]

TBH, the standard halogen isn't a bad light, but I did upgrade to Ring Xenon Max, and I was suitablly impressed by the difference. However I just took the next step and ordered a HID Conversion kit, the gateway needs recoding first but just to try I fitted one yesterday to test it under cold ignition and I was blown away!

If I was you, forgot spending 15-20 quid on replacement halogen bulbs and go for the HID's at 50 quid on the bay, its a no brainer.

[Wardy]

Powerbulbs retail on Philips X-Treme Visions is £43, so the difference is even closer!

Nightbreaker Plus are £28....

(To the OP, Powerbulbs discount available to Freedom members - http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/83706-15-discount-with-free-shipping-sidelights-powerbulbs/)

[FatblokeVRS]

Hi All,

Am I able to safely fit 80 or 100 watt H7s to my Octavia please?

Obviously I don't want to damage or melt anything.

Thankyou in advance

Regards

Mac

Hi

If you mean will you cause any problems with the car, the car will work perfectly fine with higher wattage bulbs so yes you could fit them. You will not melt the wiring with 80w or 100w although you may have to put in a higher amp fuse.

As mentioned in postings above, they are legally "for off-road use only". They give exactly the same beam pattern as 55w so you will not blind anyone, (make sure the lights are aligned correctly) the lights are just slightly brighter. If you have 55w bulbs in and your lights are misaligned, you are more likely to blind someone.

Cheers

Dave

[vRS_Pagey]

Powerbulbs retail on Philips X-Treme Visions is £43, so the difference is even closer!

Nightbreaker Plus are £28....

Jeepers!!! My Ring XenonMax were only £17.95 from the bay, and they are a big improvement over standard, and will certainly be installed in swmbo's Golf (when we find one).

[Wardy]

Yep, I was surprised too! These are the newest version, these 'Visions' - I'd used X-Tremes before and think they were circa £23 after PowerBulbs discount.

On the higher wattage issue, the only time I'd even consider them would be on the main beam. So you're not risking blinding oncoming traffic with a more powerful bulb. But I've found the upgraded options already discussed to be more than sufficient as an upgrade for this. And I didn't want to risk wiring, heat build-up and fuses in the process.

Steve

[Hauptmann]

High-wattage bulbs will work, but bear in mind that only a few percent of that wattage gets turned into light. The rest is dissipated as heat. Given that the headlight lens assemblies use plastic components I'd be a little concerned about the effect of that extra heat over time.

35W HID's are very bright, but their greater efficiency than a filament bulb means that they actually run cooler.

[Spudhoolio]

Can anyone point me to the: "How to change dipped H7 bulb on a FL Octy" thread ?

I had a look but once I popped off the rubber disc cover I couldnt get my head in there to see a thing.

Fumbling around very sharp things

[vRS_Pagey]

Can anyone point me to the: "How to change dipped H7 bulb on a FL Octy" thread ?

I had a look but once I popped off the rubber disc cover I couldnt get my head in there to see a thing.

Fumbling around very sharp things

If its anything like the pre FL you need to remove the clear plastic housing, the sidelights and dipped beam (H7) are located behind this.

[cheezemonkhai]

100W might be ok on full beam,but I'd never put them in the dipped (H7) due to a risk of damage to the plastic lens.

In the mains they are on and off infrequently, so should be ok.