Basically just want to know if I'm alone with very poor full/high beam ?

Main beam is good but full beam doesn't really make a difference I've adjusted it tried different bulbs its still crap :-( next step I think is HID's

What car?  Dip is OK?  Beam aim been adjusted on beam test/set equipment or just by guesswork?

Guess work then properly adjusted by skoda :-( its just near enough pointless and skoda fabia vrs mk1

Are your headlights cloudy?

Nope spanking clean and clear its not obscured it just doesn't seem to make much of a difference when I turn my high beams on :-(

what bulbs are in there?  Main beam are Halogens and should be H3 (55w I think)

 

Please don't put in HID if you have reflectors.

HID's in high beam will take a while to warm up when you switch them on,so for flashing lights/short stints on high beam they will be pants

 

Pretty sure I've got 100w bulbs in mine,still don't make a lot of difference though!!

I have upgraded all my bulbs to LED it's so bright now and doesn't have the yellow tint to normal halogen bulbs

The simplest way to improve would be to put in Osram Nightbreakers. If you want more high beam range than that and do not want extra lamps on the car, overdriving the main beam bulbs to 14V-16.5V, depending on wanted (and much shorter) lifetime and range, will increase the visible range by 40%-80%. But for this you need to find someone to wire in voltage boosters and a low voltage (dark current) regulator to prevent blown bulbs at startup. Read further posts in the thread linked for more details.

 

HID retrofits in high beams will put out massively more lights on the road close by, preventing you from seeing any further. LEDs are even worse for it, there are no miracles as both HID and LED are far larger light sources than the filament of the bulb and the car's reflectors were designed to focus just the light from the filament. This is also discussed in the thread I linked to.

Edited 21 September, 201411 yr by dieselV6

hence why i fitted xenons standard headlights i found were really poor

Just fitted projectors and xenons today. The difference is night and day (pardon the pun!). This is dipped not high beam though.

 

I'd get your alignment double checked if I were you...

 

 

Just my opinion, but I found the above mentioned Osram Nightbreakers a complete waste of money and no better than standard bulbs. I was not impressed!

hence why i fitted xenons standard headlights i found were really poor

Dipped beam  projectors are a different matter altogether, and quite a useful upgrade.

Xenon retrofits in high beams only create impression of good high beam by dumping most light close to the car. This creates feeling of (excessive) brightness, but it actually reduces effective range of high beams as reflections from the road close to the car prevent the driver from seeing road features further away. Lots of light on the road only translates to better high beam range than stock if the light is at least as focused as stock. HIDs are not, as size of HID arc is much larger than size of bulb filament. To beat halogens in stock lamps, you'd need some very exotic discharge lamps (high pressure mercury) or a reflector specifically designed to focus ball light source as opposed to line source (filament).

 

Osram NBs worked well in my Mk1 Octy, with H1 bulb. To be honest, I also was not impressed with them in H3 guise and that's why I modded the next 2 Skodas to overdrive high beams. Plenty of light on the road, does not blind back like HIDs, instant on and low enough power not to melt housings.

Edited 21 September, 201411 yr by dieselV6

quick random thought; what setting is your headlamp levelling set to?

Also do you have decent quality bulbs in?

ive got 100w bulbs in mine and find them pretty good.

ive got 100w bulbs in mine and find them pretty good.

Wow that must be super bright

Sent from my Galaxy S5

Yip. Better than the latest osrams I had in there.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=301047151662&alt=web

that's the bulbs I got.

Sure mines were a few pound dearer.

100W bulbs will melt the housings after a while (as well as the switch, unless relayed) and while are brighter than 55W, they are not much brighter as stock wiring drops another ~1.5V at the bulb because of extra load, resulting in ~10V loaded bulb voltage and only about 10%-20% more range.  E.g. Mk1 Superb high beam housings are magnesium which should be good for extra power, but they have a plastic collar, anything above 90W will melt the collar. Tested by yours truly, unfortunately.

Edited 23 September, 201411 yr by dieselV6