Have felt that dip beam could use a bit more power (hardly ever use mains!) and was in Halfords today chatting to a young employee who had uprated his own Audi A4.

He suggested changing my dipped bulbs to 130 strength, which they could supply AND FIT for about £46 the pair.

Any thoughts on this?

Expensive. You can buy Philips or Osram 130+ bulbs for £14.99 or so. Check ECP and use Holiday25 to get more off

Have felt that dip beam could use a bit more power (hardly ever use mains!) and was in Halfords today chatting to a young employee who had uprated his own Audi A4.

He suggested changing my dipped bulbs to 130 strength, which they could supply AND FIT for about £46 the pair.

Any thoughts on this?

I am thinking about doing the same, but I also think they need adjusting up a bit too, poor lights that aim to low is asking for trouble. I only have the halogen lights, anyone know an easy way they can be raised up bit?

They will have adjustment bits on the headlight units (normal white plastic with a hex hole).

You can do it roughly by parking close to a wall or garage door, but an independent garage will do it for next to nothing - only takes 10 mins.

Any MOT test station will do it and normally for some beer tokens. Skoda seem to have a habit of setting the levels to the lower end of the tolerance, particularly the Fabia. Just get them raised to the maximum height tolerance and you should notice a difference. Personally I like the osram night breakers or the Philips +130 I'm currently using the Phillips as the Osram seem to have a shorter life on them.

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I would be a bit concerned about melting the light enclosure by generating more heat with more powerful bulbs, but each to their own...

I would be a bit concerned about melting the light enclosure by generating more heat with more powerful bulbs, but each to their own...

I asked if there were problems like that, or excessive power usage - but apparently not.

The bulbs are still rated at 55W, so shouldn't draw any more current to cause heat issues.

The bulbs are still rated at 55W, so shouldn't draw any more current to cause heat issues.

 

"130" means that they are 130W ...hence the higher light output. Hence, more heat. Hence the potential to melt stuff - reflectors, for instance.

 

...but don't say you weren't warned

 

and BTW, current and voltage are not the same thing - you might want to take a look at this article:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question501.htm

Edited 26 May, 201610 yr by Jaco2k

"130" means that they are 130W ...hence the higher light output. Hence, more heat. Hence the potential to melt stuff - reflectors, for instance.

...but don't say you weren't warned

and BTW, current and voltage are not the same thing - you might want to take a look at this article:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question501.htm

No, the 130 refers to the bulb being "up to 130% brighter" than a conventional halogen bulb. They are still rated at 55W - you can get bulbs that are rated 80W or 100W, namely the Halfords / Ring Rally bulbs, which will draw more current and therefore generate more heat, running the risk of fuse and / or wiring failures, and also issues with the headlight unit itself due to excess heat.

I do know the difference between voltage, power and current

Yes, that is right, I was told the 130 did not mean extra current being used - must be just a more efficient way of producing light!

Yes, that is right, I was told the 130 did not mean extra current being used - must be just a more efficient way of producing light!

 

Yup - it's the gas mix in the bulb / filament type that allows the bulb to produce a brighter, slightly whiter light. Some bulbs also have a slight blue tint over the tip of the bulb to produce the whitest light possible, without appearing blue and reducing light output.

...or get Xenons

 

With that said, also the Xenons seem to get complaints on this car. I think that maybe the problem lies in the quality of the projectors/lenses

I don't quite get the posts about the beam cast being too low. Both the basic spec Octavia I've owned have had the remote internal height adjustment fitted as standard, is that not the case in the UK?

I've only ever had halogen fitted cars but the variations as to their effectiveness has been marked 'reflecting' (pun) the efforts of the optical engineers.

Australian built cars usually have very effective halogen headlights both on dipped and full beam (large capacity engine Commodore and Falcon mainly).

The two worst cars were a Hyundai Santa Fe mk1 which was truly awful and a 2008 mk2 Octavia, which was barely adequate, it seemed to cast the beam everywhere but where I wanted it. I believe the later face-lifted version was better.

The Mk3 Octavia is much better but not as good as it could be based on the performance from the best vehicles.

 

I cannot help feeling that the low performance from current headlights is largely due to optical compromises made for accentuated front end styling.

Gerrycan, there is a height adjustment available inside the cockpit however even set at the highest setting the actual beam is still at the low end of the tolerances (in some cases). To remedy this the internal setting should be set to 0 and then the beam raised further via the screws on the individual light housing.

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Skoda don't fit cheap bulbs.

 

The uprated bulbs offered via Halfords etc. are full of marketing fluff. If there were any real benefits to be had Skoda (or other manufacturers) would fit them as standard or offer them as a cost option.

 

As mentioned, they are 55W, exactly the same as the ones fitted by Skoda.

 

Sure there may be different colours (therefore appearing a bit brighter, but mainly looking different to what you were used to) but most of it is down to the placebo effect.

 

Any minimal extra actual light output results in a trade off, which in this case is life.

 

Have them properly aligned as recommended here.

 

I appreciate £970 is a lot of money, especially for those of you with lease cars but the factory fitted bi-xenon headlights are the only proper way of getting more light output.

Skoda fit long life bulbs which are not as bright but are unlikely to fail during the warranty period. I've been using Halfords 150% bulbs for many years in my Mk1 Focus. They don't last as long but they are visibly brighter than those in the Skoda. I suspect the 130% bulbs recommended to be OP might not make a big enough difference to be noticeable.

Skoda don't fit cheap bulbs.

The uprated bulbs offered via Halfords etc. are full of marketing fluff. If there were any real benefits to be had Skoda (or other manufacturers) would fit them as standard or offer them as a cost option.

As mentioned, they are 55W, exactly the same as the ones fitted by Skoda.

Sure there may be different colours (therefore appearing a bit brighter, but mainly looking different to what you were used to) but most of it is down to the placebo effect.

Any minimal extra actual light output results in a trade off, which in this case is life.

Have them properly aligned as recommended here.

I appreciate £970 is a lot of money, especially for those of you with lease cars but the factory fitted bi-xenon headlights are the only proper way of getting more light output.

Well to be fair, from personal experience that's just not true. I've had quite a few cars with Xenons, but also some without, and fitting the right upgrade bulb makes all the difference.

I've always sworn by PIAA Xtreme White Plus bulbs, had them in 3 cars and the light output is noticeably more intense than a standard halogen bulb. Coming in at £65 a pair, they aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for and they are a cut above.

I'm lucky enough to have the bi-Xenons as standard on my O3, but some people may not want to fork out the best part of a grand to upgrade, and to be fair in hindsight, I wouldn't pay that for the Xenons fitted to the Octavia - compared to most other Xenons they are really poor. For those who only have halogens, upgrade bulbs do work, and are a practical and reasonably priced solution to getting more light on the road.

Edited 28 May, 201610 yr by vtec to vrs!

We are just going to have to agree to disagree then.

The standard bulbs and your £65 bulbs are the same wattage.

They contain a filament and utilise the cars existing reflector / projector lens to throw the available light output out onto the road.

Sure, change the colour of the bulb glass, or even fill that glass with some fancy gas, all you are doing is changing the colour of the light.

Like I said earlier the trade-off is less life. I've lost count of the number of tests and reviews that say that for the most part it is clever marketing at its best.

If the improvements were real then the car manufacturers would be fitting them to their cars as we speak.

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It is typically more efficient to produce light at the bluer end of the spectrum ( daylight colour temperature rather than warm ) so it's certainly possible for some bulbs to produce more lumens than others at the same wattage.

E.g. You might expect a 5000K bulb at 55w to produce more lumens than a 3000K bulb at the same wattage.

Whether this difference is enough to make a significant difference I don't know, and as said you could find they don't last as long, though I don't think there is any specific reason they shouldn't last as long.

We are just going to have to agree to disagree then.

The standard bulbs and your £65 bulbs are the same wattage.

They contain a filament and utilise the cars existing reflector / projector lens to throw the available light output out onto the road.

Sure, change the colour of the bulb glass, or even fill that glass with some fancy gas, all you are doing is changing the colour of the light.

Like I said earlier the trade-off is less life. I've lost count of the number of tests and reviews that say that for the most part it is clever marketing at its best.

If the improvements were real then the car manufacturers would be fitting them to their cars as we speak.

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There are always going to be aftermarket solutions, and just because something is the same wattage, you can make an incandescent bulb burn brighter by the inert gas mix inside it, irrespective of colour. The slight colour change is to bring the light colour closer to that of natural daylight, so it's easier on the human eye.

I don't disagree with you that the trade off is often a shorter bulb life with some of them, but most bulbs have been proven to have a higher lumen when on test, so they do product more light - fact.

Edited 28 May, 201610 yr by vtec to vrs!

It is typically more efficient to produce light at the bluer end of the spectrum ( daylight colour temperature rather than warm ) so it's certainly possible for some bulbs to produce more lumens than others at the same wattage.

E.g. You might expect a 5000K bulb at 55w to produce more lumens than a 3000K bulb at the same wattage.

Whether this difference is enough to make a significant difference I don't know, and as said you could find they don't last as long, though I don't think there is any specific reason they shouldn't last as long.

Not necessarily true mate - the colour temperature doesn't have anything to do with the lumen produced by the bulb, it's more to bring the colour as close to daylight as possible. Actually anything over around 4700k will actually start to weaken the light output - you see HID lots advertised that are 8000k, 10,000k etc and the light output will be atrocious on the road!

Well having read the answers above I get the feeling I might as well not bother!

Well having read the answers above I get the feeling I might as well not bother!

It's still worth doing if you want more light, and there are plenty of people on here who have upgraded their halogen headlights and have been very happy with the results.

Halfords bulbs are made by Ring, my advice would be to go with Osram Nightbreakers or Philips Extrem Vision bulbs - both of which can be had for around £20 on the Internet. Fitting is very easy on the O3 as the bulbs are easily accessible - Halfords are just a bit of a rip off!

It's still worth doing if you want more light, and there are plenty of people on here who have upgraded their halogen headlights and have been very happy with the results.

Halfords bulbs are made by Ring, my advice would be to go with Osram Nightbreakers or Philips Extrem Vision bulbs - both of which can be had for around £20 on the Internet. Fitting is very easy on the O3 as the bulbs are easily accessible - Halfords are just a bit of a rip off!

Yes, the Halfords bloke told me it was much easier than the Mk. 2, where you had to take the light unit out of the wing first.

Mk. 3 has instead  some kind of removable cover at the back?