Headlight bulb recommendations

[Louisking1]

Have nighteyes h7 6500k 72w installed in the car from previous owner but keep getting flashed all the time there certainly bright enough but anyone have any recommendations for another set of bulbs but are bright but don’t blind people . There normal headlights not projector 

[TMB]

I have Osram Night Breakers in mine. Quite an improvement in light output from standard halogen. Never been flashed either.

Edited 23 December, 2019 by TMB

[KenONeill]

@Louisking1 You could try:-

1. Fitting bulbs that are actually legal, 55w for a single element.
2. Having the headlights aimed properly after doing (1).

[sepulchrave]

Take your sunglasses off and eat more carrots, I've never understood this tragic obsession with headlamp brightness, the brighter your lights, the worse your night vision gets, it's a sliding scale, standard 55W bulbs are more than good enough , you don't need colour vision to drive at night.

[Jim H]

Osram Nightbreakers or the latest Philips ones. I ran Philips ones in mine with no problems. Early Nightbreakers had a reputation of doing that (breaking at night!), however I believe they have improved the longevity now.

 

Please avoid HID or LED kits as they are illegal to retro-fit and will dazzle.

[mogwye]

Use the headlamp tilt adjuster and turn it down one notch and see how you go. Otherwise I agree with the other posts, replace with 55w bulbs.

 

DB.

[VWD]

On 23/12/2019 at 22:29, sepulchrave said:

Take your sunglasses off and eat more carrots, I've never understood this tragic obsession with headlamp brightness, the brighter your lights, the worse your night vision gets, it's a sliding scale, standard 55W bulbs are more than good enough , you don't need colour vision to drive at night.

Quite agree. Train the brain to make better use of what you do see.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/blog/2017/10/which-bulbs-are-road-legal

might give an idea of legal bulbs.

[sepulchrave]

Most of the idiots who use illegal headlamps live in street lit cities anyway where you can see where you're going without any lights on at all.

[Dazza95]

I’ve been more than happy with Osram Ultra Life and there aren’t any street lights for miles around here. Originally got them for the Volvo but found them just as good in the Fabia

Edited 29 December, 2019 by Dazza95

[barbusg60]

I fitted these today

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00347A7F4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll see what they're like at 06:00 tomorrow morning

Edited 29 December, 2019 by barbusg60

[Munfred]

Another thumbs up here for osram night breakers. Used them for quite a few years now.

Do seem to have a shorter life than other bulbs. They do note this on the box though.

[VWD]

First time I had a main go I changed both to higher output ones , as I had a lot of long night trips through Glencoe and any help to spot deer is welcome. Can't remember the make, but one trip was all they lasted. Changed back to standard. Another thing to note. I've only had it on 55w dip lamps, but the holder/connector does not like a lot of heat. I've had to change both connectors due to the plastic melting. I'd suggest that this is more of a problem with hotter lamps.

[sepulchrave]

22 minutes ago, VWD said:

First time I had a main go I changed both to higher output ones , as I had a lot of long night trips through Glencoe and any help to spot deer is welcome. Can't remember the make, but one trip was all they lasted. Changed back to standard. Another thing to note. I've only had it on 55w dip lamps, but the holder/connector does not like a lot of heat. I've had to change both connectors due to the plastic melting. I'd suggest that this is more of a problem with hotter lamps.

 

Absolutely, if you need more lighting then use additional driving lights with relay control and a separate master switch like road legal rally cars do.

[barbusg60]

16 hours ago, barbusg60 said:

I fitted these today

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00347A7F4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll see what they're like at 06:00 tomorrow morning

 

Quick update,

Very impressed with these (fairly) standard bulbs.

They dont claim to be be the whitest white or bluest blue, or brighter than the sun like some do, so was quite please with the nice crisp white(ish) output the gave over the old ones I had in there. 

I only changed as one blew on Saturday otherwise standard are totally fine in the Mk1 Fabia headlight unit.

recommended...

[VWD]

3 hours ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Absolutely, if you need more lighting then use additional driving lights with relay control and a separate master switch like road legal rally cars do.

Possibly a misread, but this was on standard dip beams( no extra driving light were involved/hurt in the process). The connectors had gone HR. The resultant heat from I * I * R which generated more heat which resulted in the connectors going excessively HR for the lamps to light , but before this the plastic moulding had melted. (I=CURRENT in amps, with R= resistance on the joint) .

I'm quite aware of how  to wire in additional lamps, including how to work out the cable capacity and fuse rating. Done it may times up north when the extra light meant Venison or Mutton on the bumper or a missed ( lot cheaper ) meal. 😳

I get your point though- lot easier ( and more legal ) to fit additional driving lights than mess around with fancy short life extra bright lamps.

Edited 30 December, 2019 by VWD

[Tailhappy]

I have just fitted a pair of Halfords 100% brighter ones (previously Osram Nightbreakers) and am happier still. Not whiter, but better beam definition - the Osrams had a smudgy 'kick' on the left side, the Halfords are much sharper. Just another suggestion.

[Guest BigJase88]

I had to fit some uprated phillips bulbs into my work van, they were not the best ones at around £20 a pair but they were the step down but the difference is night and day, the original bulbs were awful and amounted to candles in jamjars, was that bad it was dangerous (****roen nemo)

[TMB]

9 hours ago, BigJase88 said:

I had to fit some uprated phillips bulbs into my work van, they were not the best ones at around £20 a pair but they were the step down but the difference is night and day, the original bulbs were awful and amounted to candles in jamjars, was that bad it was dangerous (****roen nemo)

 

My mate has a brand-new Transit van as a work van and the headlamps are abysmal.

[sepulchrave]

Another top tip for night driving, turn the instrument light dimmer down to minimum to help improve your vision, if the interior of the car is dark you'll find it a lot easier to see out clearly.

Weirdly I drove a new Transit LWB for a night job recently and thought the headlights were extremely bright but couldn't get the blue instrument lighting dim enough for my taste, too much blue light is very unhelpful for night vision.

So you can stick your silly blue bulbs where the sun don't shine 😎

[barbusg60]

I have a theory that a lot of people out there require glasses and maybe dont realise.

One of my bulbs blew recently, it was just a standard one, output was a bit yellow but was fine.

Ive just fitted some Bosch ones from Amazon as stated in an earlier post, nothing special but a bit brighter and whiter.

I think the Mk1 Fabia has quite decent headlights to tell the truth and the majority of bulb manufacturers claims are just BS to sell them.

 

[Tailhappy]

As people get older their night vision does often suffer. Things look more flared and the light from headlamps seems low.

 

The glass headlamps in my 105 Estelle with Osram bulbs are the best I have seen. Even passengers comment. Really punchy on main beam. 

 

For the Fabia, it's worth also making sure the plastic is clear and clean. See quite a few with foggy lenses.

[TMB]

^ I had an Estelle 105S with tungsten headlights. Would have been better off with a couple of matches 😁

[Tailhappy]

Round or rectangular on your 105? Rectangular ones look great I think. Beam fills the road a long way. Not lacking. Round ones were old style with 45 Watts I think.

[TMB]

Round 🙂 And yes, 40/45 watts.

Edited 9 January, 2020 by TMB

[TMB]

Conversely I had a 120 LSE with twin halogen lamps and that was really good.