The headlights. 

 

Tonight was the first time we've been out in the octavia in the dark and boy are the headlights poor. I wasn't expecting them to be amazing with them being plain reflector style headlights but I was expecting better than what they are. In comparison the headlights on my 35 year old 924 are better. 

 

A set of nightbreakers has been added to the to order list. 

What spec is your car? 

SE I believe. 

@caprixpack mine wemina bit low initially, but after I raised them only a bit, the range on them was a hell of a lot better.

Thanks, I'll have a look into that tomorrow. 

Yes, upgrade of the headlights is a first good call.  Get some H7's (I use Philips bulbs) - from amazon:

Philips WhiteVision Xenon effect H7 Headlight Bulb 12972WHVSM, Twin Pack

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MZQUIRW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

About £20 per pack.  DON'T get the 150% brightness variants otherwise you will overload your reflectors. (having too much of a good thing).

 

Thanks

I have some philips 130% bulbs in the 924 albeit in H4, I will probably get some in h7 for the octavia. 

Edited 20 January, 20206 yr by caprixpack

the best halogen bulbs I've ever fitted are osram night breaker lasers. You do notice the difference.

I have night breakers one has blown after 3 months.

Maybe a pointless comment, but it’s cheap so have you cleaned the headlights recently? Can make a huge difference in case you haven’t thought of it

I wish that was the case, the headlights are spotless. 

This is an interesting topic. I once owned a Freelander and the halogen lights were the worst I've ever had and I upgraded the bulbs which made a big difference. It was downright dangerous on dark country roads and makes me wonder why manufacturers put such poor bulbs in. 

 

My Octavia is an SEL and it's the first car I've ever had which does not have halogen lights. The LED lights are simply unbelievably good on dark lanes and as cost of production comes down, they ought to be standard across all cars. 

Have to agree LED headlights are brilliant.

Many years ago I had an Austin Chummy with scuttle mounted 6v headlights with rusty reflectors ...they really were useless ...I remember driving back from The Griffin in Dale to Haverfordwest by moonlight after the h/l switch had melted .

Regards

22 hours ago, dereks said:

I have night breakers one has blown after 3 months.

 

And now the other one!

That's really unlucky, we've had a set in the old passat for 3 years now. 

I ran Nightbreakers in 2 of our cars and they were still going strong after 23 months & 28000 miles in one car & 20 months and 10000 miles in the other.  Both cars are now traded in so I can't comment beyond that.

When my car had its first service I asked the dealer to check the headlight alignment and they raised them slightly, which helped, as did fitting brighter bulbs. With the right alignment, I don't think they're particularly worse than any other reflector halogen setup.

I have Bi xenons now ,but have used ring automotive Xenon 150 in my previous Vectra, they were far better than standards. The lights in the Vectra were shocking before I changed them. Whiter light and a sharper beam pattern. never had any problems with overloading the reflectors. https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ring-xenon150-150-12v-55w-477-halogen-bulbs-pair.html

 

Edited 25 January, 20206 yr by stanian

On 20/01/2020 at 11:59, caprixpack said:

I have some philips 130% bulbs in the 924 albeit in H4, I will probably get some in h7 for the octavia. 

You might wanna do all three front bulbs otherwise they look different colours.

 

Full list is H7, H8 & H15 & yes you'll need to adjust (through VCDS) the DLR's brightness for side light running as the original setting will be a little yellow

Having had a mix of cars over the years with halogen, xenon, bi-xenon and LED, I'll never buy another one with halogens, new or used.

On 20/01/2020 at 12:13, tunedude said:

the best halogen bulbs I've ever fitted are osram night breaker lasers. You do notice the difference.

Currently I'm OK with the OEM bulbs in my Octy but the e90 BMW I had previously was notorious for terrible headlights and they were awful. The standard advice was Osram Nightbreakers and the standard advice was spot on, they're excellent.

On 26/01/2020 at 09:21, themanwithnoaim said:

You might wanna do all three front bulbs otherwise they look different colours.

 

Full list is H7, H8 & H15 & yes you'll need to adjust (through VCDS) the DLR's brightness for side light running as the original setting will be a little yellow

Thanks for this,

Just for clarification, the normal halogen dipped are H7, full beam H8? and DRL H15? My DLR are really yellow.

Forgive me f I've got this wrong!😜

Many thanks

Edited 27 January, 20206 yr by StriderDog

Nearly

 

H7 dipped beam

H8 fog lights 

H15 Main beam & DLR

 

The DLR brightness needs adjustments using long code to increase the brightness otherwise they are a bit yellow

 

I was pedantic & wanted the entire front end to look the same at night, so brought all 3 sets of bulbs in the same make/model

Edited 28 January, 20206 yr by themanwithnoaim

Incidentally, the whole global concepts of HIDs are great, LEDs are great etc. isn't always the case; I've owned cars with great HIDs (F30 BMW Bi-xenons - stunning), awful HIDs (mk1 octavia, SG9 Subaru Forester), great halogens (P11 Primera) and awful ones (my wife's Ibiza). I'd definitely say there's overlap; the best halogens can be better than the worst LEDs/HIDs. FWIW though the LEDs in my Octy mk3 FL are very good indeed though, not quite as good as the bi-xenons in the beemer but close.

On 28/01/2020 at 12:16, themanwithnoaim said:

Nearly

 

H7 dipped beam

H8 fog lights 

H15 Main beam & DLR

 

The DLR brightness needs adjustments using long code to increase the brightness otherwise they are a bit yellow

 

I was pedantic & wanted the entire front end to look the same at night, so brought all 3 sets of bulbs in the same make/model

Brilliant, thanks for this!😙