Front Headlight Upgrade

[Ozzy101]

Hi all, I have searched the form, however couldn't find much. 

 

I have a 2016 Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI with the standard headlight bulbs. (Yellow colour)

I would like to upgrade all bulbs to a white/blue colour.

 

What bulbs are best to buy for the daylight running and front headlights/beam?

 

Thank you

[langers2k]

Pretty sure your car uses:

- H7 bulb for low beam

- H15 bulb for the DRL/main beam

 

Annoyingly, the H15 will limit the road legal options assuming you'd like them to match. I'd suggest you take a look at the OSRAM Cool Blue Intense range as they are probably the 'whitest' road legal bulb you can fit:

- https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/cool-blue-intense-h7-two-bulbs

- https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/osram-cool-blue-intense-h15-single

 

Just remember that the blue tint on the bulb will be absorbing light so although it's 'whiter' than a standard bulb, you may find the lighting performance drops slightly.

[ScoutCJB]

11 minutes ago, langers2k said:

 

Annoyingly, the H15 will limit the road legal options assuming you'd like them to match. I'd suggest you take a look at the OSRAM Cool Blue Intense range as they are probably the 'whitest' road legal bulb you can fit:

- https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/cool-blue-intense-h7-two-bulbs

- https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/osram-cool-blue-intense-h15-single

 

Just remember that the blue tint on the bulb will be absorbing light so although it's 'whiter' than a standard bulb, you may find the lighting performance drops slightly.

 

I used the H15 Cool Intense Blue and there is a blue coating but its not really that blue compared to some off the ebay bulbs.  They were definitely whiter as a DRL and brighter than the standard bulb to use as full beam (assuming because they are 20% brighter).  

I did try some of those 'really blue bulbs' but they were awful and you could barely tell they were on when using full beam.  Ill have a dig around as i had a comparison picture somewhere.

[Ozzy101]

Would these work?

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/philips-racing-vision-150-extra-light-h7-twin-pack-48177022R

 

However I cant find the same in H15?

[ScoutCJB]

Yes that H7 pack will do your dipped beam.  The H15 upgraded bulbs are very limited and the Cool Intense Blue are you best option (but not cheap).  I've just had a dig around in the garage and have the boxes for my Cool Intense bulbs but they arent in there so must have px'd it with them in.

[Ozzy101]

That's great, thanks for the information. Can I change the daytime running lights as well? Or do they come of the H7 or H15?

If so do you know what I need. 

 

Thank you

[langers2k]

The H15 is a dual filament bulb that's used for both the DRL and main beams

[cheezemonkhai]

Personally I would ignore the colour and look at a good combination of extended vision (eg more light) and reasonable life.

 - 30% brighter bulbs seem to do a lot of the first with not too much of a compromise on life.

 - 50% more light, quite a bit shorter life again

 - 70%+ bulbs, again more light, but I've only ever found these to have a relatively short life.

 

 - +10-30% long life bulbs. As per the name, a bit more light, a good long life (I seem to remember a packet stating 4 years)

[Rodge]

According to OSRAM, the Cool Blue Intense H15 is dimmer than the "Original Line" H15, at 200/1330 lm compared with 260/1350 lm. :-(

See https://www.osram.co.uk/ecat/COOL BLUE INTENSE-Halogen headlight lamps-Car lighting-Automotive/gb/en/GPS01_1056960/PP_EUROPE_UK_eCat/ZMP_1191016/
and https://www.osram.co.uk/ecat/ORIGINAL LINE-Halogen headlight lamps-Car lighting-Automotive/gb/en/GPS01_1057023/PP_EUROPE_UK_eCat/ZMP_61174/

I don't see how they can claim "up to 20% brighter" when no member of the Cool Blue Intense product family has a greater luminous flux than Original Line product family, but they do have a significantly reduced lifespan, as listed on the PDF family data sheets.

 

I don't think 30% brighter bulbs are noticeably brighter, but if there was a 30% brighter H15 available I'd buy it.

[ScoutCJB]

5 hours ago, Rodge said:

According to OSRAM, the Cool Blue Intense H15 is dimmer than the "Original Line" H15, at 200/1330 lm compared with 260/1350 lm. :-(

See https://www.osram.co.uk/ecat/COOL BLUE INTENSE-Halogen headlight lamps-Car lighting-Automotive/gb/en/GPS01_1056960/PP_EUROPE_UK_eCat/ZMP_1191016/
and https://www.osram.co.uk/ecat/ORIGINAL LINE-Halogen headlight lamps-Car lighting-Automotive/gb/en/GPS01_1057023/PP_EUROPE_UK_eCat/ZMP_61174/

I don't see how they can claim "up to 20% brighter" when no member of the Cool Blue Intense product family has a greater luminous flux than Original Line product family, but they do have a significantly reduced lifespan, as listed on the PDF family data sheets.

 

I don't think 30% brighter bulbs are noticeably brighter, but if there was a 30% brighter H15 available I'd buy it.

 

Ive just checked and mine had the Original Line bulbs in it when i brought it (as ive got the old bulbs) and changed to the cool intense blue.  Your right that it appears to be slightly dimmer, i wonder if thats just due to the coating on the bulb.  I didnt take any comparison pics (thought I had) but they were definitely whiter on full beam and i would have said brighter but that may just be due to the colour.

[langers2k]

To meet the ECE regulations and be deemed road legal, there is a maximum light output for each bulb type. This means that all up to x% brighter will have the same total amount of light output as a 'normal' bulb. Taking a H7 for an example, it's 1500lm ±10%.

 

 

The reason they can make x% brighter claims is when the bulb was tested in a specific headlight (of their choice), one section of the beam was x% brighter, even if other sections were dimmer. They can achieve this by tweaking the wire and coil size used to make the filament which is why 'performance' bulbs quite often have lower life spans.

 

Most 'whiter' headlight bulbs tend to have a filter to remove the red/yellow light but this will also reduce the useful light output. For example, take a look at Osrams range below, the 'whiter' versions just have more coating on the bulbs...

The cool blue boost on the very right is not suitable for road use, mostly as they only produce 900lm ±15% despite being rated at 80W rather than 55W!

[Rodge]

On 02/10/2020 at 09:29, langers2k said:

To meet the ECE regulations and be deemed road legal, there is a maximum light output for each bulb type. This means that all up to x% brighter will have the same total amount of light output as a 'normal' bulb. Taking a H7 for an example, it's 1500lm ±10%.

That's interesting, and I see that OSRAM do quote all their H7 bulbs at the same number of lumens. It does make you wonder if there's any point in buying the fancy expensive "brighter" bulbs at all.

 

And of course OSRAM's Allseason bulb, for "Better sight under all weather conditions", actually has a yellow filter.

[cheezemonkhai]

Light distribution as said, but making more of the light available in the right places can be useful.
There are definitely limits to this being useful vs marketing.

 

when I had halogens and in halogen cars I only tried a few, but stuck to the +30, yellow for foggy areas or the long life for thicker filaments/reliability.

 

i never personally believed anything above the +30% myself, but others seem to rate some of the higher ones.

[GoneToBeemer]

Best bulbs for dipped beam are PIAA Xtreme White Plus, but you’ll pay for the privilege at around £65-£70 for a pair. I ran them in a Fabia vRS a few years back and found them an enormous improvement on standard halogens - much brighter white light, and both were still working when I sold the car nearly 2 years after fitting. 

[GoneToBeemer]

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/piaa-xtreme-white-plus-h7?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIptCKqPCv7AIVReh3Ch0m0gyEEAAYASAAEgLT6vD_BwE

[langers2k]

Given the PIAA xtreme white plus are road legal they will still be the same 1500lm ±10% output of other H7 bulbs. As they have a blue coating, they will probably be very similar to the cool blue intense despite the PIAA 55w=110w marketing claims

[GoneToBeemer]

16 hours ago, langers2k said:

Given the PIAA xtreme white plus are road legal they will still be the same 1500lm ±10% output of other H7 bulbs. As they have a blue coating, they will probably be very similar to the cool blue intense despite the PIAA 55w=110w marketing claims

yeah agree, was more from a product quality / longevity point of view vs. Other upgrades I meant. 

[Vtec9000]

For H7 the best are,

Philips RacingVision GT200 - Most Light

 

For H15 sorry no idea as not in my facelift model, choice seems limited. 

 

If you have H8 fogs I can confirm with small mod using tin snips these will fit for a big light upgrade, simply take out your H8's and trim the metal H11 connectors to match.  

Philips X-tremeVision Pro150 H11 or for White look Philips WhiteVision ultra. Basically 55W bulbs in place of 35W circa an extra 500lm, fuses don't blow and all was fine after a 1 hour test I did but can't guarantee long term.

 

All these bulbs are new for 2020,  I'm happy with them but then I'm a Philips fanboy!

https://www.philips.co.uk/c-m-au/car-lights/headlights/latest#availability=all&filters=CAR_HEADLIGHTS_SU&page=2&layout=12