What are the best legal headlamp bulbs to replace the OE ones?

I sometimes find myself using full beams more than I would like to on country roads!

I've looked at the Philips website

Thinking of the VisionPlus bulbs which claim to offer up to 50% more light (at the same wattage). Anyone have these in their Skoda?

I think my bulbs are H3 and H7.

Hi Fabia TDi,

I haven't used uprated bulbs myself recently as I have xenons on my Vectra CDX and the L&K will have them as well! - but from all the tests that I have read, Phillips Vision plus for H4 & H7 came out on top.

Hope that helps.

Hi,

Using the Philips bulbs for a week now and they are a considerable improvement and well worth the money. The biggest effect is seen when using them as your only source of light (ie on unlit backroads).

Got mine (H4s for the Octavia) from www.powerbulbs.com who also give a set of sidelight bulbs free with an order.

I've got the Bosch H4 white Xenon ones in my Octavia, and am very pleased with them. They

advertise 30% brighter, but I find the real winner is the colour of the light makes things very

easy to pick out, and the beam is very sharp.

Rob.

Concur with above as I use the H4 phillips vision plus bulbs. I still find you can easily outdrive them on dipped*, but full beam is spectacular. Smaller car shops also carry them. Where as the majors just pimp the biggest pocket filling ones. Yes I'm sliding into a trend of avoiding the big chain stores

Jon (TaviaRS) has somthing that I cannot recall the details of, but essentially alot more watts, I'll have a look, searching on H4 should bring it up.

*Assuming you know the road very well

An alternative to the Phillips bulbs is Osram (they claim to be one of the largest bulb manufacturers in the world), they have quite a variety of bulbs, including a "equivalent" to the philips called Silverstar which offers upto 50% extra light. I have used them (H7 type bulb) in my previous car, an Astra and found them to be excellent. They were also fairly reasonable at about

Sorry for a potential hijack, but has anyone any experience in upgrading the high beam bulbs on the Xenon setup ?

The High Beam is a different bulb & appears to be a little weak at the side of the Blue light emitted by the Xenon dip beam.

Thanks

Graham.

Hello,

In the past I have always had cars with H4 bulbs and used to uprate to 100/60w. This time around (new Fabia) I decided to stay legal till I had a chance to get specs on the wiring (still trying) and have fitted Phillips vision plus H7 in the dip position. Mains and fogs (H3) I'm not so sure about, it's a pretty crap bulb for a main, and I may fit 80w ones to help, once I know more about the loom.

The vision plus are first class and I would recommend them, not cheap but if you can find a trade outlet, <

I've also used Powerbulbs and the Philips bulbs on the Impreza, which made a noticeable improvement.

Don't expect Xenon standards, but they are worth buying. I'll get some for the Octavia soon.

Thanks guys for all your responses.

I'll think I'll go ahead with the VisionPlus bulbs.

I quite like the look of those Silvervision indicator bulbs as well, although they are a bit pricey!

Picked up my new wheels today, by the way.

If you up the wattage, be carefull not to melt the plastic 'glass'!

Has anyone ever tried Philips BlueVision Kit

If so do they last long, what kind of colour do they give off and are they much better than standard bulbs.

Originally posted by FabiaTDi in this post

Thanks guys for all your responses.

I'll think I'll go ahead with the VisionPlus bulbs.

I quite like the look of those Silvervision indicator bulbs as well, although they are a bit pricey!

I ordered some SilverVision bulbs which turned up this morning, complete with a 'free' set of Osram All Season H3 bulbs.

Looks like Powerbulbs might get more of my trade in future :drive:

I'll try and take some before and after pics when I do it, and stick them online somewhere...

Hello stimps,

Thats a good offer from powerbulbs. Pictures of the silvervisions would be great, as i'm thinking of doing the same

Are you doing the fronts and the rears BTW?

I ordered some Osram SilverStars as well - will post pics when they arrive.

Originally posted by FabiaTDi in this post

Hello stimps,

Thats a good offer from powerbulbs. Pictures of the silvervisions would be great, as i'm thinking of doing the same

Are you doing the fronts and the rears BTW?

On mine, the front indicators don't look orange at all, so just going to change the back ones...

Just got my powerbulbs as well - not bothering fitting the free fogs though for now

Are the fogs easy to get to on a fabia though? I've never really looked "down there"...

Have a look at the following,

It may be of interest

http://www.seatcupra.net/xenon.php

Graham

Originally posted by Stimps in this post

On mine, the front indicators don't look orange at all, so just going to change the back ones...

I know what you mean as the fronts have those covers over them. From certain angles they look clear but I can see the orange bulb reflecting in the lens at other angles.

I was going to just change the fronts to get a clear effect.

As for changing the fogs, all you have to do is unclip the plastic vents from the side of the lamp. The lamp is held in by two screws-its easy.

Hmmm... have just noticed that in the right light the front flashers do indeed look a bit orange... will maybe do them another time :-D

Just done rear ones though, and you can tell the difference - although quite bright (direct) sunlight on them atm means they appear slightly orange anyway... sorting out pics...

Just stuck a few pictures up - be warned that if you click on them, you'll open 1.4mb full-sized jpgs! Modemers beware!

>> http://myfabia.co.uk/bulbs.html

Looks better!

I've just ordered mine from powerbulbs - I'll think i'll do the fronts first.

Nice colour car! I nearly went for that colour myself.

Originally posted by FabiaTDi in this post

Nice colour car! I nearly went for that colour myself.

Heh - I took the first one the dealer could get hold of - I nearly ended up with a silver one! :p

Hi,

I'm picking up a new vRS at the weekend , could somebody please tell me what size bulbs i need (H1 etc) for the main and dipped lights.

Thanks,

Adam