Xenon-look Headlight Bulbs - Do Actually Improve Nightime Visibilty Over Normal Halogen Bulbs?

Terminal_Boy · 6 Nov 2018 at 22:02

I’ve recently gone from driving a 2017 Honda CR-V that had rather excellent dipped and main beams to driving something else from 2017 which has regular halogen bulbs for both.

Which wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t just moved to a very rural area where you only get white road markings on the larger D roads and cat eyes are only found in actual cats.

Are the various “xenonalike” blue/white headlight builds from Phillips and Osram actually deliver better visibility at night or is it just a marketing trick?

Kenai · 6 Nov 2018 at 22:16

'Xenon look' bulbs are a fashion accessory for those who want blue tinted headlights.

If you want the best visibility, you want Philips RacingVision +150% or XtremeVision +130% or whatever Osrams latest Nightbreaker equivalent is. These will typically have a colour temperature that will deliver a yellow light rather than white though.

https://www.philips.co.uk/c-m-au/car-lights/headlight-bulbs/halogen

Terminal_Boy · 7 Nov 2018 at 09:13

Thanks!

Will check out what the local Feu Vert has in stock later.

dale1uk · 7 Nov 2018 at 12:51

Just remember that the brighter you go the more impact it has on the bulbs expected lifespan. The Philips RacingVision bulbs for example only have a lifespan of up to 200hrs

dacads · 7 Nov 2018 at 13:13

dale1uk said:
Just remember that the brighter you go the more impact it has on the bulbs expected lifespan. The Philips RacingVision bulbs for example only have a lifespan of up to 200hrs

Better that than missing someone or something on the road!

dale1uk · 7 Nov 2018 at 15:49

dacads said:
Better that than missing someone or something on the road!

You've got more chance of missing something/someone when 1 of your bulbs prematurely fails when you're driving at night

I'm not saying don't get better bulbs. I've got Philips XtremeVision in my R26 which are much better than the crap that was previously fitted, and they have am expected lifespan of 400hrs. The 50% reduction in expected run time of the RacingVision wasn't worth it for me for a small amount of extra output. For others this may be different, my point was to highlight the downsides of higher output bulbs that many are unaware of

dacads · 7 Nov 2018 at 20:58

dale1uk said:
You've got more chance of missing something/someone when 1 of your bulbs prematurely fails when you're driving at night

I'm not saying don't get better bulbs. I've got Philips XtremeVision in my R26 which are much better than the crap that was previously fitted, and they have am expected lifespan of 400hrs. The 50% reduction in expected run time of the RacingVision wasn't worth it for me for a small amount of extra output. For others this may be different, my point was to highlight the downsides of higher output bulbs that many are unaware of

What does life span have to do with when the bulb will fail? In either case you could be driving at night..

dale1uk · 7 Nov 2018 at 22:21

dacads said:
What does life span have to do with when the bulb will fail? In either case you could be driving at night..

Because bulbs with lower lifespans will fail more frequently. In my works van I could hit 200hrs of driving with my lights on around 10 weeks. Again you seem to be missing the point of my original post

Terminal_Boy · 8 Nov 2018 at 09:08

Since it’s pitch black by 6pm here, I went with the Xtreme Visions as their 400 hour life span means that they should last me the best part of a year.

Will report back when I’ve got them fitted.

robj20 · 8 Nov 2018 at 12:10

Id love some +150 bulbs, but having to remove the bumper and headlight unit to change a bulb, no thanks.

Jiffy · 9 Nov 2018 at 17:09

Terminal_Boy said:
Since it’s pitch black by 6pm here, I went with the Xtreme Visions as their 400 hour life span means that they should last me the best part of a year.

Will report back when I’ve got them fitted.

Is that the Philips 130% ones? I just had one of them blow after 2 years and 2 months on the car so I'm very impressed with their lifespan.

Nasher · 9 Nov 2018 at 17:20

I used some 130% Philips ones for a couple of years on my previous car, still worked fine when I sold it.

Terminal_Boy · 9 Nov 2018 at 19:44

Jiffy said:
Is that the Philips 130% ones? I just had one of them blow after 2 years and 2 months on the car so I'm very impressed with their lifespan.

Yes. Very happy with their performance so far. Not only do the main beams (H7) throw more and clear light further dead ahead, they really pick out the sides of the roads.

Even the dipped beams (H1) provide far better visibility than the OEM bulbs.

The only downside is that the new bulbs make the 5W side/DLR bulbs look more yellow than a chain-smokers fingers.

Diagro · 9 Nov 2018 at 22:19

Why not get some LED headlights?

We fitted some nice ones off Amazon to my wife's car. They actually rival my Xenon's and were £60 for the set. Been running fine for 9months

jellybeard999 · 9 Nov 2018 at 22:59

Diagro said:
Why not get some LED headlights?

We fitted some nice ones off Amazon to my wife's car. They actually rival my Xenon's and were £60 for the set. Been running fine for 9months

Which set?

I looked into led a while ago and it didn't seem viable due to light being bright, but short range, getting too hot or questionably using resistors to trick bulb sensors.

Id be interested if the market has moved on

Terminal_Boy · 14 Sep 2021 at 08:50

Just a little update.

Finally had to replace both my H7 dipped beam Xtreme Vision bulbs yesterday. Weird that they both failed together, but have been utterly impressed with their performance and can’t complain about almost 3 years of use for €45.

VaderDSL · 14 Sep 2021 at 09:04

Least you can replace them, the LED bulbs in mine are sealed in, have to replace the entire headlight unit if a bulb ever fails (hopefully they'll last long enough!)

ianh · 14 Sep 2021 at 20:23

My, maybe mistaken, understanding is the distance remains pretty similar for the same output power (55w) but that the whiter colour of Xenon's makes it a bit easier at the range limit to see small objects vs the more yellow halogen bulbs at the same range.

Nasher · 14 Sep 2021 at 21:07

VaderDSL said:
Least you can replace them, the LED bulbs in mine are sealed in, have to replace the entire headlight unit if a bulb ever fails (hopefully they'll last long enough!)

Yep that is the problem with the "approved" LED ones. If a DRL LED bulb goes (or starts flickering) it will also fail the MOT for that so you have to replace the whole thing.

Some can cost £1000+ each. Another example of a new over-engineered tech which is worse than the old simpler one.

cuke2u · 14 Sep 2021 at 21:12

I thought the discussion was referring to headlamp bulbs, not drl's?