Headlight / Driving Light Bulb Advice Needed

[Guest NiM]

Hi,

 

Looking into upgrading the bulbs in my Gentry (legally uninterestingly) as the dip beams especially are rubbish!

 

Going over old threads it seems the most favoured on here seem to be the Phillips Vision Plus, H4's by the look of my Haynes manual...

 

I was wondering if anyone has similarly changed the driving light bulbs and is it worth it??? also according to Mr Haynes they are H3's and since Phillips don't seem to do that fitment what are you using?

 

Cheers

 

-NiM

[Guest ScoobyJawa]

I'd leave the driving light bulbs alone mate - they are ok as it is. Higher wattage will put extra stress on the wires and I don't think there is a vision plus equivalent of the driving light bulbs.

 

I find with the Phillips Vision Plus headlights, and the normal driving lights, its pretty good anyway. Better than my standard scooby and equal to it with vision plus and 130w cibies........

 

[Guest NiM]

Thanks for the reply Scoob... good to know it's going to make a difference

 

As for the driving lights I dont want to up the wattage and your quite right that there is no equivalent to the vision plus's as yet so I was leaning towards leaving them...

 

However looking on www.powerbulbs.com the 'blue' phillips visions will fit so i suppose now my question is...

 

Will I notice the difference in the light colour/quality mixing the two and has anyone done this?

 

I could go all 'blue' but IMO these tend to be slightly dazzling in headlights...

 

What do you guys think?

 

-NiM

[Guest ScoobyJawa]

I've tried the blue vision in headlights and they were not much better than the OEM ones, but with a slighter bluer/whiter light. Not tried on the Pug, might be worth a go. Won't make much difference I would have thought though.........

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

I've got the 30% brighter bulbs from Halford in my 306 and it was an improvemnt, not a huge dramatic change but definetly better. If you head light reflectors are dull then new head lights may be the better option though as a dull reflector robs you of light output.

 

Rob

[Guest NOsMAN]

I've always used 100/130w bulbs on mine and 130w on the driving lamps..

Never been stopped by the police yet even when i was behind them <_<

[Anthony 1,000]

Do you get any problems with the headlight lenses being damaged by the extra heat from those high-wattage bulbs?

 

Also, I assume you've upgraded the wiring and fitted relays, as the stock wiring won't handle that sort of current will it?

[Guest Ed1.9Sorrento]

i'm currently running 100watt bulbs in the headlights, no sign of damage, and i havent upgraded the wiring / fitted relays... I should do really though

[Guest painer]

Ring sportz blue look & perform good m8. aint road legal though.

 

100/80 watt £19.99

[Guest NiM]

Thanks for all the advice guys,

 

Got some of the Phillips Vision Plus bulbs in the car today and they definitely make a difference to the quality of the light, especially at low beam!

 

Couldn't find anywhere locally that stocked the blue equivalent H3's so ended up getting Ring Ice Blues or whatever they are called

 

I can't comment on their effectiveness though as looking at the driving lights in more detail reveals that the reflectors are all rusted up along with the casing so I guess it's a trip to Andyspares tomorrow for some replacements!

 

Can anyone recall the specifics on their OE looking replacement? as the site tells me they are 18 quid but the catalog references these as fogs and quotes 22 for the driving lights... Not that it makes all that much difference i'll prolly end up spending more money I havnt got on various kit anyway

 

Cheers,

 

-NiM

[Snowman 0]

On a related topic I used 130/90w in my head lights and 130w H3's in my driving lights until recently. I didn't upgrade the wiring or relays and had a lot of problems because of this. No fires or anything; I just had relays sticking on and therefore driving lights not turning off with full beam which meant having to flick to s/lights momentarily to turn them off. They also only lasted about a month before blowing.

Excellent when they were working but not worth the money or risk in my opinion.

[Guest ScoobyJawa]

NiM,

 

I just bought the lights from Andyspares last weekend. I went along and they only do Fog lights - as they call them, saying that driving lights weren't legal - LOL! Anyway, I bought the 18 quid jobbies and the glass lenses are slightly different so I believe they are fog lights - however - I liked them, think they work well. Made by Denso, come with new bulbs too. They light lots of the road up in front very well and for the distance objects the headlights with Vision plus do the job nicely

Edited May 23, 2003 by ScoobyJawa

[Guest NiM]

Thanks again Scooby' those are exactly what I have ended up with... having a proper look the back of mine seem to be fine so hopefully I wont need to mess about with the bolt and the wireing just replace the front... when it stops pissing it down that is

 

Cheers for the advice all,

 

-NiM