# Best (legal) brightest car bulbs?



## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

My Evo has rubbish bulbs (standard type) and its as if you dont have them on at all at night they're that poor.
Any recommendations for bulbs at all? I noticed Bosch do some in Halfords but they are £17 each!
Cheers
Tim


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Philips X-treme Vision are really good mate...

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-xtreme-vision-h7-car-headlight-bulbs

There's usually a discount code as well.


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

DMH-01 said:


> Philips X-treme Vision are really good mate...
> 
> http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-xtreme-vision-h7-car-headlight-bulbs
> 
> There's usually a discount code as well.


I had those on my Williams, very good!


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Can't remember specifically which version but I had autobulbsdirect own in and they were excellent (al will back this up)

If you do a little google there's a 25% discount code about too


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

DMH-01 said:


> Philips X-treme Vision are really good mate...
> 
> http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-xtreme-vision-h7-car-headlight-bulbs
> 
> There's usually a discount code as well.





MatrixGuy said:


> I had those on my Williams, very good!


Thanks guys, nice quick response. I like the sound of 100% brighter! Its like driving with eyes shut everytime you leave an area with street lights


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Choice of Philips, Ring or Osram really Tim.

I went with Ring Xenon Max. I think they were quite cheap on ebay from what i can remember, although i may have bought them from Regal Auto Bulbs as i have used them for years.


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

^Do I need to notify you of any changes Lloyd!
Thanks for the replies by the way


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

As long as they are E marked etc, then no need to notify as they are pretty much OEM replacement. :thumb:


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## grantdan (Dec 16, 2011)

osram nightbreaker plus and ringrallysport 130. combined with philips bluevision??? sidelights (not actually blue) are so much better


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## cdti_sri (Jul 17, 2006)

I have tried philips xtream and can honestly say the osram nightbreaker plus are a much brighter bulb. They dont look as good as the philips but I guess thats the trade off between looks and performance.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Was xenon an option on your car new? I believe the light units on soem evo models are one of the few universal lights that are designed for regular as well as HID bulbs. You could always do an upgrade to HIDs which would be legal.

p.s. Lets not get into a debate on HIDs by people reading hearsay in the interweb.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

HIDs are crap in the wet.


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## grantdan (Dec 16, 2011)

I was under the impression hids would be illegal this year? xenons will be costly as you'll need Tue auto levellers and ecu, along with washers. there's plenty of good quality bulbs out there


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## jimmy669966 (Sep 25, 2011)

Ordered these a few days ago:

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-Ring-XENON-Ultima-120-Headlamp-Bulb-55W-pair.html

Seem to have reviews.

Was going to get the se:

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-Philips-X-treme-Vision-100-Headlight-Bulbs-pair.html

But for the price the Ring seemed like a better deal.


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## rob3rto (May 23, 2007)

grantdan said:


> I was under the impression hids would be illegal this year? xenons will be costly as you'll need Tue auto levellers and ecu, along with washers. there's plenty of good quality bulbs out there


Never been legal to put a rebased HID capsule in a headlight housing that was designed and E marked for halogen lamps. End of, regardless if you had self levelling and washers.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2012)

i used HID's they are great but not in the fog!


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

Good post. What about the life spam guys? heard users of the osram only getting 6 months!


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## msb (Dec 20, 2009)

From what i believe the halfords extreme brilliance are very good, and good vfm if brought on bogof offer


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Bero said:


> Was xenon an option on your car new? I believe the light units on soem evo models are one of the few universal lights that are designed for regular as well as HID bulbs. You could always do an upgrade to HIDs which would be legal.
> 
> p.s. Lets not get into a debate on HIDs by people reading hearsay in the interweb.


I dont know tbh? I bought it as a bit of fun for the winter as had a 6 and a 7 before and always like the symetrical look of the 5's front end.
I'm trying not to spend much on it...but you know how that goes eh!
I went for the 1st bulbs mentioned via the e Bay and have got a set for the Skoda vRs too, so I hope they are ok!


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Once you've fitted them the next important step is to get (imo) the beam checked/adjusted on an MOT beam checker so they are dipping at the right angle & are projecting the beam pattern at the correct height/distance ahead.

It's amazing at this time of year how many cars you see on the road with incorrectly aligned/adjusted dipped headlights...especially obvious on the motorway where you overtake someone who has a pool of light about 2foot infront of the front bumper and nothing beyond.:wall:


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## dazfr (Dec 23, 2011)

i got some halfords ultra brilliance they are awsome compared to standard they give upto 120% more light but are £30 but they are on buy 1 get 1 free i doubt you will get more range if thats what you want but they are just a lot brighter white light


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

maggi133 said:


> Can't remember specifically which version but I had autobulbsdirect own in and they were excellent (al will back this up)
> 
> If you do a little google there's a 25% discount code about too


Tim, look here :thumb:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=180700


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## Shinyvec (Feb 12, 2010)

I tried some Halfords Super Brilliance in my Facelift Vectra C Dipped beam headlamps and they were no better than standard. Theheadlights in my car are terrible on dipped beam and I tried quite a few different bulbs including Osram Night Breakers and they were a bit better but still poor really so I had HID's fitted and that cured the problem and driving on unlit roads now is a pleasure instead of a danger. MOT in September will probably mean I will have to swap back to normal bulbs and I kept the Night Breakers anyway but it would be good to know of something better incase I do have to remove the HID's.
The best standard headlamps I have ever had were on Citroens and they really lit the road up when you had broken down at the side of the road :lol:


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## dazfr (Dec 23, 2011)

Shinyvec said:


> I tried some Halfords Super Brilliance in my Facelift Vectra C Dipped beam headlamps and they were no better than standard. Theheadlights in my car are terrible on dipped beam and I tried quite a few different bulbs including Osram Night Breakers and they were a bit better but still poor really so I had HID's fitted and that cured the problem and driving on unlit roads now is a pleasure instead of a danger. MOT in September will probably mean I will have to swap back to normal bulbs and I kept the Night Breakers anyway but it would be good to know of something better incase I do have to remove the HID's.
> The best standard headlamps I have ever had were on Citroens and they really lit the road up when you had broken down at the side of the road :lol:


my pug 307 had good headlights must be a froggy thing the ones in my seat were **** till i swaped bulbs


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## jimmy669966 (Sep 25, 2011)

dazfr said:


> i got some halfords ultra brilliance they are awsome compared to standard they give upto 120% more light but are £30 but they are on buy 1 get 1 free i doubt you will get more range if thats what you want but they are just a lot brighter white light


Something to remember is a little thing called inverse square law.

This means in order to double the distance a light shines or illuminates objects you have to quadruple the light output.

This is often confusing as a bulb advertised as being 100%brighter is often incorrectly assumed to mean that they will shine twice as far i.e. 100% further.


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## msb (Dec 20, 2009)

Shinyvec said:


> I tried some Halfords Super Brilliance in my Facelift Vectra C Dipped beam headlamps and they were no better than standard. Theheadlights in my car are terrible on dipped beam and I tried quite a few different bulbs including Osram Night Breakers and they were a bit better but still poor really so I had HID's fitted and that cured the problem and driving on unlit roads now is a pleasure instead of a danger. MOT in September will probably mean I will have to swap back to normal bulbs and I kept the Night Breakers anyway but it would be good to know of something better incase I do have to remove the HID's.
> The best standard headlamps I have ever had were on Citroens and they really lit the road up when you had broken down at the side of the road :lol:


No if your car fails with hid's under current Mot rules it will fail if you don't have self leveling and headlight washers, people with cheap poorly fitted overly bright aftermarket hid's are a proper pain in the ****, and personally i'm glad they have toughened up the law on them


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## Martyn YTFC (Sep 16, 2007)

Interested to know if someone has used the Bosch bulbs that Halfords do?

I'd ideally like the Philips Xtreme Vision, but tempted by the Bosch as Halfords will fit them cheap!


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## Bentleya (Aug 21, 2010)

I've got Osram Night Breaker Plus bulbs in my Fiesta. They are a massive improvements over the Standard bulbs.

http://www.osram.com/osram_com/Cons...ucts/Headlights/NIGHT_BREAKER_PLUS/index.html


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## apmaman (Jun 8, 2010)

Osram Hyper Blue 6000k's are great. Not quite HID but a damn sight better than the OEM's I had in my vRS.


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## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

I use the ring xenon max bulbs, they are very good IMO nice bright white light also reasonably cheap.


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Shinyvec said:


> I tried some Halfords Super Brilliance in my Facelift Vectra C Dipped beam headlamps and they were no better than standard. Theheadlights in my car are terrible on dipped beam and I tried quite a few different bulbs including Osram Night Breakers and they were a bit better but still poor really so I had HID's fitted and that cured the problem and driving on unlit roads now is a pleasure instead of a danger. MOT in September will probably mean I will have to swap back to normal bulbs and I kept the Night Breakers anyway but it would be good to know of something better incase I do have to remove the HID's.
> The best standard headlamps I have ever had were on Citroens and they really lit the road up when you had broken down at the side of the road :lol:


I've got the halfords ultra brilliance in mine and they are far superior...


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

I've just been trying to decide between Osram Nightbreakers and Philips X-treme Vision (replaces the X-treme Power).

I decided to go for Phillips X-treme Vision at £24 off amazon for a pair. They're going into a 2009 A3 so I'm not expecting as much improvement as you'd get on an older car. I'll update once fitted though.


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## SiBradbury (Sep 9, 2006)

Philips Xtreme Power and Osram Nightbreakers are always in the top two of most bulb tests. I've had the Philips ones and they were noticeably brighter unlike some upgraded bulbs. Remember, the darker the blue coating on the bulb, the more light it will filter out so bulbs like Ring Sportz Blue look great but aren't as bright.


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## nortonski (Jul 10, 2007)

RedUntilDead said:


> Good post. What about the life spam guys? heard users of the osram only getting 6 months!


The older Osram Nightbreakers were prone to failure after 6-9 months, the newer Nightbreakers Plus are a far better build & have been designed for a longer lifespan.

If you buy from Powerbulbs you get a 12 month Wty on the bulbs, so worry free!

They're way better than stock bulbs, I really rate em! :thumb:


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Hi All

Just a quick update...

I got Osram Nightbreaker Plus for one car and Phillips Extreme Vision for the other. The Phillips were quite a bit more than the Osrams for the same fitting.

They're in cars with different light headlight shapes (which might have an effect on how they look) however it appears the Osrams have a more white/blue tinge than the Phillips which are still white but slightly yellow when viewed side by side with the Osram.

Compared to the 2009 Audi bulbs they weren't hugely different however compared to the older Lexus bulbs (at least 3 years old and likely to be budget ones) they were both much better.

Phillips at the back, Osrams in front.









I hope this helps someone.

I'd probably stick with the Osrams next time.


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## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

I got some philips extreme bulbs for my van from this guy on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/upgradebu..._trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Nice and white cant stand the blue ones


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