General: 70: Brighter H7 bulbs

[jack taylor]

Hi, I have a 1998 V70. A couple of years ago I purchased a pair on new h/lights and fitted a HID kit. The car failed ITV [ MOT ] so I replaced the halogen 55w.
The HID`s have never given a good cut off line so I put the 55w back.
I am looking at fitting a pair of H7 halogen 80w or 100w. Alternatively a pair of Phillips or Osram H7 55w that purport to give much better light.
Has anyone tried the 80w or 100w bulbs and can the wiring stand up to them.
Alternatively are these super duper 55w bulbs like night breakers any good. I appreciate that the higher wattage bulbs are illegal on public roads..thanks

[RollingThunder]

Hi Jack. Up to a few years ago I used to fit NightBreakers as a matter of course, however their longevity seemed to take a hit with the higher output - they were popping every 14-18 months.

I fitted Philips ExtremeVision after that and they seem to last a lot longer (haven't had to replace a set yet). You can definitely see the difference over cheapo std bulbs, but realistically I'd say they all perform about the same - in daily driving I can't say that I can tell a car has X bulbs because they're markedly better.

IMHO your best bet is to fit the Philips bulbs and wire them directly to the battery with suitable (fused) wiring, using the existing headlamp wiring to trigger a new relay to supply each headlamp.

[DaveNP]

If you've fitted new headlights/reflectors you've probably made the most significant upgrade over aged dull reflectors.
In terms of bulbs I recently fitted 'Ring Xenon 150' 55w bulbs, claiming to give up to 150% more light on the road, the previous pair I fitted were also extra output 'Philips Xtreme' if I remember correctly so all four bulbs (main and dipped) are now extra output. Are they any better? Probably a bit but I'm not sure I could measure if it's 50% or 150% brighter by eye when driving at night, and I'm pretty sure the state of my reflectors scuppers any bulb improvements. In terms of longevity I've not noticed the extra output ones to fail quicker than the standard Ring or Lucas ones I used before, and I got quite used to having to change those .

[ITSv40]

I've used Nightbreaker bulbs in all our cars for several years as standard practice. Never had to mess with the wiring and not suffered dulled reflectors or short service life. They just give a superb light.

[volvo again]

I have Osram Nightbreaker and found them much better than standard bulbs, I don't use the daytime running feature so maybe that's why they last a bit longer.
Using higher wattage bulbs can overload the wiring, and you already know they are illegal for road use...not that anyone will know

[volvo again]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

IMHO your best bet is to fit the Philips bulbs and wire them directly to the battery with suitable (fused) wiring, using the existing headlamp wiring to trigger a new relay to supply each headlamp.

Don't really see the point of doing this, there is already a relay and wiring which can cope adequately with the correct wattage bulbs.
Additional wiring and relay if fitting extra driving lamps obviously...

[jack taylor]

Hi Guys, thank you all very much for the advice. It seems the consensus is to fit brighter 55w bulbs rather than fitting say 80w bulbs.

[ASt85]

Originally Posted by jack taylor

Hi Guys, thank you all very much for the advice. It seems the consensus is to fit brighter 55w bulbs rather than fitting say 80w bulbs.

The 80W or 100W draw too much current and overheat the connectors at the back of the head lamp reflector - in the UK if lamps over 55W are found in a headlamp unit or identified during an MOT they make the vehicle an instant fail.

If the connectors are plastic the excess heat will melt them - if it is ceramic, it will cause the copper compression joints to overheat, oxidising the copper and breaking the connection. The excessive heat from lamps rated more than 55W will cause the rate of tarnishing of the reflector to increase, so making the output lower each time they are used.

[PNuT]

I have been using not for road use bulbs since 2005 without issue.....

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by PNuT

I have been using not for road use bulbs since 2005 without issue.....

As I said earlier it's difficult to gauge brightness by eye, and especially at night, some of our trucks at work use 5w taillight bulbs and some use 10w, if one wrong bulb is fitted the bulb failure warning pops up on the dash but in the middle of the night it's impossible to tell which bulb is wrong without taking them all out, it is just about possible in daylight to compare them and spot the odd one, but if they're all brighter, like a pair of headlight bulbs would be, it wouldn't show.
As the road user coming the other way I'd be more concerned about the cut off and focus of the beam pattern than the overall wattage.