Upgrading headlight bulbs to Philips Xtreme Power

Discussion in 'Chai' started by Chai, Jan 31, 2011.

  1. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Due to poor lighting at night, I always have trouble driving in the dark, especially without street lamps and relying solely on the car's headlights.

    I do not own an exotic car, so I'm using standard halogen lamps. Thankfully, you don't need spend so much upgrading to HID (which is also illegal in most countries unless it is an OEM one) to get any sort of improvements. There are many after market light bulbs from Philips, Osram to choose from.

    My priority is maximum output, better range, but without being illegal. So no 100W bulbs, no HID modifications. Just direct bulbs swap.

    I only choose between Philips or Osram simply because of their huge market in lighting industries. I was using Philips Vision Plus which claims to improve by 50% over stock bulbs. I do not have measuring equipment to prove that. But it is noticeably brighter, and has longer beam. The life span is also shorter than OE bulbs. The bulbs died few months ago, so I had to look for replacements.

    It narrowed down to Philips and Osram again, Xtreme Power or Night Breaker. Night Breaker is noticeably cheaper in MY, around RM120 compare with RM180 for Xtreme Power. Since I had good experience with Philips, I've decided to look elsewhere for cheaper Philips bulbs (outside Malaysia)...

    Powerbulbs is where I got the Xtreme Power from. It has free shipping, and come with free sidelight bulbs! And still much cheaper then MY. Delivery took about 14 business days, not the speediest delivery, and I actually emailed them suspecting that the shipping could be lost.

    Since Trinity brought up the question about blue tint bulbs, Xtreme Power is very close to stock color temperature, which is slightly yellowish. Perfect compromise for good brightness in both dry and rain conditions. It is also important that your headlamps are aligned properly so you don't blind any cars in front of you.

    I have not installed the bulbs yet. But hopefully I will have a chance to compare my cheaper bulbs vs this Philips Xtreme Power bulbs.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2011
  2. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Interesting bulb.
    I'm only using Osram/Sylvania SilverStar. Haven't blown on me at all.

    Doesn't seem to carry NightBreaker officially in US, but can be bought online.
     
  3. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Sorry, I didn't have time to complete my write up above. There's a new replacement called Xtreme Vision which claims to offer up to 100% improvement. I couldn't justify to get that one, so I bought the older Xtreme Power which sold out on the website where I bought it from, for the H1 bulbs.

    These bulbs are not meant to last. Both of the bulbs died roughly a few weeks apart.
     
  4. Trinity

    Trinity Little Kiki Staff Member

    I hope you not going to use those blue tinted/shaded bulbs. Gawd! I can't stand people who use those. They blind me.:mad:
     
  5. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I think those are HID lights. They are very bright.

    I just upgraded my headlight bulbs today. One of my bulbs burned out, so I bought a Philips bulb to replace it. I forgot what model it was (will go check later) but it claims to be 30% brighter.

    After installing it, I noticed that it was really brighter than my current bulb. Perhaps my other light bulb was also about to "die". Anyway, I decided to replace the other bulb to make sure that both had the same light output. Cost me RM 68 for both bulbs.
     
  6. Trinity

    Trinity Little Kiki Staff Member

    The HID bulbs are even worst. Depending on the angle you see them from they can seem almost any color and go from pretty dim to way too bright.:nuts: When I need more light I just pull back on my flash to pass and and hold them on. Hi and low at the same time!:twisted: Many a cat, possom, raccoon, dog, fox, and rat lives today because of this practice.:)
     
  7. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Yeah, hate it when I get them in my eyes!

    In most cars, they are supposed to be adjusted so that they point away from the other side of the road. But I think most folks never bothered to check to see if their lights were properly adjusted.

    In newer models, the lights will also dynamically adjust their angles, depending on the direction the car is being steered.
     
  8. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    Are these strobe lights? The very bright blue-white shine? I thought it's not allowed in Malaysia?
     
  9. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    I can't stand most is people who:

    - put HID in stock halogen reflector housing.
    - drive with high beam on when they are behind you.
    - drive with high beam on when they are facing you.
    - SUVs when they are right behind me.
     
  10. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    All this "light" problems may be solved when cars get windshields with built-in light intensification. Then they won't have to use such powerful lights. :D
     
  11. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I think the HID lights are properly adjusted, but because it's so much brighter than halogen bulbs, you will see even more glare.
     
  12. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Well I use to drive an SUV soo.... :p

    One thing I hate is some cars with rear fog lights that turn it on when there isn't any FOG... :beer: It is more blinding than even the most obnoxious high beam... Bright red straight through the noggin. :boohoo:
     
  13. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Oh ya, and that too.. very blinding... I would love that light, so I can turn it on if some idiot tailgate me.
     
  14. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hmm.. Rear fog lights? Don't seem to have them in my car. I have fog lights in the front, but they don't seem to do much, not even when there's fog! :think:
     
  15. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Rear fog lamps, super bright red light behind, usually found in European cars and maybe in some luxuries Japanese/American cars.

    Maybe your fog lamps lens deteriorated/(not clear anymore) :p or the connectors corroded, not producing proper light output.

    I don't even have fog lamps :cry:
     
  16. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hmm.. They look pretty clear to me. I never actually used them because all they do is slightly extend (sideways) the light coverage of the main light beams.
     
  17. empire23

    empire23 BRB. Attacking Russia

    I just replaced my bulbs after both died and I was stopped by the local Candy car (unmarked cop car), he let me off and I popped by my local SCA and bought some of those Philips globes.

    TBH I don't feel they're 30 percent better. More like totally the same.
     
  18. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Which model did you get?
     
  19. empire23

    empire23 BRB. Attacking Russia

    I think it was the Blue Vision Ultra.

    I don't think it looks very white-ish unlike what the box blurb says.

    But either way, it keeps the cops off my back, thus I'm happy.
     
  20. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Finally I have time to install and took some pictures of the product, before and after shots.

    I think the before and after shots are quite obvious. The second one shows left with normal bulbs, right with Philips bulbs.

    But it doesn't look so obvious in real life. I will have to drive to tell the differences, especially in terms of longer beam.
     

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    Last edited: Dec 7, 2012

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