Bulb Replacement

[TUFF_350]

Hi guys just got my '96 R33 today and I wanted to replace the low beams but can't afford a HID kit right now. What type bulbs do I need (I think H1) and also what are a good quality replacement that produce great white light. No MTEC my mate has them and I'm not a fan, Polarg...Philips...Thanks in advance!

[jimmytim]

I was going to say mtec, but you don't like them?

mmm...how about piaa? Used to have piaa on my old car, the 7500k xenon gas filled (pretty expensive though, and they are not white, as 7500k is towards blue). You need something around 4300k to be white.

And yes they are H1.

[TUFF_350]

Thanks mate i've been searching ebay and google, Polarg and Nokya seem to be whitest light for around the $70 mark.

[MANWHORE]

Those bulbs are shit. They'll just blow in a few weeks.

White light is a trade off. They get the white light by placing a blue filter over the bulb which filters out yellow light. Considering that with halogen bulbs, the majority of the light is yellow, you lose a lot of light output. The whiter/bluer you go, the less light it is.

Bulb makers try and compensate by using 100 watt bulbs. They WILL damage your light switch, wirinng and melt the housing, and plug.

They also fill the bulb with xenon gas and overpower the filament. As a result, the bulb doesn't last as long.

With lighting, it's a trade off. If you want long life and good light output, get standard phillips bulbs. They'll last ages and have decent light output.

If you want more light, get the phillips/narva plus 50s. The narvas are about $25 for the pair. They put out about 50 % more light than standard bulbs. They run xenon gas inside and overpower the filament. AS a result, they're brighter, but don't last as long. They still last a decent amount of time becuase they're a quality bulb. They're a tiny bit whiter, because they're brighter, but they're still yellow in the scheme of things.

If you must go for white bulb, go for the phillips blue visions/narva artic blue. They're about $50 for the pair. They are the same as a plus 50 bulb, except they have a blue filter. So they put out 50% more light, which is cut back by the filter. So the light is white - almost a pure white. Theiy're still a bit brighter than stock.

PS: hid kits are not your friend. they're crap

SAU really needs a lighting section with FAQ. I'd be happy to write all the guides etc.

[MANWHORE]

pm xizor about the mtecs. They last a few weeks then blow.

[HolyEvil]

pm xizor about the mtecs. They last a few weeks then blow.

hell yeah.. mine just blew 2 days back.. and i got the MTEC for only like 1.5 mths.. waste of money..

mate if you say HID kits r not our friend..then what do you recommend for us to to have better vision at night? the halogens don't give off enough light... and the only way to go is HID conversion kits.. if it's not the way.. pls advise.. cuz I really wanna have better vision at night..

cheers

[Logikal]

what have you got on your skyline manwhore?

[MANWHORE]

I've done numerous threads on this, because my dad and I are involved in research in this area. It is my dad's area of expertise.

I keep repeating (not your fault). SAU will have to make like a lighting section or faq about lighting, and hid kits etc, I'm happy to do it and mod it.

[HolyEvil]

I've done numerous threads on this, because my dad and I are involved in research in this area. It is my dad's area of expertise.

I keep repeating (not your fault). SAU will have to make like a lighting section or faq about lighting, and hid kits etc, I'm happy to do it and mod it.

any mods can do this? would be good..cuz it sucks to drive at night =(

cheers

[jimmytim]

any mods can do this? would be good..cuz it sucks to drive at night =(

cheers

I also agree, more centralised information and professional (or experienced) recommendation is always a good idea.

People won't need to search and ask everywhere unless it is not covered by the faq.

[d00dz]

Im using Phillips CrystalVison Plus H1.

Got them from ebay for pretty cheap ~$30 cheaper than rrp, as the dude had bought the wrong ones or something.

[Logikal]

Im using Phillips CrystalVison Plus H1.

Got them from ebay for pretty cheap ~$30 cheaper than rrp, as the dude had bought the wrong ones or something.

d00dz - Whats their performance like in wet weather at night? Can you see well?

Edited February 26, 2007 by Logikal

[d00dz]

d00dz - Whats their performance like in wet weather at night? Can you see well?

To be honest I dont drive much in the rain at night.

But if I remmeber correctly, yes they are not bad.. Better than expensiver ones.

They last pretty long, I had some $25 one from Kmart and they blew in 2 weeks.

Just did a search on ebay and found some -> http://cars.search.ebay.com.au/philips_Ext...gZ1QQsofocusZbs

Included in the bulbs u also get a pair of white parker bulbs.

Though when I got mine I think they were $65, because the person was auctioning them and I managed to bid at the right time.

[Kinks]

I was going to say mtec, but you don't like them?

I wouldn't piss on MTEC bulbs if they were on fire. And I'd probably laugh at the person whose headlights were going up in smoke.

ABSOLUTELY THE WORST LIGHTING I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Dim, blue, completely unsafe. You've got to be f**king joking me. They lasted one night in my R31, I threw them in the bin - even standard bulbs were better.

Get Narva Plus 50's if you want more light. They blow more often but them's the breaks.

[Giveitall]

MTEC Bulbs are crap. its far too dim for night driving.

[MANWHORE]

spot on the money kinks. Phillips, osram, hella and narva are the best bulbs money can buy. End of story. They always perform almost identically in bulb tests. They're all up the top.

The thing you have to remember is, other brands of bulb have different build quality. It's easy to go, fullyl sick, these t ricer bulbs are nice and white . But what you'll find, is these bulbs often fail bulb tests, because they dont' focus light properly. By buying well made bulbs, the light is focussed onto the road better, so you get more useable light, and of course, less glare to oncoming traffic.

Seriously, you wouldn't believe how bad those bulbs perform. It is noticeable, if you change a few different ones in, with your car parked up about 1 m away from the wall, some of them spray light everywhere more than others. You wouldn't think a bulb is a complex precision instrument. Well, it is. Imagine shining a laser pointer at a mirror and reflecting it towards the wall. Imagine moving the laser pointer 1 mm. Imagine how much the light will move over a distance of 10 m, at 50 m, the difference will be huge.

**Mind flash** As I've always said, this is the very reason why HID kits are crap. HID itself puts out 3 x as much light. so an oem hid designed headlight puts out lots more light. Yes, they are good. BUT the kits are loads of crap. They end up putting less useable light on the road, and lots more light upwards causing glare.

Anyways, back to the topic of halogen bulbs.

Keep in mind, that people have different uses of bulbs. That is, different things they want from them. Some want max light. Some want nice white/blue colour.

As we've established, those are the brands to buy. It is all a matter of what your needs are. the following are my suggestions:

standard bulbs: long life. Quite good light output.

plus 30: life is still quite long. 30% more light wiwthin the useable range (about 50-75m) plus slightly longer range. This is achieved through using xenon gas in the bulb, to allow the filament to be overpowered. Thus, having a more tightly wrapped filament increases efficiency.

Note: by overpowerd, I do not mean overwatt. They are still 55 watt bulbs. NEVER run a 100 watt bulb in your headlight. I've had to fix 2 headlights this year, because of people who have done that. It will melt your wiring plug, wiring and possibly your headlight. It can cause the reflective material to peel off the reflector, and make your lens go opaque.

By overpowered I mean more efficiently. Keep in mind, because of this, the life is a bit shorter. Keep in mind, you're supposed to replace bulbs every year. Efficiency does go down. A bulb that's a few years old might only be putting out 50% of the light it's supposed to.

plus 50: same concept as plus 30. 50% more useable light. Life is shorter again, but it's ok. You should still get the recommended year out of them.

blue vision: Firstly, a myth about blue/white light. Blue/white coated bulbs are not brighter. They use a blue filter over the bulb to cut out yellow light. yellow light forms the larger part of the spectrum for light produced by a halogen bulb. Thereofre, naturally, by puttting a filter on, light will be whiter, but it will be dimmer. It iwll look brighter, because brighter is whiter. imagine a 9 watt bulb at home v a 100 watt bulb.

Having said that, the good brands mentioned above use the plus 50 bulbs then put the filter on them. So they still put out more light than standard bulbs.

Keep in mind, the more you fitler it to make it bluer, the dimmer it is. the good branded white bulbs aren't overly filtered.

Many of those polarg/piaa/mtec etc use 100 watt bulbs, because they filter the light a lot to make it actually blue, not just white. They need the extra light to compensate. As a result, they do get very hot.

There is a good buy. If you want plus 50s, narva have bulbs as good as the rest, but for some reason, their plus 50s is about half the price. e.g. phillips vision plus is about $50. Narva plus 50 is only $25.

Hope that helps. I don't like repeating myself, but hopefully next time a bulb thread comes up, someone can link this.

[jimmytim]

Thanks Manwhore for clearing a couple of points.

WT* am I doing @ this time of day! (must go to sleep)