I am considering upgrading the filaments in my trusty 'boat ' - a Sunny 1.4 1989 vintage, as I currently do some rural night driving, on 'B'roads and worse. Any advice welcomed ref. alternative wattage, wiring loom capability/ fuses. Someone has suggested up to 100w substitute can be accomodated, but I wonder. I tried a 60w supalux with supposedly 30% more light but am not over impressed, particularly in bad weather! The car is, otherwise,a bog standard, never been altered in any way .
Thanks Chris.
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Don't forget the bulb is only the source of the light, much depends on the quality of the reflector & lens. So upping the wattage may have no effect.
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I'd avoid higher wattage bulbs. I've been impressed with the standard wattage xenon bulbs (usually marketed as 30 % brighter) which sounds like the ones you have. I'd avoid the odd coloured types though. These avoid overloading wiring and relays and don't overheat the lamps. If these are what you have, then Dave is probably right - there is a problem with the basic lamps on the car.
Regards
john
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Has the law changed? The nice (Martyn and other friends of theirs please note) traffic police used to nick people for using the 100W rally lamps.
I had wondered where these new, glaring, headlamps stood.
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Pardon slight deviation from headlamps, but on Sat. evening I was driving on the A3M towards Portsmouth, when I came up behind a trail of cars in the outside lane,- they couldn't overtake a Transit flatbed towing a car because the Transit had a large board behind its cab with 8 large, incredibly bright yellow strobe lights (not the usual rotating beacon) flashing away..quite apart from the danger of inducing epilepsy you just couldn't see anything else due to the display. Is there any rule limiting the brightness of rearward facing lights?
P.
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I have had quite good results fitting uprated 100W bulbs into a Mk1 Golf and early Audi Coupe, both of which have notoriously feeble headlights. However, I ran them from a separate power feed with its own fuse box, using a relay for switching. If you use high power bulbs with the original wiring you stand a good chance of frying the headlamp switch - the wiring will usually take the extra load, but the switches don't like it. And if the headlamp reflectors are tarnished or rusted, brighter bulbs won't make any difference.
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Go to powerbulbs.com and buy Philips Vision Plus bulbs, as they are 50% brighter than normal bulbs. I have a set fitted to my car, and the difference is quite dramatic, i.e. you can you 10 - 20 metres more
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Just a modest request to all you chaps discussing how many (mega)watts you would like to emit from your headlamps - you will see a bit better, but the guys coming towards you may not be able to see well enough to drive properly. Especially if their eyesight is ageing anyway and they suffer from scatter.
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Thank you Andrew.
Now what happened to fitting auxiliary lights?
Over here in the frozen North, (Scandinavia) now the clocks have gone back it gets dark v early and there are not many street lights. So most cars have auxiliary lights. Its not unusual to see a Volvo or some other shopping car with a massive set of 3 or 4 rally size spots/driving (NOT fogs) across the front.
The result is that its night into day for most of the time on main beam as traffic is very sparse, but when you dip as someone comes the other way BOTH of you can still see.
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The Xantia and now our old Land Rover both have rubbish headlamps. Spots are a good option I thought but there is that black hole when you go back to dip. I wonder if they still do extra lamps with a dip facility?
Didn't Cibie do them in the 70s? Oscars?
David
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Hi David,
Know what you mean about those Xantia lights, always struck me that part of the problem is the lens unit with such a complicated pattern in the glass.
Cibie still do a two bulb headlight conversion which I think is called Bi-odes. Only in round methinks so the LR should be OK.
They either still do, or did until recently an auxiliary lamp version called Super Bi-Oscar which is one of those monster dustbins with a 220mm dia lens. AS I recall this has two bulbs/reflector arrangements giving both long range and fog.
Fogs....hmm don't think I want to go there.
UK sites dont seem to list the Bi-Oscar but here is a US link
www.seriousauto.com/lighting/cibie-aux-lights/supe...F
Oh dear, I can see Mrs Woollard casting glances at the LR in the yard, wondering when it will sprout the dustbin sized spot lights, roo bar, monster winch, snorkel air intake, 12 spare wheels on the roof, jerrycans for spare fuel, sand mats, shovels, etc just to go down the factors for some spark plugs and a set of gaskets after the school run. That Ribena slick outside the school gets worse doesn't it.
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Not much help now, but until you have driven behind a properly set up pair of P100s (the sort with the adjustable glass reflector in the centre of the silver plated one) in a drivers seat at vintage height, you don't know what can be done; even buses dipped! Mind you, the separate dip bulb behind the bullseye was a bit weak.
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David
For the round lamps on the LR there are plenty of halogen conversions available, which should solve the problem. As you can imagine thats exactly what the Minor has - a set of mid 70's Lucas sealed beam (yes really) halogens. Marvelous!
For the Xantia, check if there are lamps made by more than one supplier, as the quality could vary. Your local Citroen dealer may have some idea.
Regards
John
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Stuart you are spot on with the Xantia headlamps.
You may notice they are quite a slim oblong shape and the early cars had most of the beam focus derived from the glass. The result is a huge amount of scatter and light transmission loss. Doesn't really matter what you do with bulbs they are just plain poor.
The later Xantias had a different reflector and glass such that the glass appeares quite clear with less focussing elements. Better but still not as good as the massive Hellas I had on the old Herald!
And re the Land Rover. Well mostly I like vehicles to be exactly as they were made. Have restored a couple in the past that were good enough for period programs, not a thing out of spec. Less particular with this one that has already been re-built and changed in the past.
Not sure about all the macho bits though, justified as they are to get the kids to school. We do have to gain about three feet in height over the mile to school, and two right turns. Funny thing is that the girls are dying to get taken to school in it. One trip and they'll be crying out for the Xantia!
I might have to go for the halogen conversions John, as well as spots, to get a decent dip.
David
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David
Yep, Xantia dipped headlamp beams were carp. I've experience of both types.
My 94 TD had pathetic dipped beams, but I can't say that I studied the lenses to find out why. However, the 99 HDi is much better - about the same as any repmobile, I'd say.
Mind you - all modern cars are brilliant compared with the things I was brought up on, mostly 6 volt. I remember all sorts of wheezes to try to get a few more lumens thrown out of the front.
I found some of the very first 6 volt quartz iodine bulbs and made adaptors to fit into the Hella lamps on the 61 Beetle. Then I re-silvered the reflectors with chrome sellotape (still a good ploy for faded reflectors) and this brought them to about the same level as my pal's standard Moggie Minor! I also had a pair of Lucas driving lamps, wired to a change over switch on the dash. so that one worked on dip, and the other on main. All for a car with a top speed of 72mph!.
Progress? I'll say.
Ian
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Didn't like the XM headlamps either. If ever a car needed headlamp washers, it was that one. Probably the same French designer at the controls.
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David
I have, somewhere still I think, a normal size auxiliary lamp, it may be a Lucas, which has a dual or triple purpose set-up so the beam can emulate long range, flat dip or fog format.
It used to be on a previous motorcycle but I think it's found its way into the loft.
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