I'm trying to make a decision when buying my next car, if Xenons are actually better than new bright halogen bulbs? New cars these days seem to have better lights.
Does the age of car matter i.e. do Xenons fade over time?
Do bright halogens bulbs light the road better than xenons? 'Yellow' as opposed to 'Blue' light?
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Are Xenons worth the extra cost, if you are buying new?
How much night driving do you do?
What is replacement cost? A Xenon headlight (complete) for a Citroen C5 is over £1000!!!!
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Do you tend to find headlights don't throw out as much as you want? I don't, in general - the headlights on my car I call "60mph" headlights, because that's about the maximum they're good for on unlit country roads - I can't really see well enough to go any faster, but as I don't want to it's not a problem and I prefer to have the simpler standard headlights.
Intuitively, though possibly wrongly, I also feel that I'm more likely to have a problem with lights that need 20kV to start them up. I don't like being on the receiving end of them either - even with self levelling they tend to 'nod' and you can still be in the beam approaching a crest which is unpleasant.
They do seem to be a selling point, though they wouldn't sway me for the reasons above.
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After a generation of driving on Xenons and later Bi-xenons and reverting to what Skoda call bi-halogens (!) I can confirm that Xenons are far superior to traditional lights. A definite step back for me.
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I should think Specsavers will be having a promotion sooner or later PU if that helps.....
;-)
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Got my last pair of t'internet - half shop price !
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I can confirm that Xenons are far superior to traditional lights.
Of that I have absolutely no doubt - the ideal would be to have it like daylight ahead of you. The trouble is it's a bit of an arms race isn't it? When I think of the candles on the Morris Minor...
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Xenons don't seem to have come down the feeding chain really - apart from some FIATs they still seem to sit at the higher spec levels in model ranges.
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I find in some circumstances Xenons are a danger, not only do you get the 'nodding' effect, but on quiet dark country lanes, if you are unfortunate to have a Xenon equipped car coming the other way, even on dip, and you have halogen lamps, its like driving into a blackhole as the car passes.
As someone said, Xenons are like daylight so your eyes react as such, then are thrown into semi-darkness.... I do admit as I get older my pupils dont react as fast as they used to!
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Yes, although my xenons are are aligned perfectly (and the self-levelling working fine) I do find a few oncoming drivers will still flash me because they think my lights are too bright. Not a lot I can do about that.
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I do a lot of night driving and I think Xenons are one of the best automotive inventions of recent years. I have them on my BMW E60 and they are in a different league to the standard fit halogens on both dipped beam and high beam. I've not heard of one failing as such, but I'm lead to believe the gas discharge tubes eventually fade and change colour with old age.
A quick google shows replacement discharge tubes are around 30 Euros with the high voltage inverter costing around 50 Euros. Not main dealer prices, obviously.
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Xenons are the one option box I would always tick on any car. Don't have a problem with on coming ones either - even when driving a Halogen equipped car.
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To help decide between a Mazda6 TS2 and Sport I went night driving across the Woodhead pass (late). It was the only way of finding the difference - I needed to get out of the "city". After that driving trip I was convinced they made a big difference.
I don't find oncoming cars with Xenon's a problem. I do find those driving with extra bright halogen bulbs (which have no self levelling) to be too bright.
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I have absolutely no doubt that they are better for seeing with. I suppose I'm getting conscious of the effect of no great age on my eyes. At 55 I've pretty good eyesight - don't need glasses to drive, only having problems with my arms not being long enough to read small print. Nevertheless there's no doubt that night vision takes longer to acquire, and is more easily upset by dazzling lights.
I'm beginning to know what my dad meant when he said "how can you read in here without the light on". I read somewhere that at 80 the minimum light level needed is about 8 times that of a 20 year old - and probably quite a bit more than that after a good blinding.
I've had Swiss Tony's experience as well, only a couple of nights ago - I found myself braking rather than aiming slightly to the left and hoping.
Ideally, I'd have them and nobody else would.
Edited by Manatee on 14/12/2008 at 15:39
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Ideally, I'd have them and nobody else would.
Sounds like my stance as well !
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If you do most of your driving in town it probably doesn't matter but after 6 months of rural driving with xenons they are firmly on my "essentials" list.
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