headlight bulbs

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Go to danielsternlighting.com for everything you need to know, especially the tech page

 

I just replaced the Halogen bulbs in my Toyota with these fan-less LED H4 bulbs. OMG... so much nicer and they draw less than half the amps:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089GSJDCF

Light output measurements isn't as important as how the light is focused. For example, on my Toyota, I have the LED bulbs above in glass lens housings. They do a nice job. However, I also have dedicated driving lights, which really add a lot to the equation. When everything is turned on high, I can see very far down the highway... it's so bright it's almost like driving during the day.

Back in the late 80's, I equipped one of my cars with air craft landing lights on the high beams... I don't know the exact amount of light they put out, but they shined very, very far down the road. These LED bulbs above, combined with the Rigid D2 driving lights gives approximately the same amount of light as those old air craft landing lights did.

So the short answer is that it's not only about how much light something outputs, but also how you throw it down the road and the pattern, etc. Also, using a more white light can look more bright, simply because the wavelength appears "bright" to our human visual system.

Ray

 

On vintage cars different bulbs of the same wattage do make a huge difference. A 100w cheap "Rallye" bulb does not produce any more light than 50w Osram night breakers.

Just think about a fountain pen: a good one will make a clean thin stroke, whereas a crapy one will spread the same amount of ink all over the place.

Leds bulbs are a waste of energy when used on a lights not designed for led: the light is not emited on the same direction as an halogen bulb which defeats all the design of the mirors and fresnel built in the light.

As long as you are on the high end bulbs there is not such a dramatic difference between the sub-type (for instance be it type "200", "laser", "silver", all the night breaker are good).

Lifespan of the high performance bulb is much shorter.

With a precise bulb, you can slightly raise the beam without annoying other drivers, which increase the range even more.

 

In my experience using high watt, +30, +50, HIR and Silverstar...they all will have considerably shorter life than the stock bulb.

 

+1 for danielsternlighting.com.

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The tradeoff is they perform better.

 

Maybe, not in all cases. I have found the benefits were very dependent on lens quality. I saw a significant improvement using Philips HIR bulbs in the F355, but saw little to no benefit in other cars. Silverstar in a friends SAAB saw no benefit and the bulbs lasted 9 months, whereas the stock bulbs lasted several years.

Used +50 halogen in my previous 328GTS foglights...no significant improvement.

Best improvement in a 308 or 328 was using 7" Cibie or Hella Ecode (euro) headlights with stock halogen 55w/60 bulbs. Huge difference over sealed beam headlights.

 

The lifespan trade-off is quite significant :

• Ultra Long Life bulb : 1430 lumens, 3000 hours
• Regular bulb : 1550 lumens, 650 hours
• Philips Xtreme Power / Osram Night Breaker : 1780 lumens, 340 hours
  (abstract from https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/what-is-the-brightest-h1-bulb.211400/#post2680868 )

I've tried Narva, OSRAM, Philips and could hardly say one is better than the other, but they are all a vast improvement compared to the cheap bulb I bought in a hurry at my local auto-store (bulbs which do not last long by the way).

To answer to OP question, you won't see any dramatic change between a pair of OSRAM nightbreaker "unlimited" and a pair of nightbreaker "200". Every time they add a product to the lineup, it is roughly twice as more expensive than its predecessor. The previous high end bulb was the nightbreaker "laser", which is now sold at the same price as the "unlimited". In other word the older design are a bargain.

Also bear in mind that adjusting the beam of the headlight does have a much more significant impact than the additional 300 lumens provided by these high performance bulbs. This being said: 1) every little bit does help, 2) these legal bulbs will not damage your harness, and 3) as long as you do not buy the latest variants, these bulbs are affordable (~$20 per pair), so why not?

 

OEM manufacturers didn’t settle on the 4200K temperature range on accident. The warmer temperature allows for your pupil to be more dilated, and thus able to see further with less strain on your eyes. As the temperature gets cooler, say to the 6K figure you referenced it will be “brighter” immediately in front of you but your ability to see further becomes compromised because your pupil constricts more due to the hotter light bulb temperature.

 

My car was fitted with the French yellow headlights. It's quite nice actually. There is a 15% loss of light due to the yellow paint applied to the glass, but there is a better light distribution: you are not blindsided by the illumination of close objects so can see better remote objects. If you are driving in a dense forrest this makes a huge difference. On the highway (less close proximity objects) clear headlights do provide a better range.

Less fatigue with warmer lights for sure.