geordiesteve

just to be a little controversial!

can someone tell me the reason for xenon headlights? i've heard they give a 'clearer' image but exactly how unclear is the normal headlighting??

cost about 500 quid as an extra on the furby and yet you probably only use them for half of the year anyway!

would it not be better to spend the money on summat else like new I.C.E. or a re-map which you use all year (i know i've never said 'wow look at how bright that car's lights are , i'm damned impressed by that').

or am i just missing the point??

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2004 standard fabia vrs

ventmore

You only use your normal headlights half the year as well, but you wouldn't save the cash and use it elsewhere :-)

It is down to personal preference, and how much you want to spend, however, those that have them generally swear by them. The light seems to be more crisp, and colours seem to look more natural. They also illuminate signs and anything reflective better than normal lights. I think they look better in the day as well (nicer shape) but that might be just me. Do a search, you'll find plenty of views on them.

Cheers
Ventmore

devonutopia

I just spent money on vision plus bulbs and got a generous donation of decent main beam bulbs. No offence to Xenon using furby/octy drivers but I often get dazzled by them when coming the other way - I get that "have they dipped?" thought running through my head. Uprated bulbs makes standard units better IMO and wouldn't really want to spend that sort of dosh on lights - I think the "running cost" of Xenons is harsh too.

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Josh_PoloGTi

I'd never go back to standard lights again.

I had them on the Polo GTi as they come as standard, but I HAD to get them on the Fabia...

They really are THAT good!

Fog, rain, night-time, dusk, daytime lol... Xenon's rule!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Goochie Some say that if you break him in half he has a hard white centre with red writing though it. Some say this writing says "JBS Auto Designs" All we know is, that he's called The Josh!

Huck

never had a car with xenons before but remeber being pretty darned impressed when i was in ColinD's octy. makes me look forward to picking my car up on friday even more.

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Huck B.

KLB

Hmm, xenons

I'm talking about Xenon HID lamps, not the fake "xenon" tungsten bulbs...
For roughly two-thirds of the power consumption, you get.. (twice? three times??) as much ight output. Sounds good, but what are you going to do with all this extra light?

It's not too much of a problem on main beam, but then only bi-xenons have a xenon main beam, so that's academic.

On dipped beam, you have to control the light "throw" in front of the vehicle; it must be low enough not to dazzle oncoming traffic, and ideally it will illuminate only the nearside. This means that the light must be concentrated on a short stretch of road immediately ahead of the car.

It shouldn't affect the driver's night vision. But xenons are so bright that they will affect it. It's only a matter of time before a driver of a car with xenons runs head-on into a dark object from just outside his field of view, and says (quite correctly) "I didn't see it"...

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Mike

Josh_PoloGTi

I've never had that problem, mine (especially on my Polo) illuminate more of the road than any "normal" bulb... It took some tinkering to get the beam pattern right, but they rocked (and were MOT'd twice - the first time, the MOT guy actually turned them UP some more!!)

Never got flashed either, because they auto level.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Goochie Some say that if you break him in half he has a hard white centre with red writing though it. Some say this writing says "JBS Auto Designs" All we know is, that he's called The Josh!

pearce_jj

The latest BMWs have some whizzy lens thing, one bulb, two beam patterns.

Agreed. If you're driving in the dark you don't really want a short distance light (ie dipped beam) that causes your pupils to close. This is made worse with xenons by the amount of blue - to which the eye is more sensitive, and as an aside it is more easily defracted by rain, snow and fog, causing greater glare. (iirc that's why french headlights were yellow for years)

But I have to say, I think they look cool!

vrs jonno

hi jason,

was thinking of uprating my bulbs. what's the best one's to go for.

also does new bulb change both dipped and full beam.

oh yeah how much and where do i go to get them.

and fitting, easy or hard.

cheers

jonno.

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WRCSixtyThree

I'm always kind of worried by the statistic I learned way back in my first car - a Triumph Herald 1200 with Lucas sealed beam headlights.

In general terms, with the Lucas lights, on a country road using dipped beam, at 50mph you were driving OUTSIDE of the range of the lights. By the time you see it, you're gonna hit it.

With modern bulb, lens and reflector technology on standard filament lights, this range should be increased to around about the 70-80mph mark.

Still a scary thought.

I've found, driving the Octy with Xenons, that although the light output 'seems' mainly to be wasted on the side of the road, the range of the lights is still substantially increased in real terms, which appears to be due to the coolness of the light output. I certainly wouldn't go back to filament lights again given a choice. I am definitely confident that at 80-90mph I am well within a safe range of the lights.

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Oh no. Another great Skoda.

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paxton

check out this thread - re bulbs :- http://www.briskoda.net/forums/showt...ighlight=xenon

ColinD

Will be doing an experiment soon to hopefully show you all the differences.

Once it stops raining I'll arrange it.

my 2p is that the xenon's far exceed that of the phillips vision + I had previously on the last Octy. Hoever they are not without some drawbacks...changing a side light is not a 3 minute job, more like 30. The main positive is unlike a H4 system you keep dipped when on full beam, no half holding the stick here. However that has a negative in that you can't really adjust them to much so I'm still out driving them occasinally.

The full beam seems weak in comparison, needs a set of 100W full beam

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Alex

I have only driven a car very briefly with Xenons (cheers Xavier ) and IMHO they are fantastic I will be certainly getting a car with them next.

philc

I've had xenon's on my last 2 cars -my L&K Octy and my current Omega -and I really wouldn't want to be with without them. The light's clearer and cleaner, and has a longer throw. The bulbs last an incredibly long time, too. Mind you, a replacement capsule costs an arm and a leg.
And everyone thinks you're a cop car, too!
I saw an Audi concept car the other day, that had LED headlights. Now, that's an idea I like.

Phil

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Chavyboy

We have them on the Furby, went from a Clio 172 with and then to a clio 16v without and the difference is well worth the extra £ that's why we ordered them on the Furby.

IIRC the bulbs on the Clio where guaranteed for 5 years not to sure if this applies to all Xenon HID bulbs TBH but at £125 a pair they better not blow anytime soon.

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ScoobyChris

Also worth investing in a set of headlight protectors too

Chris

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Holding up the traffic in a little Italian..........

Bagpuss

I've now had two cars with Xenons. The first was an Audi TT, which has bi-xenons, and was absolutely fantastic. I hardly ever used full beam, the dipped beam was so good. Quite honestly, it was like daylight and darkness, compared to normal halogen lights.

My second car with Xenons was a Mk4 Golf, and I thought that they sucked. I don't know if it was an adjustment thing but they never seemed to perform as well as those on the TT. I wasn't too bothered though, as my car was an european import, and so the Xenons only cost me £350.

I'm now about to take delivery of a Superb Elegance, which has the bi-xenons. On the test drive, I was once again amazed at how good they were. Being honest, this was one of the main reasons I decided to go for the Elegance, as you can't get them on the lower models in the range.

To my mind, there seems to be a lot of variance in how well the Xenons work. A lot of it seems to be initial setup. A colleague has just got a new Laguna estate with Xenons, and was forever moaning about how crap they were. He complained to the dealer at the first service, and it turned out that they were completely out of alignment (beam too low). Now that they are setup okay, he thinks that they are brilliant.

Bagpuss.

mcbunny

in the 172 the xenons are great drove friends lcr and i was scared to go faster than 30 !!! it was just so dark and things just popped out of no where and it was so yellow and dull it was a very very scary drive never again shall i be withou them if i can help it

pearce_jj

Ever tried changing a Puma side light!!?!

Life of the bulbs should be about 3000hrs + which is at least 3x halogens. For most its probably the life of the car.

RobClubley

I love my Xenons - much better than normal lights IMHO.

And I like the way they flick on and self level

How susceptible are they to stones and stuff? Is it really worth getting covers?

The extra weight might affect acceleration

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des_pd_ tdi

Xenons illuminate so much of side of the road, dead handy when you're driving down country lanes.

I know I'd never go back to the standard lights - no way. £500 is not alot of money for the benefit you gain, remember this also include self leveling and headlight washers.

Des

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Tiguan Sport Auto

Gone but not forgotten, Roomster Scout, Fabia VRs.

geordiesteve

i suppose if we drove around places without street lighting all the time they would be a good investment for giving a clearer overall picture.

i , however, live in a built -up area and honestly cannot remember the last time i was somewhere that didnt have street lights at night (yes i do get out much -just not to the wilds of nowhere!)

dunno if everyone has done this at some point but i remember driving for about half a mile without lights (kept getting flashed by other drivers before i realised) and i didnt hit anything.

assuming that most people are in street lighting MOST of the time i still cannot see the point of spending 500 notes on them as the ambient lighting plus normal headlights is plenty to be able to see adequately for MOST situations.

as for the look of them , i spose they may look a bit different but don't change the appearance of the car like a new set of spangly alloys or new exhaust trim etc.

i would have them if they were standard but i wouldn't fork out the extra in my world as i'd never use them! i can see however why some people would find them invaluable (hillbillys, farmers or those people who have 'grounds' !).

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2004 standard fabia vrs

ottoman

Xenons are the dogs bolx! First time i've had them when I got my WRC. When you first switch them on the gorgeous blue glow and auto adjust wink you get is Sooooooooooo kewl. Saxo and Corsa brigade look on in awe

Sod the cost, card it and worry about it later, Xenons are brilliant.

czechmate

[quote=ScoobyChris]Also worth investing in a set of headlight protectors too

these were debated before, general concensus is there not recommended for
xenons. anyway xenons themselves are a fantastic light and imo are worth every penny and the no1 option to specify.
skoda xenons also are very reasonably priced also (€733 as opposed to €2000 odd on a golf/a3 here in eire). they also look great oncoming annoying others
on the downside, to change the bulbs looks like an engine out job

ap0gee

That was basically my reason for not specc-ing them on my Furby - I intended to keep it 5 years / 75000 mile plus, so I worked out I'd be keeping it beyond the design life of the xenon units... Seeing how I very rarely drive anywhere truly 'dark', and on the odd occasions when I do, I've found front fogs do a decent job if necessary (I know it's naughty, but I make sure there's no-one ahead of me to dazzle!), I couldn't justify the expense. Might get some Vision Pluses, though...

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