Headlight globes, suggestions ?

[Owen]

MY10 SDV6 with normal headlights. I get about 12 months from globes. Any suggestion as to ones that last? Ps, not a fan of HID, have them as driving lights and hate the light.

[Stuart02]

MY10 SDV6 with normal headlights. I get about 12 months from globes. Any suggestion as to ones that last? Ps, not a fan of HID, have them as driving lights and hate the light.

Can only legally have HID low beams if they're self levelling and have washers anyway, IIRC. Not to mention the lenses fogging over time.

I really like phillips diamond whites, around 4300k colour and they seemed to last well.

[BMKal]

Can only legally have HID low beams if they're self levelling and have washers anyway, IIRC. Not to mention the lenses fogging over time.

Not really an issue with a D4, as the whole vehicle is "self levelling" (there is no self levelling feature other than this even with the OEM fitted HID headlights), and as far as I'm aware, all D4's are fitted with headlight washers, no matter which lights are installed from new (I could be wrong on this though).

The real problem with installing HID globes into non-HID light assemblies on the D4 would be the difference in the light assembly itself. You would need the correct reflector / projector light arrangement to get the best benefit out of HID globes, and I don't think that you would achieve this with the standard headlight assemblies.

Interesting comment about the "lenses fogging over time". I have never experienced this, either in the D4 nor any other vehicle fitted with HID lights.

I converted my D2 to HID hi/lo beam globes, and in that vehicle it worked well. Shape of headlight / reflector did not adversely affect the performance of the HID globes in that vehicle. Conversion was done more than 5 years ago now, and my son still has the same vehicle and neither of us has ever had any problems of any type with the HID headlights in it.

He has recently purchased an Amarok with standard incandescent headlights, and wants to convert to HID. It is going to cost him a quid, as he will change out the entire headlight assemblies to do it properly. The Amarok with standard headlights actually has manually adjustable beam height from inside the cabin - if he has a heavy load in the back and the lights are pointing too high, he can lower the light beam with a button on the dash. Don't know if this feature will be included in the changeover to HID.

Owen, if you don't like the light from the HID driving lights, replace them with a set of FYRLYT's. They give a much softer / warmer "yellow" light than either HID or LED, and will out-perform either in both distance and spread. I have a couple of sets of high quality HID driving lights in the shed (Hella Predator and Britax X-Ray Vision) both of which have at some time been installed on my D4 (and other vehicles). The FYRLYT Nemesis driving lights that I am now running will leave these for dead any day of the week.

[Tombie]

Lens fogging from inside is due to poor quality (poor UV cut) bulbs... HID or Xenon / Halogen.

Agree whole heartedly on the Fyrlyts - far nicer on the retinas for long stints in the dark...

[Owen]

thanks All, yes I am replacing the HID's with Fyrlygts as soon as the budget allows..a question though on the nemesis, do you get any static through the radio with the step up in voltage ? The car is a PITA for this with phone chargers already, if you want reception in the bush I have to pull out any accessories in the lighter sockets.

I have heard there may be some static but don't know if that's just BS from people who don't like the Fyrlyghts

[BMKal]

thanks All, yes I am replacing the HID's with Fyrlygts as soon as the budget allows..a question though on the nemesis, do you get any static through the radio with the step up in voltage ? The car is a PITA for this with phone chargers already, if you want reception in the bush I have to pull out any accessories in the lighter sockets.

I have heard there may be some static but don't know if that's just BS from people who don't like the Fyrlyghts

No static at all from the Nemesis / voltage step-up in mine Owen. I use AM radio a lot (can't get FM travelling between Kalgoorlie and Perth) and the only real issue I have with static is when travelling close to overhead powerlines in a couple of the townships on the way down there - but it doesn't matter whether in daylight with no lights on or at night with the FYRLYT's on - static is the same.

If you're having problems with static, might pay to get a decent auto sparky to have a look at it. I run an iPod in the centre console all the time, plus an iPhone in a cradle which is permanently plugged into one of the cigarette lighters - and I don't have any problem with static at all, other than as mentioned above. You may need to have a "suppressor" installed somewhere, though I wouldn't have a clue how / where they do this in modern vehicles (I used to install them in old Holdens / Fords all the time).