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I’ve Bought New Headlight Bulbs -
March 2013
says Paul Hunt
Bulb failure on cars was once commonplace, but in recent years my box of spare bulbs in the garage hasn’t been touched. But now headlight bulb failure is common. New ones seem to go dim after only two years or so. On some modern cars, bulb replacement is an expensive garage-only job. Even where it is still a D-I-Y job, there is limited access space under the bonnet, many cars needing removal of other parts to gain access – maybe explaining why some cars are used for a long time with one bulb out. On my Toyota, the dipped beams didn’t seem as bright, and against the garage door they seemed blurred, and out of alignment with one another. Then one bulb failed. With the other bulb, the glass part had come loose from the metal base and sagged, altering the beam direction. A whole array of bulbs is available at the accessory shop. I was advised to stick to two well-known makes only, and to avoid illegal blue tints. There is the standard bulb, then the +30% (brighter) which I am told is not noticeably different. And so on. I was advised to have the +90%, although each was £12.50 compared with the standard at £5. The power taken is the same as a standard bulb, 55 watts, the extra brightness coming from different gases within the bulb casing. Re-fitting was easy, unlike removal, which had called for perseverance and ingenuity. At first, despite the claim of +90% brightness, I didn’t notice any increase in light at all. After a little driving at night, however, I became aware that vision on dipped beam is often vastly improved in the face of oncoming traffic on dry roads, and the beams are very accurate, with no stray upward light to cause oncoming drivers to flash, despite brighter light. The dipped-beam also seems to reach slightly further, but this is only noticeable when you switch to main beam, the (still standard) additional main beam bulbs not making as much difference as they did before, although they still light higher-placed objects and road signs. However, I have noticed a downside, in that the nature of the light from the new bulbs must be different, because on wet road surfaces the illumination is very contrasty, the wet, black road surface somehow devoid of all light and detail, vision being surprisingly difficult as a result. So, when a bulb fails next time, I will buy a pair of +30% or +50% as a compromise, hoping for light quality like standard, but just a bit brighter. As for bulb life, there are counter reports of shorter, longer, the same. We will just have to wait and see what happens in that respect. the LINK – newsletter of Bristol Advanced Motorists
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