Rally Bulbs (100w)

[CountryPug]

Saw some Rally bulbs in Halfrauds the other day and it got me thinking. I know that they're illegal for road use but how bright are they, are they really obvious and will they blind everyone else on the road? I know my dad used to use them years ago in cars that had sh*t headlights. Is it also true that they can damage the headlight lens due to their higher operating temperature?

[Gary406]

my mate put 100watt bulbs in his VW Boro and yes they was super bright and use to blind me when he was following behind me in his car

i supose if you face the headlights as far down as they can go to the floor it will stop the bean blinding other drivers.

[omega]

in my younger days i had a bmw 323i i uprated the headlight bulbs to 100watt and fitted 2 cibi oscors with 100 watt bulbs as well also when you but the main beam on the dipped beam also stayed on in this model. so i had 400 watt high beam plus about 80 low beam plus rear lights and stereo/heater it all adds up.
so giving it some beams one night [on my private test track] i decided to switch them all on.well you know cars go from 0-60 in a few seconeds well i went from 80 odd mph to o in a few seconds.the alternator couldnt charge fast enough so no power to the ecu,no spark,nolights.
so make sure that your alternator can handel it,also make sure that all your wires are good with no bad connections.

[HimBigChief]

I use 100W bbulbs in all my lights and have done for years. Always passes MOT's and make seeing where you're going in the winter so much easier! That said, I do live very rural so the nearest street light to me is about 5 miles away. It does get proper pitch black at night, where I mean you can't see your hand in front of your face so every bit of light helps! That said, the front of my car is usually covered in more dead bugs and stuff than most other peoples.

[Doggy]

I used a set of 80W dips for a while, but didn't really notice any difference compared with NEW 55W lamps.

I had 100W lamps on an old Manta years ago - they didn't see that good either & I discovered I had 12.5V. at the lampholders with std lamps, but only 10.2V. with the 100W lamps as the wiring wasn't big enough.

Most 406 alternators are rated at 150A. which equates to 1800W - so this at least shouldn't be an issue.

[plod]

I just had 4 Cibie Oscars on the front of my manta
Also had a quad light conversion, so didn;t seem that bad

I only use the standard bulbs myself, as I seem to suffer with getting dazzled a lot, so don't feel it right to do the same

[Welly]

I used to use 90/130W bulbs (the old style H1's? with the high/low beam) they were a bit brighter but being over-wattage bulbs drew high currents - my friend burnt out his light switch which fused together under the high loads.

These days the technology is far better and 55w bulbs with a shorter filament (and life) are probably better that over-watters.

[HimBigChief]

From personal experience, cheap 100W bulbs are about as good as pricey 55W. Up to you, but I'm a tight northerner...

With regards to the melting of wiring, etc. I have heard about this, but have never experienced any hint of this on any of my cars. I'm thinking of upgrading to 55W HIDs on mine once it's back on the road.

[Gary406]

I use 100W bbulbs in all my lights and have done for years. Always passes MOT's and make seeing where you're going in the winter so much easier! That said, I do live very rural so the nearest street light to me is about 5 miles away. It does get proper pitch black at night, where I mean you can't see your hand in front of your face so every bit of light helps! That said, the front of my car is usually covered in more dead bugs and stuff than most other peoples.

MOT only tests the aim of the bean ATM but i think its changing soon because of all the different bulbs available now.

sum1 said on this forum a few weeks ago that its changing because of the aftermarket HIDs

[plod]

VOSA are bringing in new legislation in the new year reference MOT's
One of the components is making after market HID's illegal

[Gary406]

VOSA are bringing in new legislation in the new year reference MOT's
One of the components is making after market HID's illegal

its silly really. it wont take sum1 5 minuts to change lights over for MOT

[HimBigChief]

its silly really. it wont take sum1 5 minuts to change lights over for MOT

Exactly what I was thinking. Unplug HID kit and swap standard bulbs in. Literally a 5 min job for both sides, if not less.

[plod]

I suppose it's the same argument for cat bypass pipes - refit the cat for the mot, then get it changed back to the bypass for 11.5 months of the year

[lozz]

I suppose it's the same argument for cat bypass pipes - refit the cat for the mot, then get it changed back to the bypass for 11.5 months of the year

Easiest option wouid be just take the inards out of a old cat and itl look like the cat is still inplace,
Mines got all the inards took out of it and passed no problem,