Upgrading to Osram Night Breakers

[KozmoNaut]

I get my knickers in a twist whenever people start peddling bullshit, that's all :-)

I agree with you with regards to lamp life. However, many people are willing to accept the reduced longetivy in favour of a higher (whiter) colour temperature. I think perhaps you are being a little to enthusiastic about getting the Philips bulb. A large portion of the reason I decided to go for these bulbs is due to the whiter appearance.

But why do people want the whiter light? It looks like it gives more light, but it is in fact worse, as I have quite thoroughly covered in my previous post. If you get them for appearances' sake, go ahead. But don't kid yourself into thinking they'll provide better vision at night, because they won't.

Regarding HIDs, their color spectrum is actually worse for night vision than halogens, but they get around this by being allowed to have higher total light outputs.

[steve_earwig]

Hold on, let me get this straight, I've got Nightbreakers in the yoyo but you're saying the reason I seem to be able to see more and be more aware of the cut offs is actually an optical illusion and I'm actually seeing less? Weird

[Welly]

I do understand what Kosmo is saying as I have read up about vehicle lighting before (to an extent). Nightbreakers burn brightly because they have a short filament, the colour is 'corrected' slightly by a slight blue band whether this is fashion or not is debatable.

It is true that in certain conditions a yellow light source gives you better visibility I don't pretend to know exactly why but it's something to do with the spectrum of light and the way our eyes process the information. Having said that you'd expect all cars to have Yellers' if they're best so perhaps yellow only works sometimes (like in heavy rain or weird conditions).

All I can report as a lay person is that I noticed 'better' light output when I stuffed a pair of NB's in, they just seemed, err, brighter.

[fattail95]

I'm changing the bulbs almost solely due to the whiter light being more visually attractive. Sure, it may not give a greater light output, but it will give a whiter appearance. :-)

[gumby6371]

Am I the only person who's more than happy with my Aldi specials and tend to drive with the 'If I can't see very far I'd better slow down' mentality?
If you're on an unlit road at night then relax your right foot a little - simples

My road is fairly steep with a blind bend at the top and I've lost count of the times I've been dazzled by stupidly bright lights coming around the bend.

Don't get me started on after market HID kits...

[KozmoNaut]

Am I the only person who's more than happy with my Aldi specials and tend to drive with the 'If I can't see very far I'd better slow down' mentality?
If you're on an unlit road at night then relax your right foot a little - simples

My road is fairly steep with a blind bend at the top and I've lost count of the times I've been dazzled by stupidly bright lights coming around the bend.

Don't get me started on after market HID kits...

I use the standard OEM-quality Osram bulbs that cost next to nothing at the local hardware store. Never had a problem seeing everything just fine at night.

The motorcycle is a different kettle of beans, though. Only one H4 bulb, so a higher-output bulb would seem ideal in order to get the most total light output. Unfortunately it's a single-cylinder and tends to vibrate such delicate bulbs to death quite quickly. So I follow the advise of Lucas, the Prince of Darkness: "Gentlemen do not motor at night" :-P

[Doggy]

Am I the only person who's more than happy with my Aldi specials....

No, for the last few years I have been buying 2 pairs from Aldi and changed all the bulbs at the start of the winter, so as not to have the inconvenience of having to swap them at awkward times. (I flatly refuse to drive any distance with a dipped headlamp not working, if I don't have a spare, I move one of the mains instead).

Our Aldi didn't have them last winter, so after a few days of having only one main beam, I invested in a pair of NB's, with deep scepticism and the distinct feeling I had allowed myself to be swayed by advertising hype. The results amazed me. Much, much better. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21688

[KozmoNaut]

No, for the last few years I have been buying 2 pairs from Aldi and changed all the bulbs at the start of the winter, so as not to have the inconvenience of having to swap them at awkward times. (I flatly refuse to drive any distance with a dipped headlamp not working, if I don't have a spare, I move one of the mains instead).

I've carried one of these sets (with the appropriate headlight bulb) in every car I've owned. It's got a spare of each of the most common bulbs, as well as a couple of spare fuses.

http://www.osram.com/osram_com/products ... /index.jsp

[fattail95]

Got the bulbs installed today and really like them. However, now my side lights look very yellow! What type of bulb are they and any advice on what to go for?

[jonsowman]

I put these in mine since the existing sidelights were truly dreadful: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-W5W-5 ... 1105599539

They're a good match for the Nightbreakers in terms of colour (i.e. no blue tint, despite the colour of the glass).

[PeterN]

I bought a BMW fitted with blue bulbs , they were absolute rubbish, when I changed to conventional ones they looked about four times brighter.

The 406 has got the best headlights I have had even with standard bulbs, especially when you have been driving a Citroen XM for 15 years.

Peter