OMG!

That is just pants and pathetic IMO.

 

To be fair to GM projector headlamps is supposed to be a recent technology improvment over twin headlamp setups

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7669822_do-pr ... -work.html

Also the lamp used is also pretty recent technology, circa 2009 and is generally fitted to high end cars

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=5028

Gary
Electron Del 17th May
4500 miles
98mpg
Havin a ball !

 

To be fair to GM projector headlamps is supposed to be a recent technology improvment over twin headlamp setups

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7669822_do-pr ... -work.html

Ok, So a single low beam bulb with something obscuring half its light output is *better* than an unobscured low beam bulb and an additional high beam bulb? Makes no sense. My Lexus had projector headlights too, but all the light from the low beam went on the road, and it had high beam bulbs too. The Prius was the same. In fact, I can't think of any other car that only has low beam, anyone else?

As for the 9012, its recent'ish, but its no where near the output of HID and takes more power (55W vs 35W). It sounds suspiciously like cost saving to me, but what do I know.... only that my lights are crap.

 

Seems the technology is called BiHalogen Projector. It would have been nice if they had gone with BiXenon but the additional cost of the leveling and washing would have increased the cost and I guess the weight.

I am OK with the lights which are better than my Lexus IS220d - they were shocking and made me wish I had gone for higher spec model!

 

Dozens of owners on the GM Volt forum have modified their cars to have HIDs. It's a pretty easy change that can be done for under £100 these days. Because they are projector lights, they already have the correct geometry to use HID.

 

I seem to remember from a year or two back that it a legal requirement to have self-leveling with HID lamps? Is that true?

Does the HID kits include leveling for under £100?

 

[I seem to remember from a year or two back that it a legal requirement to have self-leveling with HID lamps? Is that true? ]

Paul, you are right. See attached link: http://www.phoenixautobulbs.co.uk/tp/hi ... tion-2012/

LK13.

 

I tried HID bulb set up in my Corsa and was not impressed, not sure if it was the bulb rating but they were recommended on a forum so thought I would give them a go. I have just bought some Osram NightBreaker Unlimited to try. The only thing I find with buying these 'stronger' bulbs is their lifespan. The place I bought them from give a 12 month guarantee so I better get them fitted quickly.

 

Where did you find 'Osram NightBreaker Unlimited' that will fit Ampera?
I am very interested in this because I can only find standard Philips bulbs for HIR2's spec thats fitted to Ampera?

 

Remember everyone... fitting HID bulbs without a self-leveling kit approved for the purpose is illegal and if your lights are a factor in an accident you could be in a lot of trouble as your insurance might not be valid.

Just a thought...

I would love better lights on the Ampera and teh Leaf... partuclarly the Leaf. OK on dipped as they are LED but the mains are really crappy.

 

I bought them from Powerbulbs.com, standard H11 fitting. £32.49 a pair and a free pair of W5W bulbs (these might do the number plate not sure yet.
I should maybe mention that on the back of the pack it has:-
Up to 110% more light, Up to 35m more distance, Up to 20% whiter light but lifespan seems to be just over half of the standard type bulb.
They do come with a 12 month warranty so hopefully will be covered if they blow within that time.

 

Looks interesting.
Please lets us know the following after you have fitted them.
Did the Harness multi-plug just plug in without any problems?
Were the tabs in the correct place to lock the bulbs in place into the headlamp?
How much better are the headlights?

If this is successful I shall buy myself some for Christmas.
The only thing I do not like about the Ampera is the headlights!!

 

Might be a wee while before I get the chance, weather up here is not too great and the forecast looks like more of the same, if not snow!

 

It's worth having a look at GM-Volt.com. Lots of people in the US have done headlight upgrades.

 

I should mention that Chevrolet had my car in for two months recently trying to correct an issue I had. In the end they didn't do anything, but they did mention they had checked the car for modifications including possible replacement headlights.

So go right ahead if you want to upgrade the headlights, but I think if you have any warranty problems you'd better put them back before letting Chevrolet look at the car.

 

@h8ten - Any news on the new bulbs for you headlights - it will soon be summer and you won't be needing them

 

Sorry been kind of busy but it's drier today, must go and change them and try them tonight.

 

Okay a bit of a fail, had a look at offside headlamp, need to remove cover from air filter to gain access so tried nearside first.
Bulb out and went to put new one in, wrong type, similar but different. It seems as though it is not the H11 as I first thought but could be HB3 or HB4 (had to call Powerbulbs to check and these were their suggestions as they look very similar). I will need to tackle the nearside one again to check exactly what markings are on it before I ask for replacements.

 

OK Thanks for the info hope the next attempt goes well

 

From all the searching to find out the bulb 'type' I have found that the standard Philips HIR9012LL gets a fairly good write-up. Granted that some of the reviews relate to a year or so ago but they still come out as a lot of user's preferred choice to the extent that some users are even buying them and adapting the bulb base to fit older/inferior fitments. If I get any further with the normal bulb reference I will post here.

 

Opened up the NS headlight and guess what I found?

A single Phillips HIR2 /2012 bulb. Oh but that's a low beam 55w bulb right? So where's the high beam bulb?...... There isn't one, just a single low beam bulb.

So, how does high beam work without a bulb? Those who don't want to be on a downer quit reading now.

The headlight is angled up, sort of where a high beam should be but there is a what looks like a gate blocking just less than half the light. Select high beam and the gate moves and you get all the light. If you use a white wall and park about 1m away then you can see for yourself. I did take some pics waf the inner working of the lamp but the 'choose file' is greyed out.

So low beam is like driving on high beams, with a low beam bulb and tape over the top half of the headlight. I need a box of doughnuts right now.

I think the reason for the mechanical moving shutter controlling the beam dipping is that anything other than halogen bulbs need warm up time, so a conventially dipping lamp which switches on the main beams would leave you literally in the dark for a few seconds whilst they warmed up.

I have fitted HID lamps to all of my cars for some time now: my Trooper has regular H4 twin filament bulbs which are replaced with an HID bulb with an electro-magnetically moving lamp tube so the same bulb does dip and main and are always hot; an Astra MklV convertible which my wife had had projectors for dip and reflector lamps for mains which was OK-ish because the dips stayed on and covered the delay of the main beams starting up; and my Aston has the electro-magnetically dipping bulbs in the projectors and regular non-dipping bulbs in the supplementary driving lamps which come on with the main beams, but it takes a few seconds which doesn't matter because the main beams in the headlamps are always hot and move instantaneously.

The Ampera, instead of moving the bulb, moves a little shutter which does a similar job.

In any event, now I have HID'd my Ampera it is no longer scary to drive at night!

 

I think the reason for the mechanical moving shutter controlling the beam dipping is that anything other than halogen bulbs need warm up time, so a conventially dipping lamp which switches on the main beams would leave you literally in the dark for a few seconds whilst they warmed up.

FWIW I would think that LED (or LASER) headlights would be even better than halogen at turning off and on quickly - they use them for fibre optics comms for that reason.

 

Remember guys... fitting HIDs without approved self-levelling is not permitted... see link earlier in thread.

 

Guys,
I too have fitted "Osram Night Breaker Unlimiter HB4 Headlight Bulbs (Twin Pack)" from amazon. They are far, far better than the originals. On paper these are a different fitting to HIR2 9012s, but all you need do is clip a tiny bit off one of the 3 plastic lugs. See the Customer Reviews where I've posted tech info about light-output compared to originals, plus a piccy of what to trim. It's obvious when you put them side-by-side.

The other thing I've done is make a tiny fresnel-lens beam-director which redirects an un-used bit of light-beam so it illuminates the verge nicely. So at last I can see the grass at the side of the road when on country lane with oncoming cars! If anyone's interested, I can supply details, but it's your choice to do this! IMHO it makes the car safer at night.

 

Cheers Andy. Saw your review on Amazon.co.uk and ordered and modded the ONB-U HB4 twin pack for £23 free delivery on prime. Fitted them this afternoon a nd a quick test in the drive by the wife confirms they are much brighter. A real world test in the dark soon will confirm how much better. Hopefully she wont winge anymore and I wont have to look at the HID mods.

M

 

As a mere onlooker, not yet worthy of an Ampera (still have our Leaf 'L' plates on!), i cannot understand why such a superbly spec'ed out and made car has crap headlights and no rear wash-wipe.......

 

... cannot understand why ... no rear wash-wipe....

Re the wash-wipe, I suspect they were trying as hard as poss to get the drag coeficient as low as they could - in the way thet nerdy engineers will! (I'm onemyself...). They also don't allow you to attach a tow-bar - a shame as I have a smal trailer for taking cuttings to the tip - very green, no? - and they don't allow a roof-box (here in UK that might have lost sales if this had been a high-selling car). I've applied Rainex & that works a treat for me - when it's wet, I get a surface with the rain in tiny dots & I can see clearly through rather like those beaded-curtains in continental cafe-doors to keep flies out. But I do find that the sun can shine on the rear window when it's dry, and there's enough dust in the rainex film to scatter light & make it hard to see out of the back. So it's back to the rear-view mirrors!

 

I have always wondered that. They produce a state-of-the-art car and spoil it with cheap lights and attachments.

 

Yes, Jim, I agree with you certainly concerning LED lamps which have a very satisfying snap-on and snap-off kind of performance. I'm well into my LEDs, having 130-odd throughout the house and every incandescent bulb that I can replace on my older vehicles and trailers etc has been replaced with an LED.

The up-spec bulbs I think we're talking about here (well, I know I am! LOL) are HID, or High Intensity Discharge Xenon, run at a few squillion volts - and definitely have a warm-up cycle. The way they come on is a little odd in that you get a very bright flash of a millisecond or so, followed by a gradual increase from maybe half strength to a tarmac-melting full strength! In truth, it's possibly only a full second or two, but whatever it is is too long to be flying on instruments!!

Although they are bright I must say that there seems to be much less stray scatter compared with incandescents. Maybe because the source is a smaller spot with less escape, but the cut-off is much sharper.

I have no problems with oncoming traffic being dazzled, incidentally, but I do drive with the levelling switched down a notch as a courtesy, really, and only put them right up when I'm on B roads and the like.