A rear wash-wipe is a useful aid to rear visibility @donald - you dont have to use it, but if you need it, it helps. I agree with you about headlight brightness.... to a point. Vehicles travel much faster now, and therefore 'demand' much more effective long range visibility. When i was a lad, my mark 1 Cortina managed 50mph in daylight, and 40 at night because the lights were so bad. Now German motorway cruisers seem to want to do 85 all day/night and need ultra bright headlights and fogs so their progress is not impeded.
The problem is that the human eye reacts to a very bright light at night, closes off a bit, and then an 'ordinary' headlight (or object with no light at all) is much less visible for a few seconds.
I find a number of DRL's increasingly blinding in full daylight, and we seem to moved moved away from one reasonable DRL to a bank of them on each side like a set of false eyelashes....

 

I have to admit I was squinting into the dark rain tonight at 50 on back roads. I could see the road, but went banging through a few potholes I did not see. That might have simply been inevitable, but brighter bulbs might have helped me see them.

 

My Ampera has again passed the MOT with flying colours..............with HID headlamps for the second year running.
After fitting these the lights at night are way better than they were with a far better cut off (reduces dazzle) and usable main beam.
Supplied by HIDS4U who also supplied the HID lamps on my other two cars. They supply a very decent kit and are certainly not the cheapest.
The bulbs were 9012 direct replacements and took just half an hour to complete the job.
Only snag was that the supply plug to the ballast was cross wired but easily corrected as the ballast is reverse protected.
No extra wiring required as the supply comes from the headlamp bulb connector.
No bulb blown alarms as the ballast loads the wiring up to fool the ECU that it has higher wattage bulbs.

 

My Osram Nightbreakers were £25 the pair and give excellent light, and need no special fitting... I'm still struggling to find what the issue is here...

 

Even with these, I find the standard light-pattern fails to illuminate the nearside verge when driving down country lanes at night. So I've added a small section fresnel-lens to divert an otherwise wasted section of beam over to the left instead, result is I can now see the verge!

 

Richard - I find it hard to understand how anybody can drive an Ampera after dark and not be driving with a white stick out of the window! Seriously - awful, awful lights!

Andy - That's an innovative idea, using the Fresnel lens...

I, however, would never change back from the HID bulbs I have. I reckon the light source is very small with HIDs because in every application that I have used them the beam cut-off is as sharp as a sharp thing! The dipped beam is well controlled with the boot lids of cars in front brightly illuminated but absolutely nothing reaching their back windows! There is a distinct flick up of the beam running up the nearside bank giving excellent visibility at all times.

The main beams, furthermore, are spectacular with the HIDs! Not only is the road illuminated with great clarity, but so are the verges both sides and, when you drive through trees even they are brightly lit ABOVE the car!

I have an Isuzu Trooper and an Aston Martin DB7 and they both have HIDs, too, and they also have the same razor sharp cut-off on dipped beam.
They do take a little more fitting than bulbs alone, but it all simply plugs together and is really easy - well worth the slight effort!

 

I must just drive too slowly, but I don't have any problems with the standard lights....

 

I agree they are definitely not the brightest, and I don't disagree they can get problematic in a world of cars with illegally bright bulbs (like, er, Amperas fitted with HID bulbs - illegal!!). They are, at best, adequate and at worst 'could be brighter'.

 

It's strange as I find the verge particularly well lit with the new bulbs. Presumably down to how the flip mechanism is fitted, maybe it's very sensitive to manufacturing tolerances?

 

It's not just the verge, it's also hard to see the lhs of the road as you turn left on a countryside road T-junction. I prefer to see the potholes before I drive into them! The standard lens arrangement doesn't chuck much light "round the corners" it seems to me, hence fresnel lens adding another 20-30 degrees bend to an unusable portion of the beam. Only known one car with worse headlights, the Golf Mk3. Beam like a searchlight miles up the autobahn, fine; bloomin' dangrous on twisty country lanes though! Couldn't get shot of it fast enough.

 

Many moons ago SWMBO had a Ford Puma which was a delight to own and drive, but it had projector headlights that were so poor that occasionally I would stop and get out to see if they were actually lit. We took it for a fantastic weekend touring the lake district, and realised then that after dark on unlit wet back roads it was necessary to drive very slowly indeed.

Fast forward 15 years and I imagined that headlight design had advanced. However the futuristic Ampera has surprisingly taken me right back to those dark days.

The effect of poor lights does of course depend upon the roads and conditions encountered.
If I commuted through well-lit suburbs or on A roads or motorways then my car’s lights might be just barely adequate.

However I commute in the early hours cross-country down unlit narrow roads which either have a narrow verge with a large drop, or are flanked by dry stone walls with no pavement, no verge, and only just enough road width for cars to comfortably pass if their mirrors are pulled in. These roads require proper illumination for survival.

On a dry winter morning with clean lights, the only time I can’t see is when there is oncoming traffic, especially if they have HIDs or LEDs. On a wet morning I simply cannot see at all and have had some unforgettable moments that would not have happened in my previous Skoda Fabia VRS as it had cheap halogen headlamps that actually managed to output light.

So now that I have replaced my mirrors, I need lights that help me keep them safe and might save my bodywork or more next time. So next winter its either HIDs, LEDs, or a brace of dipping Cibie Oscars grafted onto the bonnet like a Lancia Stratos.

 

My wife's Vauxhall Tigra was like this. It wasn't until I drove it back in the dark one day that I realised you could only see about 30 foot in front of you without main beam! It turned out to be that the levelling was set wrongly; it was right at the "wrong" end of travel, so legal but barely. Moving it to the other end of the legal travel transformed the lighting completely, later improved further with Osram Nightbreakers.
Have you checked the levelling on the lights? Sounds obvious, and I know they're adjustable in the car, but there must also be a manual adjustment somewhere too.

 

Richard, I've lost track of who is replying to whom! In my case lights are all adjusted OK. Despite my tweaks these lights are not as good as my previous Fabia or wife's C1. But they are just about adequate for me. Others may need HIDs & I'm tempted to try some!

 

I think that one of the main issues is that the headlamps are not (may not be) correctly alligned. I took my car into an MOT station and asked them to check the headlights. The guy that did the check was very helpful and called me over to look at the equipment. For an MOT the lights were 100% legal and passed the test, they needed NO adjustment, and he would not have adjusted them. Niether did he offer to.

However when you look closely at the equipment each headlamp produces a "hotspot" (which he pointed out and said faulty or ill fitting bulb) where the light is brightest and most concentrated. I have always thought that my left hand headlamp was misalligned as there was always a bright spot on the curb just in front of the car. When on main beam there were two vertical ovals with a black spot in the middle. The bright spot on the right lamp was virtually in the centre, the left however was almost off the side of the screen on the left.

I took the bull by the horns (or lights if you wish) and found the the adjustment screw on the top of each light actually moved the refector as you watch through the glass (plastic), left and right. Now over several night trips on dark roads, I can still see the curb but the black spot in the midlle on main beam and the bright spot on the curb are no longer present and the subjective feeling is that things are a lot better.

Moving the reflector left/right did not move the vertical setting as I had made a mark on the garage door and knew where the front wheels were when I parked so the car was always in the same place when I did a tweak. I have had no objections from other motorists when on dip beam.

Just thought this may be helpful if you notice such anomolies. BTW I had fitted the OSRAM Night Breakers as mentioned elsewhere.

 

This is exactly what I suspected... Good investigative work there!

 

My previous car was an Audi A2 - truly terrible lights: changed to Osram Night Breakers and wow! I could see at night!!!
One of the A2 forum guys actually grafted the entire dual Xeon self-levelling HID's from one of the top Audi models into the A2 headlights - he also found a set of headlight washers (hens teeth for A2's) to fit at the same time, as if you do fit HIDS, they must (to be legal) be self-levelling and have headlight washers.
It'll be Osrams for me.

 

Headlight are rubbish but can be improved. I have tried Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited and Laser (HB4 modified to fit) - better, but still not all that good although Laser seemed, unusually, better than Unlimited, (they were brilliant on my old 2010 Citroen C5) so tried PIAA Hyper HIR2 from Powerbulbs (based in Sittingbourne) at £35.99 a pair including post. Bit of a revelation - much better and can now see at last at night when driving although higher larger cars with their HIDs still blind when coming towards my low on the ground Ampera.

Very pleased with these although how long they will last is anyones guess so I am going to order a second pair - just in case.

Have tried a few other 51 and 55 watt bulbs but nothing is as good as these PIAA ones. 80 watt and 100watt ones are illegal and anyway, will probably melt the headlight internals. HIDs are illegal unless you can fit self-levelling and headlight washers so its PIAA then.

Geoff.

 

Geoff - are the ones you have tried a blue white light or yellow? I went for elta vision pro and whilst a bit better than the standard candles, they are definitely yellow. I’m looking for something legal and with a blue/white light output to match the other lights on the car. Cheers👍

 

Hi,
The ones I have bought and fitted are 3700 kelvin so not a full warm white (2700 to 3400 kelvin) but then not a cold blue light (5000 to 6500 or 7000 kelvin).
They were bought through Powerbulbs and are PIAA Hyper Arros HIR2 Powerbulbs ref HE912 supposed for dipped beam but of course they do both the same bulb is used for both dipped and main.
If you go on their website, don't put your car in but go to the top of the page and pick Halogen Bulbs then pick HIR2 - you will find them in there at £35.99 a pair including post.
To me they are the best I have found and am so pleased with them I have purchased a second pair - just in case. I suppose others may think differently but I am pleased indeed with these and haven't found anything, so far, as good. The price is reasonable too.
Hope that helps,
Geoff.

 

Hi,
The ones I have bought and fitted are 3700 kelvin so not a full warm white (2700 to 3400 kelvin) but then not a cold blue light (5000 to 6500 or 7000 kelvin).
They were bought through Powerbulbs and are PIAA Hyper Arros HIR2 Powerbulbs ref HE912 supposed for dipped beam but of course they do both the same bulb is used for both dipped and main.

Is there any effort/modification involved in fitting them, or do they just slot straight in to the gaps left by removing the standard ones?

 

Hi,
They are HIR2 fitting exactly then same as the original ones - simply remove the present ones and replace with these, no mods needed. I suppose you could get the HB4 version of the same make etc for £10 cheaper and modify them to fit - very easy to do, or pay a bit more for these HIR2 ones. They are not as good as HID lights (illegal on these cars) but they are the best normal ones I have found.
Geoff.

 

[Note to self: they're the £36 ones here]

 

20% off for a short while with code displayed on website (payday20), careful though as first attempt tried to take the full price from bank account. Changed the postage selector a couple of times and it updated to the correct price.

 

Thought - if you haven't done it before - remove light back cover by twisting to the left. Get hold of the back of the bulb holder and twist to the left so the black connector is vertical then gently pull it to remove.
Next lift the small plastic hook thing and pull the lead out of the bulb assembly. Replace with new bulb assembly in exactly a reverse of the removal. The cable connector will only fit the bulb holder one way.
One note of caution, the right light can be a bit difficult to get at due to lack of room. Easier to remove the air filter cover - two metal clips and then fiddle it forward to remove and and lift and tie it a little out of the way , not too far to damage the connectors - makes it somewhat easier to get at the back of the light. Don't forget to put everything back afterwards! Left and right are from the back of the car looking forward. Do not handle the bulb surface and do not scratch the bulb glass on anything whilst fitting it - take care.
Always possible that you may have to adjust the light position settings afterwards but that can happen with any new bulb. Any position change will be very slight and if so simply leave it.

 

Nick,
Yes they are the ones.
Geoff.

 

B----r missed that!
Geoff.

 

Then again he/she might be grateful for the better lighting and not complain about it!
Geoff.

 

Hmm, yes. Could advertise as "upgraded headlights" and stick £100 on the price 🤔

 

Only invalid if fitted with LED or HID headlights, not these which are normal bulbs at 12v 55w, HID2 but probably have Zenon in the bulb and therefore give a brighter light. Perfectly normal bulbs just give a better light and beam - I feel and are better than others I have tried.
Geoff.