Halogens - what do you think?

[pritch]

The Disco's headlamps are, frankly, pathetic.  Visits to my parents in Mid Wales generally involve some night time driving in the middle of nowhere, but right now I can't be bothered fitting driving lights, so I'm thinking of fitting halogen bulbs to the headlamps.  I've found a place that does two bulbs for £12 delivered, so I'm quite keen on the idea.

Now, what concerns me is what other drivers will make of this.  Will the brighter light cause people driving smaller vehicles to be dazzled, even when I'm using dipped beam?

[Hightower]

I've put the xenon bulbs in all of my lights.  They do make a difference, the main one being that the light given out is a much crisper white light rather than the usual dull yellow.
I get all of mine from http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk.  Always good prices and service.

[muddyweb]

Depending on what you put in, one of the biggest issues you may find is the extra heat generated by uprated lamps.

Whilst fine in normal use, hit a big puddle or water splash and the cold water can cause the headlight glass to fracture.

[Hightower]

I've only ever replaced like for like, so all of my bulbs are still 55W.  Never had a problem with them.

As Tim says you may start to crack glass if you put anything bigger in. But then you shouldn't be putting in anything more than 55W if you're going to use them on road, should you  

[strapping young lad]

www.powerbulbs.com is another place

i bought the osram silver star bulbs from there


vv good  

[Bush Tucker Man]

Erm.....
Regarding 'Pritch's' original statement, surely his Discovery would have Halogens fitted as original equipment???

Or is that nit-picking?

Haven't been in a 200 in the dark, but from everything I've heard (& read) they're nowhere near as good as 300 units.

[muddyweb]

BTM.. I think you are right... the Disco would have halogen units with standard H4 lamps fitted.

The light output of the 300 series headlight is indeed better... all to do with the design of the lens and reflector.

[Paul]

Why not fit 300 headlights to your 200,
Chris has done it and the info can be found here:
http://forums.mud-club.com/viewtopic.php?t=1112&start=30

[strapping young lad]

also tim the size of the headlamp on the 300 is a lot bigger than the 200.

but yeh you are correct the difference is in the reflection of the light.

but the conversion to 300 frontend isnt cheap though (seen it on a simmonites advert)

[muddyweb]

also tim the size of the headlamp on the 300 is a lot bigger than the 200.
but yeh you are correct the difference is in the reflection of the light.

 :roll:

That's why I said the design of the lens...   silly boy !

[Andy.]

I've put the xenon bulbs in all of my lights.  They do make a difference, the main one being that the light given out is a much crisper white light rather than the usual dull yellow.
I get all of mine from http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk.  Always good prices and service.

Hmm.... nice site Simon, might give them a go  :D

[sogster]

I probably shouldn't tell you this for fear of the boyz from VOSA paying me a visit but..........

I have always used bulbs rated from 80w/100w or higher. The higest rated bulbs ive used have been 130 / 160w including four spots aswell :shock:  :idea: .

Ask frankie boy what its like when I give him a flash when we see each other!! ( The HEADLIGHTS!!) deary me some peoples minds!!  

My 50th has only got the original headlamps as i cant find a suitable A bar for it at the moment! But ive got 100/130w bulbs in at the mo!!

Sogster.

[V8MoneyPit]

Today, I ordered some of the Osram '30% brigther' H4's to go in my Wipac headlamps. They are the same wattage, so shouldn't generate any more heat. We shall see if they are any better than standard H4's. £2.05 each..... ahh, the joys of being 'in the trade'  :D  8)

[ChrisW]

One thing to be wary of is the wiring in standard 200 model Discovery's - the supply to the headlamps was taken directly through the switch on the steering column rather than using relays - upping the wattage of the lamps can have serious repercussions by melting the switch or even causing a fire in the wiring  :shock:

[Range Rover Blues]

Found a problem (No surely not) with our Rangie, the headlamps run at about 1volt less than the rest of the car! I think it's down to the dim-dip system which is a little cleverer than system I'm used to.  Check out your wiring with a good multimeter.  If you fit higher power bulbs you will only loose more power accross the dodgy connections and waste your money, plus Halogen bubs need to run at 12v or more and running them at any less shortens their life.  Xeneon bulbs are just a fancy name for the same thing, in truth most bulbs made today use Xenon but the high peformance ones make use of it's superior cooling to allow a hotter filament.
If your interested the following is an article I wrote for the SEOC on the subject.  http://www.seoc.co.uk/halogen%20headlamps.htm

[pritch]

Interesting article there.  I had a vague inkling that was how they worked, but never really looked into it in more detal.