Headlight bulb. Halfords or Poundland?

p1an0player

maxheadroom wrote: »

Forgot to mention if you don't need a bulb in a hurry then try getting quality branded ones off ebay cheapest i have found (and don't have easy access to a trade card)

Oh and the poundland ones don't seem to say they are UV filtered so they may not be safe to use on cars with plastic headlamp lenses - may not be much of a saving if they fog the plasting ang then you need new headlamps!

Hmmm how would I know if it was a plastic headlamp lense? it's an old Astra

As for the beam pattern, I've fitted and it works, but I don't really know how to check the beam pattern. I've got three levels of headlamp angle.

p1an0player

maxheadroom wrote: »

I normally fit the brighter bulbs but if it is a difficult change and you don't need brighter bulbs would just get normal ones (and a qulity brand) as they dont blow a frequently

How necessary are brighter bulbs? I sometimes drive on country roads but not often. The Halfords one are £14.99 and BOGOF

zappahey

It's worth checking out your local motor factors. They generally do good quality ulbs and carge much less than Halfrauds.

thescouselander

p1an0player wrote: »

How necessary are brighter bulbs? I sometimes drive on country roads but not often. The Halfords one are £14.99 and BOGOF

Its probably down to personal preference. If you drive on unlit roads regularly I'd recommend them, if not you might not notice so much.

ozvaldinho

The bulbs will last better if you're really careful not to touch the glass or let it touch anything as you're installing it.

dieselglider

AutoExpress have recently done one of their annual(?) bulb tests, click here for the results.

The test covered standard, plus30, plus50, and blue bulbs.

TiTheRev

Blue give the best vision IMO, we do genuine blue-bulb replacement kits for H7 fitment headlamps and sidelights, definate improvement in older yellow light stuff.

maxheadroom

As above brighter ones helpful on unlit rural roads but in town no difference.

As for the beam pattern the first thing you may notice is oncoming motorists flashing you as they are dazzled even when you have dipped beam on. If you park facing a flat wall with your headlights on dipped then a quality bulb should have a sharply defined cut off form light to dark, the poundland bulb has a fuzzy cut off fading from light to dark. As the cut off is not defined this can lead to dazzling oncoming traffic. The headlamp aim (which is the control in the car) will not help this problem other than by angling them right down so meaning you cannot see very far ahead.

As for plastic lenses these are a modern phenomenon modern renaults have them (from about 2000) the owners manual should tell you. If not sure then when the lights have been off overnight the plastic lenses feel 'warmer' than the glass - think about touching a plastic tumbler vs a glass one - the glass one feels colder for longer.

ArsenalFC

If people are after truely bright lights then xenon bulbs are the one to get. I have the brightest 50/55w version available in 6000k colour for £50 delivered from ebay. The brightness is excellent at night.

Please note that most car's original headlight unit cannot direct the beam of xenon light unless you have got angel eyes projector or units which has metal wrap around the bulb. Also you probably need to let your insurance company knows as it's classed as modification.

jkdd77

Apologies for making such a political first post- I have been lurking on the forums for several months. I've picked up lots of useful tips, and I'm a big fan of Martin's programme.


I've checked the forum rules, and I believe that this post is on-topic because it expresses a opinion on one of the companies concerned based on negative personal experience. If this is not the case, and it is considered off-topic, I can only apologise to the board guides for my ignorance

As a young deaf adult I encourage everyone to boycott Poundland because of their prejudiced and ageist policy of not selling basic household items (such as glue and scissors) to anyone under 21. :mad:

An 18-year-old is an adult under English, European, and international law. Surely sales decisions should be taken on the basis of a person's actions and character, not on the basis of irrelevant characteristics such as race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or age (if an adult over 18)?

If it's unjustified to refuse to sell to a deaf young adult because of their deafness, why it is OK to refuse to sell to them because of their age?

They presumably would not dare to ban a disability or minority ethnic group from purchasing a certain product even if statistics showed that they were more likely to mis-use it; so why do they treat 18-20 year-old adults differently? Both forms of discrimination are equally unfair.

Luckily, the Government has today announced legislation (the Equality Bill) to make this unfair discrimination illegal, but it won't come into force for several years, so the only way to get this policy changed quickly is if enough people boycott them. Many young adults have already joined the boycott, and I hope that older adults will show solidarity with us.

I would urge the OP to consider shopping at the non-discriminatory shop (Halfords) even if they charge a little bit more.