Quote:
Originally Posted by uwanna
Checked out the candlepower.com lighting forum. Seems to be a very knowledgeable resource. Of all the H4 incandesent bulbs referenced, the consensus seems to be that the Philips X-treme Vision +130% bubs are BY FAR the best available. With only 55w/60w they seem to outperform virtually all the other bulbs. They do mention that lifespan is shorter than
,most other bulbs (approx 450 hrs), but if they really perform like they say, that's a small price to pay
Amazon.com: Philips X-treme Vision +130% Headlight Bulbs (Pack of 2) (H4 60/55W): Automotive |
I removed the LED bulb replacements that I talked about in a previous post in this thread. At first blush, I was dazzled by the amount and brightness of the LED replacements, but then after doing a large amount of reading in the Candlepower.net website I did some rethinking. They BY FAR recommend the Phillips X-treme +130 bulbs listed above.
So I installed them in place of the LEDs. Great improvement overall! These bulbs at
55/60 watts are brighter than 80/100 halogen and reach out much further (130% further), also they are 3700K color.
To test, I installed one LED bulb and the Phillips Halogen in the other and set off at night for a test. I stopped in a large shopping center and alternately covered one light or the other on both low and high beam. The Halogen reached out further than the LED with a more focused high beam, whereas the LED was rather diffused with TOO MUCH of a localized "splash" of light nearer the car which compromised me being able to see long distance as good as the Halogens . On low beam the LEDs had virtually NO cutoff whereas the Halogens were perfect. I think what makes the difference is the geometry is CORRECT between the Halogen filaments and the reflector. The LEDs are not correctly placed vs the reflectors and in fact CAN'T BE due to LED inherent design. The halogen filaments glow 360degrees where the LEDs are flat and just project out 180deg or less. To sum it up, the LED geometry is just wrong! I guess I never appreciated the engineering that went into the original design of the Bosch H4 Porsche light. I also couldn't get used to the 6000k LED color.
To sum it up, after trying both I will be sticking with the Phillips X-treme +130
bulbs in my car! Thought I was an LED convert, but I've been converted back to halogen LOL! The only down side is shorter than normal bulb life than generic
Halogens, but with all that I spend on this car, it's a trivial thing!