brighter H1 bulbs?

[Cujet]

I'm looking for a listing of lumens of various H1 bulbs. A while back, I found such a thing, but can no longer find it.

I have 2 Honda's that take H1 bulbs, a Honda 250 scooter and a S2000. Both need help in the high beam department.

The scooter has 2 H1 headlights, but just one is on low beam. It's sinfully bad. On high, it's about the same as low beams on an old car.

Most H1's are around 1550 lumens. Some, like the Phillips are rated at 1700 lumens. Not much of a change. I'd love some HIR H1's or similar. But, can't find them anymore.

 

[dparm]

There are legal limits on light output from an H1. That's why you won't see a huge difference.

If you want maximum light output, try and find one of the bulbs with the high-efficiency design, like the Osram Night Breaker Plus.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Hear, hear.

My CR-V (and previous Civic) uses these bulbs and they are dreadful. AND, they burn out every 4-6 months. Luckily they are easy to change. I just can't justify the large expense and shorter life of the HID bulbs.

 

[mikered30]

It is really hard to beat Philips X-treme Vision H1. Not to be confused with the last generation X-treme Power Headlight.

 

[sleddriver]

I'd suggest looking on the candlepower forum for that information.

 

[typ901]

http://www.rallylights.com/all/lights/li...umens-pair.html

Lists it at 2100 lumens, I'm skeptical of that...and not cheap!

 

[DBMaster]

I have bought bulbs from Susquehanna Motorsports for years (15 years, to be precise). I bought my H4 conversion housings for the old Accord there, too. Good company!

 

[mikered30]

The Philips X-treme Vision H1 can be found for much cheaper online.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
I'm looking for a listing of lumens of various H1 bulbs. A while back, I found such a thing, but can no longer find it.

I have 2 Honda's that take H1 bulbs, a Honda 250 scooter and a S2000. Both need help in the high beam department.

The scooter has 2 H1 headlights, but just one is on low beam. It's sinfully bad. On high, it's about the same as low beams on an old car.

Most H1's are around 1550 lumens. Some, like the Phillips are rated at 1700 lumens. Not much of a change. I'd love some HIR H1's or similar. But, can't find them anymore.

I would read these:

Halogen headlight bulbs

The Lighting Thread

Basically most of the aftermarket headlight bulbs that claim higher performance are bogus, illegal, or both. Under the current American regulations an H1 bulb may produce up to 115% of its rated lumens, over that and it's illegal.

The two approaches to exceeding 115% involve decreasing the life of the bulb fairly drastically and increasing the current draw. As you might imagine increasing the current draw risks your wiring and overheating the headlight assembly. What the American made "premium" bulbs provide is a better quality light, not greater range or lumens.

Having said that, the German-made Osram Silverstars are considered by many the pick of the litter, along with Philips VisionPlus, Narva RangePower+50, and Tungsram Megalicht. These are all European bulbs which are not sold through regular channels in the US. The Osrams are NOT the same as the American Silverstars.