VW Jetta H7 Suggestions

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lancerplayer

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I am looking for some recommendations regarding new headlight bulbs in my 2011 VW Jetta.

What kind of bulb will give me the white with a tint of blue color that HID/Xenon headlights found on luxury cars? I do a lot of night driving on rural, county roads and want something that will give me an distinct advantage over the factory bulbs. I do not want to upgrade any wiring or anything. I simply want to swap bulbs and be done without worrying about burning sockets/wires or codes on the dash.

Is there anything out there for my application?

Some options I am considering are:

- Philips Xtreme Vision
- Narva Range Power +50
- Hoën Titanium
- Nokya Cosmic White 5000K

Any input on these bulbs? Any suggestions what would be a more appropriate choice?

Thank you for your time and help.
 
I fitted a pair of Philips extreme vision bulbs to my Volvo and one blew after 9 months and the other after 10 months of daily use.
The highest output bulbs don't seem to last very long and to be honest, the extra 90% light ouput possible was more like 10% extra.
Next time I will try Osram, as my small 5W philips side light bulbs have also failed within a few years.
 
Skip anything offering a "Xenon look" or anything like that. Skip the Hoens, skip the Nokyas. What you want is the highest efficacy non-tinted bulb out there. The Philips X-tremeVision is going to be one of the best in terms of light output. Your other choice is the Osram Night Breaker Plus. Both of these bulbs (the Philips and the Osram) have some degree of tinting on the bulb glass (to appease those wanting a "whiter" light), but the part of the glass where it matters, directly surrounding the filament, is clear.

I have the Philips X-tremePower (previous version of X-tremeVision) in my Honda CR-V in H4 guise. They are, by far, the brightest bulbs I've tried in it. The OEM Philips HB2s were yellowed after so many years and I first tried Sylvania Xtravision bulbs in it. They were okay, but the X-tremePower bulbs blew them away.
 
+1 to Hokiefyd.

If that doesn't yield enough light consider auxiliary driving lamps from a reputable company, Hella would be a good start. Cibie is another good name.
 
Originally Posted By: typ901
I have had the Philips X-Treme Vision in my M-B for 11-13 months now with no issues. The light is brighter, I thought the Lumen difference is 2100 v 1400?


No, you won't get that difference in lumens from a street legal bulb. Each bulb type (H4, H7, HB4, etc) has a nominal lumen rating, and the actual output from any individual bulb is supposed to be that nominal rating, +/- 10%. For example, an H7 is nominally rated at 1450 lumens. Any given H7 bulb cannot produce less than 1305 lumens and not more than 1595 lumens.

HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", there is more to a lamp's performance that source lumens alone. The focus of the light on the road (or the diffusion of light to the sides) can play a big part in usable light on the road. In addition, marketing claims such as "100% more light" mean that in any given part of the beam, there may truly be 100% more light than before. It doesn't necessarily mean that a 1450 lumen bulb is now putting out 2900 lumens. In fact, it does NOT mean that...it CANNOT mean that, or the bulb would be illegal and they wouldn't be able to sell it.

I can tell a huge difference with the Philips X-tremePower bulbs in my CR-V. The OEM Philips bulbs had a generally wide and uniform beam spread. But the XP Philips have a very intense hot-spot of light straight down the center of the road. It's GREAT for night travel because the hot-spot of light is very well focused. All parts of the beam are brighter than before, but the greatest difference has been down the road, where it truly matters for night driving.

Aftermarket bulbs are more than just increased lumens. They can play with spatial filament placement inside the bulb envelope, as long as they stay within allowable tolerances in the type specification. Moving the filament just slightly can really change the performance of the housing as an assembly.
 
lancerplayer, looks like you're getting the same advice on Candlepower.
wink.gif
 
Hokiefyd and Smokescreen,

You two are correct. Nothing wrong with asking outside BITOG, right?
smile.gif
 
You bet...I go to the forum that has the expert knowledge of the object I want to know about.

BITOG for Oil
Toyota Nation for the Corolla
Candle Power Forum for lighting
A Tire website for tires
Ecomodder for fuel economy....etc etc
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: typ901
I have had the Philips X-Treme Vision in my M-B for 11-13 months now with no issues. The light is brighter, I thought the Lumen difference is 2100 v 1400?


No, you won't get that difference in lumens from a street legal bulb. Each bulb type (H4, H7, HB4, etc) has a nominal lumen rating, and the actual output from any individual bulb is supposed to be that nominal rating, +/- 10%. For example, an H7 is nominally rated at 1450 lumens. Any given H7 bulb cannot produce less than 1305 lumens and not more than 1595 lumens.

HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", there is more to a lamp's performance that source lumens alone. The focus of the light on the road (or the diffusion of light to the sides) can play a big part in usable light on the road. In addition, marketing claims such as "100% more light" mean that in any given part of the beam, there may truly be 100% more light than before. It doesn't necessarily mean that a 1450 lumen bulb is now putting out 2900 lumens. In fact, it does NOT mean that...it CANNOT mean that, or the bulb would be illegal and they wouldn't be able to sell it.

I can tell a huge difference with the Philips X-tremePower bulbs in my CR-V. The OEM Philips bulbs had a generally wide and uniform beam spread. But the XP Philips have a very intense hot-spot of light straight down the center of the road. It's GREAT for night travel because the hot-spot of light is very well focused. All parts of the beam are brighter than before, but the greatest difference has been down the road, where it truly matters for night driving.

Aftermarket bulbs are more than just increased lumens. They can play with spatial filament placement inside the bulb envelope, as long as they stay within allowable tolerances in the type specification. Moving the filament just slightly can really change the performance of the housing as an assembly.


So explain these Lumens rating to me then>
http://www.rallylights.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=7

Notice bottom right hand corner the 2100. How do you come across the information that indicates an H7 is limited to a certain lumen? 2100 is not as bright as an HID, not sure why they would be illegal then? Nothing in Regulation 37 about limits for Lumens either...Page 37 mentions the Luminous Flux rating max, but that is perceived (human eye) output, not actual Yes?

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/R037r7e.pdf
 
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Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
You bet...I go to the forum that has the expert knowledge of the object I want to know about.

... A Tire website for tires ...
I've not found a good tire website other than BITOG ... and I've looked, although not lately. What are some others?
 
Its not really a forum per se, but Tire Rack has sometimes hundreds more samplings of tire reviews than any other site I have been to, often you can find a few applied to the same vehicle as what you have. The rating system I found to fairly accurate too with hundreds of thousands of entries to give a fairly decent cross section of what to expect one tire vs another.

Lots of articles and interesting tidbits on the site too.
 
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If these are set up with DRLs, anything other than the OEM Hella Longlife bulbs you will need to replace every few months. We were getting 18 mos out of the OEMs until we finally turned off the DRLs (VAG-COM).

If you don't have DRLs, or can turn them off with VAG-COM, then you have many more bulb options.

Different MY, but in our '09, the Philips VisionPlus is the H7 to have . . . if you keep the DRLs off.
 
Originally Posted By: typ901
So explain these Lumens rating to me then>
http://www.rallylights.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=7

Notice bottom right hand corner the 2100. How do you come across the information that indicates an H7 is limited to a certain lumen? 2100 is not as bright as an HID, not sure why they would be illegal then? Nothing in Regulation 37 about limits for Lumens either...Page 37 mentions the Luminous Flux rating max, but that is perceived (human eye) output, not actual Yes?

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/R037r7e.pdf


The luminous flux you see is the nominal output allowed from the bulb. It has a nominal wattage of 58W max for 12V applications, and a nominal luminous flux of 1500 lumens +/- 10% (I showed it to be 1450 earlier, but that was my mistake; it's actually 1500).

The bulbs you see on that website are 65W bulb. I go back to what I said earlier about a "street legal" bulb. Technically, a 65W H7 bulb does not adhere to the H7 specification, so it's not really a "street legal" bulb. Could one use one of these 65W bulbs safely? Most probably, yes. But as it doesn't adhere to the H7 specification, there's no way to know ALL of the areas where the bulb doesn't meet the specification.
 
Thanks for the input, everyone. I purchased the Philips Xtreme Power bulbs and am waiting for them to arrive. Based on reviews I have read, I should be happy with my choice.

Thanks again!
 
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