Xenons - Not Over Impressed

[phil3012]

Used the main beams on my Cupra for the first time properly last week and I must say that I'm not over impressed.

I was suprised that with main beams on it shines yellow again rather than blue. The overall result was no better than standard headlights

Correct me if I'm wrong, but on the main beams it the outer light of the two in each headlight seems to overpower the inner light which is the Xenon one. When I switch main beams on the cover on the Xenon light it shines fully rather than half and the outer light becomes more powerful. This makes the overall beam yellow in colour.

Is this how its supposed to work? I was expecting Xenons to be amazing but I can't see why they are so special...

 

[andycupra]

are the main beams Xenon?

ive read they are not advised for full beam as flashing people using the full bean is not good for xenons. (fast on / off issues).
Therefore this is why im querying if the full beam would be xenons. By the sounds of it they are not. If so a change of bulbs would probably solve this

 

[daveyonthemove]

are the main beams Xenon?

ive read they are not advised for full beam as flashing people using the main been is not good for xenons. (fast on / off issues).
Therefore this is why im querying if the main would be xenons. Byt the sounds of it they are not. If so a change of bulbs would probably solve this

I think your right Andy, the full beams are normal halogen, and the main beams are Xenon.
Try replacing the Full beam bulbs with something better. I have Osram Night breakers in mine, and they do make a very big difference!

 

[phil3012]

Testing it this afternoon:

The outer light (Halogen) is on for both dipped and main/full beam. It is however brighter with full beam on.

The xenon light has a cover that partially covers the xenon bulb for dipped beam and this moves to reveal the full bulb when you have main beam on.

I'm just suprised that something which costs so much money as an option (luckily it is standard on the Cupra) doesn't actually give you that much benefit.

 

[Donnyboy]

Side lights should be the small bulb next to the H1 bulb for main beam. These are the outside bulbs. Xenon as you know is the inner unit that you can't actually see the bulb.

Side lights on - smallest bulb (slightly blue on mine)
Dipped beam - Xenon lamp and side light
Main beam - Xenon and H1 bulb in outer light....side light also stays on.

Does the Xenon get brighter in main beam???

I think the xenon lights are great. Was on the country roads the other night and thought full beam was fantastic too.

 

[andycupra]

interesting, sound like the halogens are the root cause of the yellow light, and perhaps a change of these to a better bulb may get rid of the yellow and provide a bit more light.

 

[phil3012]

Does the Xenon get brighter in main beam???

I wouldn't say brighter but the bulb is partially covered for dipped beam which is lifted when you switch main beam on. This widens the coverage of the Xenon beam. I also read somewhere a couple of days ago that this the xenon light is partially covered under dipped beam.

 

[Donnyboy]

I just got some H1 Phillips Blue vision's for the main beam. Going to fit them ASAP and these definetely give a whiter, 30% brighter light.

Also have yet another set of side light bulbs to try and colour match the xenons.

 

[johnbev]

I think the h1 bulbs are meant to come on when the lights are not (ie daylight) on when you flash the lights. This is due to the xenons needing a warm up period which is obviously no good when you flash for a split second, also constantly turning on/off is no good for xenons. When the lights are on and you flash or use main beam it activates some kind of refractor in the lense which alters the beam. The h1`s also come on at this point, to assist? It was obviously a cheaper way to design the wiring/relays than having the h1`s only when quick flashing.

 

[cupraII]

I think the h1 bulbs are meant to come on when the lights are not (ie daylight) on when you flash the lights. This is due to the xenons needing a warm up period which is obviously no good when you flash for a split second, also constantly turning on/off is no good for xenons. When the lights are on and you flash or use main beam it activates some kind of refractor in the lense which alters the beam. The h1`s also come on at this point, to assist? It was obviously a cheaper way to design the wiring/relays than having the h1`s only when quick flashing.

Absolutely right. It is not recommended that a HID D1 xenon buld is started more than 3 times in 1 hour, this dramatically shortens the life of the bulb, these bulbs are not ideal for Main flash beam. It takes a 1200v blast from the ballast pack to the starter to ignite the bulb. If you are worried qabout the colour of the bulb, go for something with a colour temperature of 7600K to give that blueish tint the otherside of the white look (5400K), Yellow bulbs are normally 2800K. The 5400K will give better overall lighting if you really use these for driving. The LED side light bulbs are the best to get the white look in the side light. I Tried the blue tint side light bulbs but they still look yellow compared the the HID bulb, although a vast improvement all the same.

 

[coxxic]

and what about this? H1s are placed because they produce "yellow" light as we all know, but they provide more "shine" in random weather conditions - it means yellow light is better for bad weather conditions such as fog and especially rainy road with lot of reflection , etc...

And H1s cooperated with xenons together give more shine which look more like daylight for your eyes.

of course, you can get more visible shine with "bluevision" or "whitelook" bulbs + xenon, but it works only in case of good weather conditions.

all is about how work our eyes and how they are able to react to different wave-lenght of light.

 

[Donnyboy]

I fitted my H1 blue vision blubs today and they look much whiter than the standard bulbs. Can also confirm that the Xenons get brighter with high beam...........checked against garage door.

I also changed my blue vision side light bulbs for a bluer bulb so will check the colour match when its dark.

 

[s3quence]

Right, now its time for me to look like an idiot! ok...

Looking at the pick below of ZBoyd's Cupra. There are 3 lights...

http://www.seatcupra.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=15192
http://www.seatcupra.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=15189

The middle one im assuming is the Xenon light?, the one on the left im assuming is the full beam (or in this case the yellow one)? What is the one on the right?

Next stupid question...
Can I replace the "yellow one" with these without doing any damage to the xenon bulbs
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/product.php?productid=16312

Final stupid question...
If the answer to the above question is yes, then how would someone who's experiance of "modding" to date is entirely made up of sticking a seatcupra.net sticker on the back window go about doing this?

 

[phil3012]

Right, now its time for me to look like an idiot! ok...

Looking at the pick below of ZBoyd's Cupra. There are 3 lights...

http://www.seatcupra.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=15192
http://www.seatcupra.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=15189

The middle one im assuming is the Xenon light?, the one on the left im assuming is the full beam (or in this case the yellow one)? What is the one on the right?

Isn't the inner one the indicator, middle xenon, outer halogen?

Happy New Year to All !!!!

 

[s3quence]

Isn't the inner one the indicator, middle xenon, outer halogen?

Happy New Year to All !!!!

Told you it would be a stupid question