Headlights

Mikey B · January 22

Due to a small bump my partners car is in for repair and we have a courtesy car - Its a Dacia Jogger. Driving it at night I've noticed how much better the headlights are than in my IS - like hugely better. When I first got my IS I changed the bulbs to osram nightbreakers, but that would have been 4 years ago and about 100K miles since - a lot of that at night - do the bulbs dim over time? Just wondering if its worth changing the bulbs to see if it helps.

On another note I'm surprised at the level of spec in a mid range Dacia - it has keyless, climate, android auto - nice spec for a budget car however its 1.0 engine is quite peppy but only getting about the same MPG as the IS - had expected a little better

ColinBarber · January 23

HID bulbs do dim over time. Standard halogen bulbs don’t tend to dim that much, not sure if the extra bright ones are worse in that respect.

wharfhouse · January 23

9 hours ago, Mikey B said:

Due to a small bump my partners car is in for repair and we have a courtesy car - Its a Dacia Jogger. Driving it at night I've noticed how much better the headlights are than in my IS - like hugely better. When I first got my IS I changed the bulbs to osram nightbreakers, but that would have been 4 years ago and about 100K miles since - a lot of that at night - do the bulbs dim over time? Just wondering if its worth changing the bulbs to see if it helps.

On another note I'm surprised at the level of spec in a mid range Dacia - it has keyless, climate, android auto - nice spec for a budget car however its 1.0 engine is quite peppy but only getting about the same MPG as the IS - had expected a little better

One thing I've found in my IS 300h is that any dirt on the headlight lenses seems to significantly cut down the brightness of the lights. At this time of year particularly, with road grime thrown onto the headlights, it only takes a few miles to noticeably reduce brightness (presumably due to light scatter). The lenses don't always look dirty but it just seems to take a light layer to make a big difference and giving them a wash off is very noticeable, especially on dipped beam - full beam seems to suffer less.

Glingraps · January 23

13 hours ago, Mikey B said:

Due to a small bump my partners car is in for repair and we have a courtesy car - Its a Dacia Jogger. Driving it at night I've noticed how much better the headlights are than in my IS - like hugely better. When I first got my IS I changed the bulbs to osram nightbreakers, but that would have been 4 years ago and about 100K miles since - a lot of that at night - do the bulbs dim over time? Just wondering if its worth changing the bulbs to see if it helps.

On another note I'm surprised at the level of spec in a mid range Dacia - it has keyless, climate, android auto - nice spec for a budget car however its 1.0 engine is quite peppy but only getting about the same MPG as the IS - had expected a little better

Ps: I think playing Basket Random will be the most experienced basketball game.

If everything else checks out, then yes, new bulbs could be the answer. If you want to stick with halogens, Nightbreakers are still a good choice. But LED or laser lights might be worth exploring for superior brightness, longevity, and even energy efficiency (which could help explain the Jogger's similar MPG despite the smaller engine).

Stever750 · February 20

This will be one of the first things I'll do, use brighter HID replacements. How, easy are they to change? The Superb I've just pxed was a pig to change as you had to remove wheel arch trim.

wharfhouse · February 20

29 minutes ago, Stever750 said:

This will be one of the first things I'll do, use brighter HID replacements. How, easy are they to change? The Superb I've just pxed was a pig to change as you had to remove wheel arch trim.

If you do have HID then they can be changed without removal of too much depending on how small and dextrous your hands are. However, if you have a face-lift car you might have LED so check what you have before planning any upgrade. For improving HID others have recommended Osram Night Breaker as providing better light than OEM.