Headlight bulbs

I have found the standard type H4 bulbs in the K11 Micra to be pretty inadequate when driving at night if there is not much street lighting.

I got lost last week because the headlights didn't light up the street enough so I could properly read street signs. I've got a gig in Goulburn in June, and driving at night on the highway doesn't really seem safe to me when even the high beams are barely showing me much road ahead.

I'm looking to pick up some high intensity light bulbs to hopefully make driving at night a little safer. What brands/models of headlights are people using that give them a far better night time driving experience?

I saw some Narva high intensity headlight and parker light bulbs at Auto Pro yesterday, but they are pretty pricey ($60 on special apparently). I am wondering if anyone has found any other good sets that are cheaper.

I'm wary of the ones on eBay. There are plenty of 90/100w ones on there that probably would make the headlights a lot brighter, which I want. But also aware that cheap shoddy ones may at best blow very quickly, or at worst start a fire.

Cheers :)

there's no difference in buying cheap ones or expensive ones, ive bought expensive ones and and cheap ones before and they both do the same thing, the bulbs blow and u buy a new pair of bulbs. the cheap ones im using at the moment is still going after 3 years of usage where as the expensive phillips HID's are just brand name, they both look the same. pretty much all HID's are the same with just different labels on them, well the cheap ones anways. dont forget the the brightness of the bulbs too 6000k would be suitable for any road driving driving, 8000k and 10000k would piss people off on the road because they are just like high beams.

this is my test on HID anyways, id still go for the cheap ones if i had to buy them again.

Note: stay away from bulbs which act like HIDs without a ballast they will blow out really quick.

Try adjusting the headlight projection angle aim it a bit higher and to the left a bit. I found adjusting those screws can really help increase visiblity at night. I have navara bulbs and they are more than bright enough for road driving.

I haven't looked yet, but where are the adjustment screws? I might test it tonight, see if it helps.

Also Micro34, what do you mean by ballast?

Thanks all. :-)

hid on stock light glass will look VERY bright even adjusted to low...narva dont have hid for $60 unless your're talking brighter heligen. but generally a set of hid h4 hi/low $300-350 or h4 shutter system bit cheaper.. cheap hid will last 'up to' 2000hours but there also philips genuine kit $800+ last 'at' 3000hours.

you best option is philips 'xtream 80+ power to night' 400hours $85 which is a standard color, used same power and voltage but 80% more light output and distance(i've used em for long distance)...

using just higher wattage bulbs 100w etc will risk melting rear housing or wiring..

There are two hex head screws that stick out from the back of each headlight casing.
You can use socket of a flat blade screw driver or by hand.

Park a few meters from a wall and use that as a reference height and adjust it.
The udea is to have the passenger sude point up and to the left (from drivers seat), with the drivers side light aiming a bit lower and straight (to avoid being a dick and blinding ppl)

I'm not talking specifically about HIDs, just higher intensity lights. The Narvas most probably were halogen. Yes, I'm after more light output and distance.

The Phillips are more expensive than the Narvas. I will try the adjustments first, and maybe try the Narvas second if I'm still not happy.

Yeah I don't want to run the higher wattage if I'm risking melting housings or stuffing wiring. Good point, I had forgotten about that factor.

Cool, thanks. I'll check it out tonight. Last time I adjusted headlights was my old Datsun 200B back in the late nineties. Didn't think I really had an option to adjust new cars headlight housings, thought they will built to be in the optimum position.