Replacement headlight bulbs.

[Dobby]

I’m taking a long trip this fall in my 2015 Hyundai Genesis 3.8 sedan and I’m looking to upgrade my headlight bulbs for night driving. These days I’m having trouble with night vision. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind of bulbs I should get?

 

[Suburbazine]

I’m taking a long trip this fall in my 2015 Hyundai Genesis 3.8 sedan and I’m looking to upgrade my headlight bulbs for night driving. These days I’m having trouble with night vision. Does anyone have any ideas on what kind of bulbs I should get?

While a lot of people tend to prefer 4300k (yellowish-white) lamps to be "easier" on the eyes, I have found they are particularly bad on blacktop or wet roads. Not enough contrast to identify faded markings or pick up the last vestiges of reflectors. 6000k is a very sterile "white" light and tends to make things sparkle a bit better at night.

I currently run the Osram Xenarc Nightbreaker Laser (4300k, 3400 lumen):

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/d1s-osram-xenarc-66144-nightbreaker-laser-B-66144XNL?quantity=1

I am changing to the Osram Xenarc Cool Blue Advance (6000k, 3600 lumen, the name says blue but they're white):

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/d1s-osram-xenarc-66144-cba-B-66144CBA?quantity=1

 

[carguy75]

I use 5000k HID bulbs that seem to be a brighter white daylight-like beam, but still usable in the rain and snow. I avoid 6000k bulbs due to them actually projecting less light compared to 4k-5k bulbs and being too harsh and glaring in the rain or snow.

The OEM 4300k bulbs actually are considered an all season HID bulb that works in all weather conditions with more lumens than the popular exotic type HID bulbs in the higher temperature range(6k-10k).

If you do not care about the yellowish slightly better than halogen look, then just use 4300k bulbs for the best overall performing HID bulb. Any HID bulb with a higher temp range is more for aesthetics.

Note: The bulb lumens and performance does varies by the bulb brand's product line. Generally, the high the temperature range of the bulb the less lumens it produces.

 

[carguy75]

While a lot of people tend to prefer 4300k (yellowish-white) lamps to be "easier" on the eyes, I have found they are particularly bad on blacktop or wet roads. Not enough contrast to identify faded markings or pick up the last vestiges of reflectors. 6000k is a very sterile "white" light and tends to make things sparkle a bit better at night.

I currently run the Osram Xenarc Nightbreaker Laser (4300k, 3400 lumen):

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/d1s-osram-xenarc-66144-nightbreaker-laser-B-66144XNL?quantity=1

I am changing to the Osram Xenarc Cool Blue Advance (6000k, 3600 lumen, the name says blue but they're white):

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/d1s-osram-xenarc-66144-cba-B-66144CBA?quantity=1

I would check the offical Osram website before upgrading. Both bulbs have the same 3200 lumen rating and rated lower that the online seller site specs. Plus, it seems that Osram do not even make an Cool Blue Advance version for 2023 and the Night Breaker is considered the brighter HID bulb in the line up.

 

[Suburbazine]

I would check the offical Osram website before upgrading. Both bulbs have the same 3200 lumen rating and rated lower that the online seller site specs. Plus, it seems that Osram do not even make an Cool Blue Advance version for 2023 and the Night Breaker is considered the brighter HID bulb in the line up.

They exist- they're just really new being only 8 months old:

OSRAM Americas | OSRAM SYLVANIA Homepage

OSRAM Americas Corporate Homepage

www.osram.com

They're also marketed as an off road light in EU so it's possible that it's not included in the main catalog for that reason.

That said, the NBL-NextGen is only 2 weeks old at this point and it looks like they added 200k to it from the previous NBL (not a noticeable difference, to the human eye)

Also Osram likes to cover all their bases and use 3200lm as the official certification number- if you read the fine print they have almost 900lm of error possible

 

[carguy75]

They exist- they're just really new being only 8 months old:

OSRAM Americas | OSRAM SYLVANIA Homepage

OSRAM Americas Corporate Homepage

www.osram.com

They're also marketed as an off road light in EU so it's possible that it's not included in the main catalog for that reason.

That said, the NBL-NextGen is only 2 weeks old at this point and it looks like they added 200k to it from the previous NBL (not a noticeable difference, to the human eye)

Also Osram likes to cover all their bases and use 3200lm as the official certification number- if you read the fine print they have almost 900lm of error possible

Well, it is a new model off-road use only light HID bulb. Make sense why it was not listed with other street rated HID bulbs. The 15% lumen error applies to the other on-road bulbs as well, so they are similar based on the specs. However, I bet that they are very bright( if not brighter than the street bulbs) since they are for off-road use only. My only concern would be the expected service life of those bulbs.

Osram do not list a service life for the Cool Advance bulbs like the street bulbs .


Well either way I stand corrected since they do exist.

 

[StarPower]

Dobby, do you have halogen or HID headlights? If you don't know, you can easily tell on our car by your turn signal. If you have an amber turn signal bulb inboard of your headlights, then you have HIDs. If you have a high beam bulb inboard of your headlights and the LEDs surrounding the headlight housing are used for the turn signal, then you have halogen. The recommendations below are HID-specific.

I currently have the Osram Night Breaker Laser and am very happy with them. I generally prefer lower color temperature/warmer white bulbs. My experience with cooler white bulbs is mostly with the Osram Cool Blue Intense, and I found that they washed out yellow and made some lane markings harder to see compared to a lower color temperature bulb. I have never used the Cool Blue Advance posted above, so this may not apply to them. I have also found that I am becoming more sensitive to glare as I get older, including the reflections from some higher color temperature light sources (more blue light can cause more glare). Whether or not you are sensitive to glare might affect your choice.

Regardless of what bulb you go for, they will probably be an improvement. HID bulbs gradually dim as they age. When I replaced mine after about seven years the new bulbs were remarkably brighter. I recommend checking your aim after replacing them using the instructions here.