[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by sriturl

I am very much used to this practice. I use lights more than horn.

The feature varies from car to car: in some BOTH hi and low beam come on during such flashing, in others the low does not come on, only hi-beam.

I hope you use this flash feature for courtesy and not to tell oncoming traffic that you are going first!

[udit78]

Thanks Funky. Xenons are out of my budget for now, however, i will put in a relay hoping that will definitely improve the lighting.

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

I hope you use this flash feature for courtesy and not to tell oncoming traffic that you are going first!

In India, it normally is used to say, "hold on, I am first."

I use it to ask for way while overtaking (for slow drivers who take the extreme right lane) and for people who use high beams on city roads, if it is of inconvenience to me

[udit78]

Yeah, flashing is used for showing i am first than you my friend, back off.

[sushanthr77]

I'd really appreciate if you guys could help me out with my query.

The problem: I do a lot of traveling on the highways and this involves a lot of night driving. I am satisfied with the illumination provided by the stock head lamps (both low/high beams). However, most vehicles I encounter on highways do not dim their lights even when I continuously switch between high/low beams. This causes a lot of eye strain on long night journeys besides reducing my visibility.

The Question:I want to replace my heal lamps so that it is powerful enough to force the approaching vehicles to switch to low beams. The intention is purely noble and I do not intend to misuse this ;-)

The Requirement:
01. The modification / setup should be highly reliable. I don't want to confront blown bulbs / battery issues etc.
02. Should be able to withstand long durations of continuous usage.
03. Should be able to withstand regular switching between low / high beams.
04. Total cost should not exceed 1.5k INR
05. Strictly should not flashy / fancy.
06. Any improvements in illumination (both low / high) is welcome .

The Car: Palio 1.2 NV

Doubt: Since Palio has 2 bulbs in a single head lamp unit, do I need to replace both? If yes, kindly specify the specifications for both.

Kindly help .

[tsk1979]

Full beams on cars nowdays are enough to blind the oncoming drivers.
So when you flash full beams at them, its not that they have some super vision. The reason they don't dip their lights is
1. They don't care. Bus drivers fall in this category
2. They don't know that there is something called dipper upper(I have met such people)

So you will need lights which can make daylight at night. The answer to that is Xenon, which is expensive.
In the 1.5K INR range, you can fit in a relay and go for higher wattages, but it won't help much.
I suggest you get the strongest wattage you can get for your high beams, and see if it helps.

[sushanthr77]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The reason they don't dip their lights is

I've seen the high beam intensity of my car and I am certain that it does not match most other vehicles. I still feel that the illumination provided by the stock bulbs are adequate for speeds up to 100kmps on roads that I drive.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

but it won't help much.

May I know why?

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I suggest you get the strongest wattage you can get for your high beams, and see if it helps.

Now I am not too keep on the 90/100W for reliability issues. I was wondering whether the 55/60W Narva / Osram would do the trick.

[tsk1979]

Nope, all these +50% etc., bulbs have better spread on the road. for blinding purposes, you have to go the "No replacement for displacement".
Another way is to aim your high beams higher.

[sanjaymugur]

Originally Posted by sushanthr77

I'd really appreciate if you guys could help me out with my query.

The problem: I do a lot of traveling on the highways and this involves a lot of night driving. I am satisfied with the illumination provided by the stock head lamps (both low/high beams). However, most vehicles I encounter on highways do not dim their lights even when I continuously switch between high/low beams. This causes a lot of eye strain on long night journeys besides reducing my visibility.

The Question:I want to replace my heal lamps so that it is powerful enough to force the approaching vehicles to switch to low beams. The intention is purely noble and I do not intend to misuse this ;-)

The Requirement:
01. The modification / setup should be highly reliable. I don't want to confront blown bulbs / battery issues etc.
02. Should be able to withstand long durations of continuous usage.
03. Should be able to withstand regular switching between low / high beams.
04. Total cost should not exceed 1.5k INR
05. Strictly should not flashy / fancy.
06. Any improvements in illumination (both low / high) is welcome .

The Car: Palio 1.2 NV

Doubt: Since Palio has 2 bulbs in a single head lamp unit, do I need to replace both? If yes, kindly specify the specifications for both.

Kindly help .

since you are from bangalore, you got the easiest solution, just go to GREEN TRACKS ( call up Babu) & ask them to fit you 90/100W bulbs.. they get NARVA bulbs, they will fit a relay & a wiring kit & dont forget to ask them to focus it properly...
labour charge( Rs.350/-) is a bit high & bulb + relay + wiring kit should come below 1500..

just last saturday i got 90/100 philips rally bulb fitted with INTERFACE relay & roots wiring kit, light throw is good, unfortunately i did not know GREEN TRACKS could source narva & hence had bought philips rally, just a 5% difference from narava, it works just great..

half a day job at the work shop & you are ready to hit highway @night..

FIAT , always...

[sushanthr77]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Another way is to aim your high beams higher.

I've tried this but resulted in less road illumination since the focus was upwards.

So you are suggesting the regular: 90/100W Narva, Roots relay, wiring, ceramic holder / metal clips strategy ? I am uncertain about their reliability.

What about the low beam bulb?

[tsk1979]

First of all in a Palio you cannot fit 90/100W bulbs. Palio has separate bulbs for high and low beam.
I suggest you get the highest wattage from a reputed brand.
Avoid the bulbs which have "blue" coating since they block the yellow part to make the light look white, and actually give lower illumination.
For high power bulbs you will need a relay. You can gets philips ralleye bulbs or other brands like Halonix, Osram etc.,

[sushanthr77]

Originally Posted by sanjaymugur

just go to GREEN TRACKS ( call up Babu)

Interesting! Even I had been to Green Tracks on Saturday (28th), spoke to Babu and he suggested the same solution/price .

01. What low beam bulbs did you go for?
02. INTERFACE relay? Is "INTERFACE" the brand name? Any comments on this guys. I was thinking of Roots.
03. Is the focusing fine? Both low and high beams?
04. The usual Ceramic holders or Metallic clips (I don't know what these clips are but Babu suggested these)?
05. Can you compare the new / old setup?

[sushanthr77]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

First of all in a Palio you cannot fit 90/100W bulbs. Palio has separate bulbs for high and low beam.
I suggest you get the highest wattage from a reputed brand.

In a Palio, since we can turn on both the low and high beams together, would it cause any issues if I switch to a higher wattage high beam? (Blown fuse / Battery issues / over load etc ).

Can I run the current hungry ICE (2 amps) along with all these?

[ultimatechamp]

Originally Posted by ultimatechamp

I have recently changed the headlamps in my new Zen Estilo.It came fitted with Halonix H4 12V 60/55W bulbs which had a ok light for city roads,but inappropriate for highways.I had it changed to Philips Rally H4 12V 130/100W with twin Relay from a company called Anmol.The relays are twin ,one each for each bulb.

Both throw and illumination is much much higher and driving is a pleasure now.
There are only 2 big strikes against these bulbs,
1)Its written on the pack that 'Not approved for public roads'
2)They generate more than 200 degree C of heat,the headlight assembly becomes real hot,but I had this same set-up in my earlier car and never had a problem for >2years,although that wasnt a clear lens headlamp assembly.
Before I had put this set up in my earlier car,I had it changed number of times to (in that order)->Philips 100/90W Rally-->Narva 100/90W-->lastly the Philips Rally 130/100W.Was happy with the last one.

The prices quoted for Xenon HIDs are as follows in Kolkata:

Cheap chinese imitations are somewhere between Rs 4000 to Rs 8000
Bosch without B&W is Rs 12000
Philips with B&W is Rs 17000 (allegedly,this only comes with B&w).

Hope this helps all,thanks in advance.

An Update:

I have been using the new headlight set-up for more than a fortnight now,and that too in intense south bengal monsoon.No issues at all.Loving it all the way.Oncoming traffic whose hi-beams are on,instantly lower their beams when I flash mine.
The illumination on the roads are mindblowing and hi-beams are closest to bright white light as in daylight.Xenons are another league altogether,but the Philips H4 130/100W are the closest you can get!!

[sanjaymugur]

no, it is H1 100w & H7 80W, only in H4 we get 100/90W in a single bulb, my bad..

PALIO has H1 & H7 holders....

i used 80W H7 for low beam,

focusing is just fine, no issues

ceramic holders come with ROOTS wiring kit,

was using osram silverstar + 50%, much better than them, worth the money..

no issue with reliability as the stock relay stays on for the rest of the car's circuit & for headlight it is bypassed to the new relay & then to the bulb..

yes INTERFACE is a brand name & much better than roots, unfortunately they dont have wiring kit, their relays are real good, PMP also has wiring kit & they also serve well.. mind you these relays support upto 200W ...

anyways have asked babu to get philips/narava rally gold H7 85w, these are all weather , yellowish & they are brilliant, will use it once babu gets it for me...

FIAT, always.....