Hi all,

I have a Headlamp bulb gone on the Libra and was going to take the opportunity to upgrade the H4 bulbs when buying some replacements.

Would a Xenon bulb or an Osram Night Breaker be a good choice? Both of these seem like a decent upgrade over a standard bulb but was wondering if anyone has experience of what would be the better choice.

The bulbs I'm looking at are the following:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171080306428
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160934058585

Opinions much appreciated.

Cheers

Jamie

Worth a try if you don't drive with the lights on much. I tried these type of bulbs in my daily driver as I fancied the extra light but the downside is bulb life. They basically achieve the extra light by overrunning the filaments so lifetime is substantially reduced and quite a bit more heat is produced. I found that good quality "normal" bulbs would last about 16-18 months (in a Volvo V70 so dipped beam on all the time as DRLs) but the "upgraded" bulbs, even the good quality brands, would only give about 6 months use. This was driving about 30-35k miles per year so 6 months would be, say, 15,000 miles, i.e. the whole mileage on my Spyder since 2004 and as only 10% max of my time in the GTM is with the lights on shouldn't be a problem but thought it worth pointing that out. The extra light was noticeable but not as much as they claim.

Sound advice, thanks. I hadn't considered bulb life but shouldn't be too much of a problem with limited mileage as you say.
Did you use Xenon or a normal upgraded bulb?

I actually tried both those that that you linked. Not much to choose between them. Although it doesn't mention it I suspect that the osrams use Xenon gas too as it is better for slowing the burning out of the filaments. I'd say there is a direct relationship between % extra light claimed and reduction in life, maybe x 2. I.e. a 50% extra light bulb will last half as long as standard, a 100% more light bulb will last quarter as long as standard - rough guide.