Hi. Sorry to ask something which must be asked a lot, but I did TRY to search, and couldn't figure out how to narrow my search to find an answer, and Google brings up far too many options and confuses me!

I have a 2009 Focus, and the headlights aren't great. Driving on unlit roads is scary, I feel like I can only see a few metres in front of my car. The lights are all working, I don't think there's a problem, I just think they're a bit poor. I use my high beam a lot on unlit roads, and in some other cars I've had, I've never had to use the high beam at all. So I want to upgrade them. But I want them to be (a) better than the factory, (b) road legal and (c) ideally not excessively unpleasant to other roads users, although I'm guessing that (b) covers me for that (correct me if I'm wrong!)

Can I achieve this (even a slight improvement) by buying better bulbs, or would I need to replace my whole headlight, in which case it's probably too expensive for me to bother?

Thanks in advance :)

You can get Phillips Xtreme +130 bulbs that would fit your 3 criteria

Osram Nightbreaker Lasers are also good but personally I find them not to last as long

Well the specs are the same, the reviews are the same, but the Osram are 30% cheaper, which I suppose fits perfectly with your view. I wonder if the Philips last exactly 30% longer...

I wasn't sure if these fancy bulbs were just a marketing gimmick, but in the 38 minutes since I asked the question, 100% of respondents have recommended these two brands, so I've ordered the Osram and will give them a try.

Thanks, you're awesome ☺️

Personally I'd recommend Phillips over Osram.

They are worth the extra cost.

I used to swear by Osram but the quality has dropped massively and I've been very disappointed with the last 2 sets I bought.

I personally use the Phillips WhiteVision as dipped because I like the xenon look as well as the brighter lights.  My dipped is now brighter than the main!

I don't use main enough to justify upgrading those as well though.

Damn Tom, you're too late :) Already ordered the Osram.

Still, it's only a few £ so if I'm not entirely happy, or if it doesn't last long, I'll order the Philips one instead, and I'll invoice Jonro for bad advice, and sue him for emotional trauma.

Thank you!

2 hours ago, 2003FocusLX said:

Damn Tom, you're too late 🙂 Already ordered the Osram.

Still, it's only a few £ so if I'm not entirely happy, or if it doesn't last long, I'll order the Philips one instead, and I'll invoice Jonro for bad advice, and sue him for emotional trauma.

Thank you!

Woah pump the brakes lol

i said they were good but didn’t last as longas the Phillips. I’d go for the Phillips everytime, in fact I have done. I had Phillips Xtreme ision +130%, they were in my Mondeo for 2 yrs and when I sold the car they were still working. 

They both claim 130% - if I'm honest, I'm half hoping that the Osram don't last long, so I can try both. I couldn't justify £50 to myself "just to see" and I was in a tight mood yesterday so I went for the cheaper of the two.

I know that as long as the Osrams work, it will bug me that I don't know if the Philips ones are better. Then, when they DO go bad, I'll get the Philips ones, and then it will bug me that I can't be sure whether they're better than the ones I had before.

There's only one possible solution, I need to buy a second car so I can try them side by side.

Hello have a read of the bulbfacts.com website .