Hi, I'm curious about your experience with automotive headlamps.  What is your favorite brand of headlight bulbs?  Have you replaced your car's headlights or done any kind of retrofitting to upgrade to HID?

I have a fair amount of experience replacing headlight bulbs and the actual headlights in my car after the original ones oxidized and turned yellow.

I currently use Philips Crystal Vision Ultra's in my 2004 Jetta.  They are my favorite headlights so far.  They're even better than the Sylvania's with even brighter light for the same wattage, and a better bluish xenon look on the low beams    Pictured below are the high beams, which don't have the blueish effect, but are intensely bright.

I have noticed that Philips automotive bulbs are hard to come by in most American auto parts stores.  We have Sylvania products almost everywhere, so I ordered my Philips bulbs on Amazon.

I've been using mostly Osram automotive lamps but I also have some Philips H4 lamps. I have used "basic" lamps since I see no point paying three, four or even five time if the price of regular lamp for some extra bright/durable lamp with fancy market name. Lamps are easy to change in my Fiat Scudo.

I've been using mostly Osram automotive lamps but I also have some Philips H4 lamps. I have used "basic" lamps since I see no point paying three, four or even five time if the price of regular lamp for some extra bright/durable lamp with fancy market name. Lamps are easy to change in my Fiat Scudo.

Nice! your Fiat takes the same kind of bulbs as my VW Jetta, 9003/H4.  Originally my car took 9007's with the factory installed headlamps.  However, when I installed entirely new headlamps, the new fixtures take a 9003 bulb.

I've used GE, Philips, & Sylvania automotive bulbs many times over the years.  Sylvania automotive headlight bulbs have had the best life, although I replace my headlights every 4 years since the output fades significantly by then.  GE would be next, and then Philips. 

Been using these LED H4 replacements in both cars and my motorcycle for almost a year now. They have the LEDs small enough and in the same placement that it is very similar to the original H4 filaments. Almost half the power consumption for the same amount of light. My only complaint is that they're 6500k, I would have liked 4500-5000k better. They need some space for the driver and the heatsinks, also mounting them can be a challenge if you have a large rubber grommet that the lamp connection goes through as the back of the LED has a dogleg that can cause it to pinch a little.

These aren't the exact ones necessarily that I bought, but they're from the same company and look the same.
https://www.amazon.com/NIGHTEYE-Beam-Headlight-Conversion-Warranty-Silver/dp/B071HHNJ6H/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1508987315&sr=8-8&keywords=nighteye+h4

If it would be feasible to use SOX as headlights, I would  
Word on the street is a 35w car "xenon" ballast will run them.

Word on the street is a 35w car xenon ballast will run them.

These aren't xenon but simply "metal halide".

These aren't xenon but simply "metal halide".

You are correct. However, where I'm from 99% of people refer to them by the incorrect term of "xenon" and would give you a blank stare if you asked for a metal halide lamp for your car. Part stores even list them under "xenon", not metal halide. I will edit my post to denote this.

You are correct. However, where I'm from 99% of people refer to them by the incorrect term of "xenon" and would give you a blank stare if you asked for a metal halide lamp for your car. Part stores even list them under "xenon", not metal halide. I will edit my post to denote this.

This is the case in Israel as well btw. I don't know what caused the term "Xenon" to become a generic name for metal halide lamps for automotive headlights.

This is the case in Israel as well btw. I don't know what caused the term "Xenon" to become a generic name for metal halide lamps for automotive headlights.

My theory is because the marketing department at the various carmakers thought it sounds cool and high tech like vs. metal halide. Less syllables as well so it's a lazier word to say. There could be some truth to it as well being that xenon could be one of the gasses used in the lamp.

The xenon in automotive MH lamps, is used instead of argon as the starting gas, and to provide instant light before the mercury/metal halides vaporized.

Hi, I'm curious about your experience with automotive headlamps.  What is your favorite brand of headlight bulbs?  Have you replaced your car's headlights or done any kind of retrofitting to upgrade to HID?

I have a fair amount of experience replacing headlight bulbs and the actual headlights in my car after the original ones oxidized and turned yellow.

I currently use Philips Crystal Vision Ultra's in my 2004 Jetta.  They are my favorite headlights so far.  They're even better than the Sylvania's with even brighter light for the same wattage, and a better bluish xenon look on the low beams    Pictured below are the high beams, which don't have the blueish effect, but are intensely bright.

I have noticed that Philips automotive bulbs are hard to come by in most American auto parts stores.  We have Sylvania products almost everywhere, so I ordered my Philips bulbs on Amazon.

I've always had good experience with Philips Xtremevision lamps which I've used in all my cars with good success. They last about two years on average. I'm not sure what is fitted in my Nissan X-Trail since I purchased it fairly recently. I've never tried Osram or Sylvania but heard good things about them. Philips are mainly sold in automotive stores over here.

If it would be feasible to use SOX as headlights, I would  
Word on the street is a 35w car "xenon" ballast will run them.

What wattage tubes do they run ?

I'm guessing 35w is a good start since thats what the ballasts are rated for. The biggest challenge would be to make sure an AC ballast was used and the only way that I know how to figure that out is with a sillyscope, which I don't have. Not sure on how safe of a thing it is, but it would be a fun experiment. I think someone has made a video about it somewhere.

Hi, I'm curious about your experience with automotive headlamps.  What is your favorite brand of headlight bulbs?  Have you replaced your car's headlights or done any kind of retrofitting to upgrade to HID?

I have a fair amount of experience replacing headlight bulbs and the actual headlights in my car after the original ones oxidized and turned yellow.

I currently use Philips Crystal Vision Ultra's in my 2004 Jetta.  They are my favorite headlights so far.  They're even better than the Sylvania's with even brighter light for the same wattage, and a better bluish xenon look on the low beams    Pictured below are the high beams, which don't have the blueish effect, but are intensely bright.

I have noticed that Philips automotive bulbs are hard to come by in most American auto parts stores.  We have Sylvania products almost everywhere, so I ordered my Philips bulbs on Amazon.

I also have used the crystal vision ultra lamps, which have been a favorite of mine. The only downside to those and the related silverstar lamps is longevity. I only got around a year out of the crystal vision ultra lamps before the low beams burned out of them. That plus the added cost drove me to finding a decent LED alternative as "xenon" alternatives aren't always the easiest approach when dealing with HI/LO combo lamps. With many combo lamps the HI/LO differentiation is usually determined solely by the slight differentiation of filament positioning. Combine that with small filaments and that presents a significant problem to installing a different lighting tech. in the same space. This is usually not an issue for cars that utilize a separate lamp for HI and LO beams. Many times I see folks that have used "xenon" kits on cars that shipped with combo lamps and they're just going around blinding people since they either cheaped out and didn't by the "bi-xenon" kit or said kit can't really emulate the different positions of the filament to reflect the light properly. BTW real "bi-xeonon" almost exclusively utilizes a projector style housing that just has a shutter that moves to cut out the upper section of light output much like how a leko does in a theater setting.

If it would be feasible to use SOX as headlights, I would  

SOX lamps are impossible to be used portable, as they takes ages to run-up to full output (9-15 mins), have a large tube diameter, preventing good optical control (They are low pressure discharge lamps) and loses their efficiency very rapidly below 18W.

SOX lamps are impossible to be used portable, as they takes ages to run-up to full output (9-15 mins), have a large tube diameter, preventing good optical control (They are low pressure discharge lamps) and loses their efficiency very rapidly below 18W.

But a 180 watt tube is about the same size as a LED light bar of similar wattage, and those for the most part have a 60 deg spread so it's shouldn't be that hard to build a reflector, and in winter my car takes like 10 minutes to warm up so the light should be at full brightness before I go outside in the cold and climb into my warm car and start driving...