The Original i30 Owners Club
GENERAL STUFF => GENERAL DISCUSSIONS => Random Chit Chat => Topic started by: mjt57 on November 22, 2011, 22:29:23
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How good are the i30 headlights? As I live in country Victoria (Australia), a decent set of headlights is a must.
The best headlights I've seen were on my 2002 SS Commodore. Current car is a Mazda Tribute. Its headlights are OK but not as good.
I'm hoping that the i30's will be as good, if not better.
Hopefully I'll find out today. The car's finally arrived at the dealer and is being "pre-delivered".
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Sadly, I think you will be disappointed. :blubber:
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honestly, they suck.. 55W High beam, needs a miniumum of 100W for Aussie long dark roads. low beam is pretty average also, and the fog lights are atrocious. just 25W, i have brighter LED torch in my camping kit.
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As you have already been told, the i30 headlights, are impressive to look at but when you put them to use it's an anti- climax !! :disapp:
but not to worry there are a few threads on how others solved the problem. i think if you can find posts from OURi30 Bob you can beleave everything you read. he lives in the country too, does not post now as think too busy, but told me he still has the car well over 100,000k runing sweet.
i'm on my second i30 CRDi this ones 6 speed, i do enough country NSW k's but just left my light as they came. i try to drive in daylight in the country and avoid sunset & sunrise & too many Big Roo's were i go. to me the light seem to be focused a bit low. but i'm not trying to adjust them as about one year ago, i had the missfortune to be followed by an i30 2.0 petrol with his lights focused too high. boy were they bright! i tried letting him pass but he stayed behind me, was on the NSW south coast, so when we hit some hills & twisties i pulled away they were giving me the ......'s. i can't remember another experience like that so i descided to just leave mine as they are but might see an auto electrician i know one day. cheers don't be turned off they are a great little car!
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Thanks for the responses, folks. If what you're saying is correct, then that's disappointing in this day and age.
As for the wattage, 55w is standard, even on my SSes which had excellent lights. and foglights aren't meant to be used to see where you're going. Rather, they alert other traffic to your presence in the fog. I'm still in two minds as to whether they do any good in other poor vis. conditions.
In any case I'll look for OurI30 Bob's posts and see what he has had to say about this.
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mjt57
If you're unhappy with your lights, an alternative would be to install HID, HIGH BEAM ONLY lamps. HID's are actually illegal in Oz, but who would know. They are not used around built up areas and must be off for oncoming traffic. Their output is reputedly 3 to 4x halogen lamps, long life & only 35 watts. This would be better that running into wildlife etc. Something for you to consider. :neutral:
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i think if you can find posts from OURi30 Bob you can beleave everything you read. he lives in the country too,
I did a search for him. Found this one to start with:
https://i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=528.msg4088#msg4088 (https://i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=528.msg4088#msg4088)
Unfortunately some of the links to other posts/topics and to the site where they got their globes from no longer work.
:undecided:
I'll see how the OEMs go first before I make any decisions to upgrade them.
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My falcon had great Hi beam, 100W standard, the subaru was typical japanese, ok low beam, poor hi-beam, so i upgraded to 100W hi beam, and was happy. the fog lights on the subaru were great, not the spot lights some cars have, that cause as much if not more glare than normal low beam, but are proper thin beam fog lights, and a good 65W bulbs, they were great in wet weather and fog, i regularly drove south from Sydney to the south coast and spent many trips in heavy fog around Bulli. the lights were aimed perfectly. off the sides of the road up to about 100mtrs up the road, could see every reflector and white line on either side of the road with the beam no higher than your shins. perfect for looking for wildlife, and seeing the sides, lane markins and reflectors on wet unlit roads. sadly the fog-lights on my i30 arn't capable of doing the same. they are aimed wrong onto the road about 5 ft from the front of the car, and have a pitiful output.
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Compared to the wives BA the high beam is a dissapointment and I really notice the difference when I jump in hers at night. But from my experience the headlights on the ba-now falcons show most cars up.
That said I did a 4000k trip Bris/Syd, Syd/Melb and then Melb/Bris. At least 70% of this was at night, and I wasn't too worried by the performance.
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If you don't want to play with the cars original globes, then buy yourself a set of HID spotties and put them on a number plate bar holder. That way it is easy to slip on and off and no need for a nudge/roo bar
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Hi Mjt ..
It would be worth browsing through here
https://i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?board=10.0 (https://i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?board=10.0)
and here...
https://i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?board=62.0 (https://i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?board=62.0)
for threads about light upgrades
They are as weakness (fortunately we use our other car for most night driving)
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Hm.. After reading this topic it sounded, like you are driving with lights off at night :mrgreen: Okay, I guess the conditions in Australia, especially in some areas, are quite different then the ones we have here, but.. The lights I would say are about average. Okay, the stock lights (hi&low beam) are not that bright, but still not that bad either.
I drive at night every day - not much (approx 50 km) and don't have any problems. Of course, the beam can always be stronger, but it's not that weak. I also go with my mothers Volvo V40 from time to time, which has xenon lights in and of course, it's brighter, but the beam is quite low (and it's leveled automatically so you can't do nothing about it). As for the hi beam.. I must say it's about the same, if not ever worse! My friends Renault Clio has about the same and the lights in friends Citroen Xsara seemed much worse to me.. So don't know..
The thing is, that i30 has lenses and there is no light above the "cut off", whereas in "ordinary - reflector" lights, there is some extra light/glare also beyond the "cut off" point. I'll show you what I mean with next pictures:
(http://www.shrani.si/f/1j/D3/1DdZeBl4/cutoff.jpg)
PS: The "cut off" is also different from the one on this picture (here is an example of "USA" cut off, and the ones we have - I think yours is like ours (http://www.shrani.si/f/1X/13F/2Dlr2R8p/euro-vs-us-headlight-bea.jpg))
OKAY I take most of the written back, as I've just checked that Dazz has lenses/projector lights also in his Hybrid. Dazz, is there really a significant difference between the i30 and the hyb? :rolleyes: I've driven few cars and they all seemed about the same.. But most of them were Hyundai's, maybe that's the "problem" :rolleyes:
And can you explain what's the difference? Is it the brightness of the beam or the height/length of the beam, is it wider,..?
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HID's are actually illegal in Oz, but who would know.
So they are sold openly are they........
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Yes you can, the risk is if the cops see them & they are not fitted at the factory then they do not pass our road regulations. That is a significant fine I believe. But if they are only High Beams then they would not normally be on unless you are alone on a country highway.
Neptune's idea about fitting spotlights is another quick alternative too.
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mjt57
If you're unhappy with your lights, an alternative would be to install HID, HIGH BEAM ONLY lamps. HID's are actually illegal in Oz, but who would know. They are not used around built up areas and must be off for oncoming traffic. Their output is reputedly 3 to 4x halogen lamps, long life & only 35 watts. This would be better that running into wildlife etc. Something for you to consider. :neutral:
Well we had a guy named thumper here for a while he did some home rigged ( for a better description ?) HID lights he claimed got oked at RTA. all it was was a series of plates in front of the HID lights, as these type lights to be safe need to self leavel as so bright if the car went down in the rear so lights face upward more the plates would work like a shade to block the light. if you search for thumper you'll find that. but myself i'll just make do with what it has. if i wanted light, i think i'd fit a roof mount with lights on the roof like a rally car. but i just drive slower at night in the sticks.
i'm going out the bush in NSW tomorrow.
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Accim, sorry i posted last post without reading all the posts then saw your great post.
well i don't know what conditions are like in Euro as i've never been there yet. i have travelled a lot of USA by road & drove through the back woods in Louisiana one night & it was no different to here just was on right side of road, so at the start every car or truck coming towards me seemed like i was on wrong side of road :rofl: but got used to it quick. i think the best lights i've had stock came on my last two Falcon Utes they were bright in the high beam and could set the perfect just lift bonnet and had hand adjustable beam leavel. but they don't have roo's at night in USA, those b a r s ta rds come from anywhere & the can jump a fence at full speed.
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Interesting posts. Thanks, guys.
Finally, yesterday afternoon we took delivery of the new car. Last night I went for a drive to check out the lights' performance.
Not too shabby, I must say. It was not a real good test because of other traffic forcing me to continually dip to low beam. But I can't complain, I s'pose.
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Interesting posts. Thanks, guys.
Finally, yesterday afternoon we took delivery of the new car. Last night I went for a drive to check out the lights' performance.
Not too shabby, I must say. It was not a real good test because of other traffic forcing me to continually dip to low beam. But I can't complain, I s'pose.
I've driven quite a number of i30's now and there is some variation in the lights I think it is to do with adjustment of the elevation as (John) Lakes hinted at
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Yeah, maybe the beam could be higher, I agree with that. When you have low beam on, it does look kind of short. Because of that, it's very friendly to oncoming drivers (when you meet i30 at night it doesn't blind you like some others do), but isn't the best for the driver.
Maybe lifting it few mm could help..? But you really need to be careful with that. Once you get it "off", it will be very hard to align it to the right height. And don't mess with the left-right positioning of the light. I've done that once on Elantra and couldn't get it right, nor could the service guys (that was a surprise, but okay). It was okay, but just not 100% right.
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Interesting posts. Thanks, guys.
Finally, yesterday afternoon we took delivery of the new car. Last night I went for a drive to check out the lights' performance.
Not too shabby, I must say. It was not a real good test because of other traffic forcing me to continually dip to low beam. But I can't complain, I s'pose.
I'm rather at odds with the other posters.
I'm nore than happy with my i30's lights and they are standard.
Having spent many years driving rally cars I've been spoiled for choice over the years but really don't find a problem with the i30 lights. Even on winding, hilly country roads I don't feel unsighted.
As to the fog lights. I had no idea about the strength of the bulbs fitted but I sure have a real issue with fog lights per se. They are illegal to be used unless the car is IN FOG. Yet these days, in Australia, more and more vehicles are coming out with them and people seem to have no idea of their purpose. On a 4WD they are mounted so high they defeat their purpose and are just blinding to oncoming cars.
As fog tends to hover just above the ground, fog lights are traditionally mounted low down to help illuminate the road surface under the fog and make it more visible for the driver. They are also only designed to be effective at low speed which is what you should be doing in fog. If you can see well enough to drive at anywhere near normal speeds, LEAVE THE BLOODY FOG LIGHTS OFF!
If the fog lights are bright or too high all they do is reflect back off the fog into the driver's eyes.
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i'm with you Trev. my new car has fog lights but i don't use them, but did try them in car park to see what they are like, i think in a fog they could be helpful as are very low. but i don't turn them on as have not had any fogs .
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i'm with you Trev. my new car has fog lights but i don't use them, but did try them in car park to see what they are like, i think in a fog they could be helpful as are very low. but i don't turn them on as have not had any fogs .
We've had some fog for 2 weeks now almost. Especially in the morning and in the evening and sometimes even during the day. Just fog fog fog. The fog lights illuminate the area in front of the car and low. They are not strong, but that's a good thing about them. Some cars have very strong fog lights and just give too much brightness, making them not so useful anymore. I usually don't drive with fog lights on, even if there is some fog. The fog lights are the best if the fog is so thick you really can't see anything in front of you. I've had that 2 times at night and when driving on unknown road. I turned off my "driving" lights (low beam) and had only fog lights on! Just so I could see the holes in the road (btw the road was really crappy). I was going I don't know.. I think 30 km/h then. Rear fog lights are also quite useful thing, especially if you are driving slow on the highway.. For example.. Few days ago, when I was driving on the highway, some tourists were crossing Slovenia and were driving 40-50 km/h on the highway (because it was really foggy and they didn't know the road). But the thing is, that some of them did not have fog lights on.. But okay, what made it worse, was the fact, that local drivers (knowing the road) were driving 100 km/h and more (two were going above 160 km/h) and now imagine those, who are driving too fast, when they meet a car in front of them, going really slow.. = recipe for disaster. Especially if the one with 160 km/h is overtaking the one with 100 km/h and both heading towards the one with 50 km/h ;) But using rear fog lights in any fog or when driving in the city can really really really be annoying..
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^^^^^^^
That's really scary accim.
I might stay down under for a bit longer. :whistler:
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I like the way that the fog lights are turned on - flicking a spring loaded switch. This requires a conscious effort to turn them on, unlike other methods with on/off switches where people may turn them on once and forget about them.
Since the initial drive to try the lights I've not had any other chances to test them except for the drive home from Melbourne where we rolled into town a bit after dusk. I think that they'll do...
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I like the way that the fog lights are turned on - flicking a spring loaded switch. This requires a conscious effort to turn them on, unlike other methods with on/off switches where people may turn them on once and forget about them.
Not got foglights on my Comfort. Don't really need them very often though.
My Renault Laguna had foglight which were on the same stalk as the headlights and I'd sometimes find I'd turned them on by accident - which was annoying. They'd then come on all the time until I noticed - there was no warning light either! :confused: Maybe it was a faulty switch or me being clumsy but I'd have liked them on a separate switch.
Not used my headlights on country roads too much but they were just about passable rather than good.
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I like the way that the fog lights are turned on - flicking a spring loaded switch. This requires a conscious effort to turn them on, unlike other methods with on/off switches where people may turn them on once and forget about them.
Since the initial drive to try the lights I've not had any other chances to test them except for the drive home from Melbourne where we rolled into town a bit after dusk. I think that they'll do...
My fog lights are turned on via the headlight stalk, so they must have changed something along the way. Mine are factory fitted BTW.
My Impreza had a separate switch on the dash but it was a bit hard to reach.
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My fog lights are turned on via the headlight stalk, so they must have changed something along the way. Mine are factory fitted BTW.
The current i30 SLX has a rotating spring loaded bezel on the headlight/indicator stalk which you turn against a spring and it flicks back to turn the foggies on.
Not sure why you think that my comment has suggested that something's been changed.
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still the same as my wife's 09 cw. :winker:
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Yap, I can also confirm. The same in '08 and '11 i30 :wink:
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HID's are actually illegal in Oz, but who would know.
So they are sold openly are they........
its surprising how many products can be sold legally,that are infact illegal when you put them into practise. :confused: :disapp: :wacko:
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If you need strong hi-beam lights, get some +80% bulbs. I would recommend some Philips X-treme Vision +100% or +80% (http://www.opel-accessories.com/app_get/getImage?image_id=COAS11_E01_732_SIZE3&app_name=ace_gme&width=-1&height=-1) (these are if you ask me, one of the best bulbs on the market) or Osram Nightbreaker (http://ucables.com/img/extra/OSRAM-NIGHT-BREAKER-H-R49906-0.jpg). Osram are cheaper but also good. Thought I like the Philips more - the color, output and lifespan.
I wouldn't recommend +80% bulbs for low beam (nor +50 or anything above +30%). But just because they "die" too often. But for hi-beam, go for it! You will notice huge difference ;)
Oh and yes, Hi beam are H1 and low beam are H7 (in i30 of course).
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My fog lights are turned on via the headlight stalk, so they must have changed something along the way. Mine are factory fitted BTW.
The current i30 SLX has a rotating spring loaded bezel on the headlight/indicator stalk which you turn against a spring and it flicks back to turn the foggies on.
Not sure why you think that my comment has suggested that something's been changed.
Think it was your term "flicking" a spring loaded switch. In fact you have to "roll" it around the stalk centre line. So I assumed you had some sort of a spring loaded rocker switch somewhere - like my Impreza.
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I am considering getting some Philips Extreme +100% H1's and H7's for my i30.
I put some H4 Philips Extreme +100% bulbs in my Getz last night and it made an awesome difference! Truly...
I have +50's in the i30 at the moment and (whilst they have made an improvement over standard light) they are still below where they should be on a car like this. I mean, the Getz lights are MUCH better than the i30's IMO.
Has anyone tried these Philips Extreme +100% bulbs in their i30?
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Has anyone tried these Philips Extreme +100% bulbs in their i30?
Accim recommends them 2 x posts before yours...
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Just don't make the mistake I did... if you live in USA the low beams are H11b , not H7 >.<
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Just don't make the mistake I did... if you live in USA the low beams are H11b , not H7 >.<
That is interesting.. I wonder why the difference?
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I suggested using HID bulbs for hi beam only. Does anyone know or have experience in how long they take to reach full intensity. If it's too long then they wouldn't be suitable for hi beam. :question:
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I suggested using HID bulbs for hi beam only. Does anyone know or have experience in how long they take to reach full intensity. If it's too long then they wouldn't be suitable for hi beam. :question:
Well id does take some time and it's not best thing for the HID - flashing and stuff. I'll make a video of how long it takes for HID to warm up (father's Santa Fe has Xenon HID kit for low beam and I'm thinking about putting it in i30 again..). It doesn't take that long to start illuminating, but it needs few seconds to reach it's full intensity and the right colour.
Has anyone tried these Philips Extreme +100% bulbs in their i30?
Accim recommends them 2 x posts before yours...
Yeah, I would try Philips + 100% for high beam. As I've said, they are not the best for low beam, as they die too soon, but for high beam, I would say - go for it.
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accim
I think you're idea is better than HID. :goodjob2:
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We did a short trip in Trish's CW on Friday Night and the lights seemed bright enough just set too low .. I would adjust them up a "tad" if she used the car at night very much (but she hardly ever drives it at night) :cool:
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Maybe the company's logic, is that CW buyers might travel with a light load occasionally, which is why the owners didn't buy the hatch. :rolleyes:
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Maybe the company's logic, is that CW buyers might travel with a light load occasionally, which is why the owners didn't buy the hatch. :rolleyes:
I don't think it is just the CW. In hindsight I think my old CRDi might have been set low as well. Even with +80 globes the throw wasn't as long as say the Hybrid is...
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Are there any feelings out there that the i30 reflectors/lenses etc are too much of an aesthetics compromise to ever be GREAT headlights, regardless of what bulbs are put into them?
Mine too were adjusted low ex factory. I put in +80s and incrementally (after road-testing them each time) adjusted them up until people started flashing...and then backed them down a tad...but they still aren't fabulous.....at best I would say that they are OK (and probably one of the most average design points on the whole car).
As I recently posted about the lights in my "new"Getz, they are MUCH better lights than those in the i30.
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I have just finished upgrading my low beam lights with the phillips +90% H7 bulbs, in the kit also came 2 parking bulbs as well. so here are the pics for comparison...
as for +90%, thats a load of crap, in my opinion, its about +10% and thats being generous...
anyway, here are the difference in parker light bulbs, passenger side, or right side of the image has been done, both parker bulbs and H7 low beam only.
parkers only... visible difference, not much brighter, but whiter light
(http://pamuva1.smugmug.com/Other/webcrap-images/i-NLT2J9v/0/L/IMG0004-L.jpg)
Main low beam.. seams a little brighter, a bit whiter light.
(http://pamuva1.smugmug.com/Other/webcrap-images/i-VTnkP9q/0/L/IMG0005-L.jpg)
as for 90% brighter..... dont think so... a small fraction maybe, but no where near 90%, and a slightly whiter light...
(http://pamuva1.smugmug.com/Other/webcrap-images/i-jRCjBPj/0/L/IMG0009-L.jpg)
(http://pamuva1.smugmug.com/Other/webcrap-images/i-tdBGsBb/0/L/IMG0007-L.jpg)
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Goodness knows how thae can claim +90. :disapp:
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Ultralights is can see what you mean, not a huge differnce .. will be interesting to see if the 2012 model is better in this department. :cool:
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Love your number plate. :judges:
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I upgraded my lights with Osram Nightbreaker Plus early this year and had similar results.
I wasn't expecting much difference so wasn't disappointed. I figure any increase made it worth doing. Btw, I replaced both low and high beams.... :)
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Just don't make the mistake I did... if you live in USA the low beams are H11b , not H7 >.<
That is interesting.. I wonder why the difference?
Most Hyundai vehicles in America use H11b as the primaries... they are an H11 bulb but have prongs sticking out of the side instead, which slide into a connector on your headlight's bracket base to make connection with clamped down wire connectors. h11b is not easily found in the aftermarket in USA and is made by extremely limited amount of vendors. It is so you are forced to go to the dealer to make them $$$.
Most people just sand the tabs and remove the connector on the headlight bracket and use h11 instead, but if a dealer opened your dustcover they would see it and deny a headlamp warranty :blubber:
I really wish I could find the internal bulb brackets from korean i30 headlights to purchase :sweating:
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If a dealer is replacing the bulb under warranty, why would you bother to alter the globe in the first place. :question:
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...because the stock bulbs are horrible :twisted:
Also, depending on your area, the primary bulb will either be covered under bumper to bumper, or only 1 year/12k mile. I'm not paying a Dealer $42 for oem bulbs :rofl:
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Is that the price, wow, I don't blame you. :eek:
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You should see how much the rear window wiper costs :disapp:
I ordered the same exact mobis blade with shipping for 1/5th the cost from a Korean seller.
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Hi
I bought my second hand i30 this spring, its a modelyear 2008, I think the light is EXCELLENT.
Maybe it´s because my car before the i30 is a 1993 Nissan Primera, so when i compare, the lights on the i30 is excellent :D
The Nissan is now our 2. car, my wife just loves that car (we have had it for almost 9 years now)
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Hi
I bought my second hand i30 this spring, its a modelyear 2008, I think the light is EXCELLENT.
I guess it is possible they have been adjusted and/or had brighter globes put in as well :whistler:
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It is standard bulbs, actually both bulbs have been replaced by me in that short period i have owned it. Last bulb stopped working 2 weeks ago at a trip to Germany. I had to buy a standard bulb at a gasstation and change it right away. Not that easy when its dark. :p It was of course left side where the battery is.
Now I will buy some Osram night breaker or similar, and save the standard as spare.