Performance Car Reviews, News and Parts for the Car Enthusiast

Driving late at night, especially on dark unlit roads can often make your headlight bulbs feel as powerful as a candle in a jam jar. Unfortunately very few drivers realise that they can easily replace their existing halogen headlight bulbs with the very latest upgrade xenon bulbs. These high performance bulbs emit up to 90 percent more light than halogen, are completely road legal and can be fitted without the need for any modifications.

A Short History on Headlight Bulbs

In order to understand the technology of xenon headlight bulbs it may be necessary to learn a little history about light bulbs. The first headlight bulb was developed as an incandescent light. Car manufacturers creating light bulbs made them a halogen bulb called the H1 in the 1960s.

In making the glass bulb airtight and filling it with a halogen gas mixture these early halogen headlight bulbs could burn much brighter. In order to improve their headlight bulbs further, the manufacturers also worked on redesigning the filament, which is the metal wire coil you see in the centre of a bulb, therefore creating a more intense beam which created a light that could project much further out than ordinary incandescent bulbs.

Now, car bulb manufacturers have advanced this technology even further by filling the bulb section with xenon gas and then pressurising it. Xenon gas burns more intensely than ordinary halogen, whilst also producing a much crisper and whiter light, which makes halogen headlight bulbs seem a dull yellow by comparison.

The headlight bulb manufacturers also worked on improving the metal filament coil and thanks to precision design, construction and materials, xenon bulbs can project a beam of light from your headlights up to 35 metres further down the road than ordinary halogen headlight bulbs.

Xenon Replace Halogen Bulbs

Because all of the improvements in the latest xenon bulbs occur in the glass bulb section they look virtually identical to their halogen equivalents. Therefore all you need to do in order to upgrade them is simply take out your old dull yellow halogen headlight bulbs and install the new upgrade xenon bulbs in their place.

The holders and connectors for the xenon bulbs are the exact same as halogen. There is no increase in voltage or wattage, which means you can change the bulbs safely. You do not have to modify or cut wires in the car to make them work. The laws of the UK and Europe do allow xenon to be used on the roads.

Fitting xenon bulbs will improve both how far and how much of the road ahead you can see, making night driving safer and less stressful as you can see potential hazards earlier and react to them quicker. So as you can see, when it comes to comparing halogen headlight bulbs with modern xenon bulbs there really is no comparison.

Installing a brand new set of Car Bulbs is a quick and easy job that will really transform your vehicle and make driving more enjoyable. To complete your vehicle’s modern xenon upgrade don’t forget to fit new Xenon Sidelight Bulbs at the same time to maximise the light output produced from your car lights.