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Originally Posted by ported_head  I indulged in a pair of Philips Xtreme Power +80% 60/55W H4 bulbs for my Swift. Initial impressions are that they are brighter, but +80% is a long call. It seems more like 40-50% brighter, maybe. Also, the beam is more concentrated, compared to the somewhat wider spread of the OEM Halonix H4 bulbs. |
You are right about that. The +30, +50, +80 H4 lamps are rated for the higher output by measuring at the beam's hotspot and how much further it goes, not the full-beam pattern. So, a +80 may be only 40-50% brighter in road area close to you and on the sides.
It will run much further in high beam than the base H4, so useful for highway driving. Besides, on our roads, I always prefer as much extra light as I can get when driving in the night !
You can check out the beam pattern of a +50 compared to base H4:
http://www.candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/SBL_Headlamp.pdf
The +80 H4s normally run much higher temperature, and the higher color temperature means the beam color will be more towards the white/blue end. (and, more retained heat in your headlamp assembly. can be a problem sometimes.)
There are some +50 lamps that are reputed to get very close to 100/80w output. E.g. the The Osram PN#64205 70/65w H4 (used to be nominally rated at 60/55w, as H4s can be legally go up to 72/65w power).