[Reinhard]

Terribly OT so apologies about that. And this has been discussed a few times earlier in this thread also, but to no real conclusion.

Has anyone tried good high power auxiliary lamps on a Tata Vista? (Mine is a DriveTech4 version - pre Manza look with 1st Gen bumper design.)

I desperately need to get these installed as on the WIP & newly completed sections of NH4 bypass that I have to take daily from office to home around 11PM, there is absolutely 0 visibility especially during rains. I'm doing OK simply because I have driven on this road since 12 years & literally know the GPS coordinates of each pothole. Other than that - with my Phillips XV low beams - its as good as driving with headlamps OFF. The road surface has 0 reflection at all, there are no lane markers or road edge markers painted anywhere & there are half done jobs everywhere. I'm witnessing a severe accident every day since last 2 weeks & can no longer take the risk.

The auxiliary lamps are now a MUST for me & would really appreciate if any Vista owners who have done it can share some pictures / thoughts as well as good lamp options. I wan't to see the possible solutions before going to the shops . Thanks in advance & apologies for the super OT once again.

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,

I went to another Accessories shop today. The owner there was a bit better. Was at least willing to talk.
Suggested 100/130W bulbs with a "special" relay. Says that putting 90/100w after Phillips XV is a waste of time. After me last experience I tend to agree with him. However, I am doubtful of fitting 100/130W in case the plastic gets overheated and starts melting. Also not sure how the little battery will handle this.
Other option he recommends is to go for aux lights for which I need to fit a crash guard as there are no mounting points on the Nano. Some Taiwan make called Supersport. 100W each. Look decent. Says he has used them on his Jeep and no issues at all. He is quoting 10K for guard, lights, switch and relay.

Any thoughts?

Will keep you updated.

Regards,
SS

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Any thoughts?

I would suggest please stay away from 100/130W bulbs. My friend got it on his swift and the very next day the reflector started to show hint of melting and the LED pilot lamps fell off (broke).

The 90/100 setup with a relay is more than enough and it gives you good amount of throw.

Hope this helps!

[Maxwell Arthur]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

I would suggest please stay away from 100/130W bulbs. My friend got it on his swift and the very next day the reflector started to show hint of melting and the LED pilot lamps fell off (broke).

The 90/100 setup with a relay is more than enough and it gives you good amount of throw.

Hope this helps!

It really depends on how long you are on the high beam. I have been using the 130/100 set up on my Figo and there were no issues until on a recent trip to Tirunelveli I had the high beam on almost throughout the journey. There was a slight discoloration of the reflector. I then got a pair of Comet 500 which act as a high beam and I am always on my low beam which is 100w most of the time. Works well.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Decided to go the 90/100W way (Phillips Rally H4) with a relay and proper wiring but they were a huge disappointment. The bulbs were actually taking time to come on (couple of seconds from low to high beam) and the visibility was worse than before.
Went back to the shop the next day to have them removed and the old bulbs re-installed. The shop owner seems to think it is due to the small battery in the Nano being unable to cope with load of the 90/100 bulbs.

Originally Posted by suzuki san

I have tried Osram NB in the past and not been at all impressed. Maybe the Osram NB Plus (or Unlimited or whatever they are called) are better.

I am thinking of going the LED way though I hate the look of the LED bars on a car. HID spots are another option. Let's see.

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Suggested 100/130W bulbs with a "special" relay.

Could you please update on which wiring kit was used with Philips Rally H4 90/100W bulbs ? Are the bulbs slow to switch ON too or they are slow to switch from low to high beam ?

The best 55/60W H4 bulbs I have used are Ring Ultima +130 which I find better than Philips Xtreme Vision+ installed in my Wagon R.

If battery is the reason for your concern, the special relay wont be of that much a help IMO; plus you are planning to further increase bulb wattage.
You may get your battery checked before spending on the new wiring kit and higher wattage 130W bulbs.
My Swift has 90/100W Philips Rally bulbs with Lumax wiring kit, and the output is more than sufficient for almost all situations. So in either case, IMHO, its not worth spending on 100/130W bulbs.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Could you please update on which wiring kit was used with Philips Rally H4 90/100W bulbs ? Are the bulbs slow to switch ON too or they are slow to switch from low to high beam ?

The best 55/60W H4 bulbs I have used are Ring Ultima +130 which I find better than Philips Xtreme Vision+ installed in my Wagon R.

If battery is the reason for your concern, the special relay wont be of that much a help IMO; plus you are planning to further increase bulb wattage.
You may get your battery checked before spending on the new wiring kit and higher wattage 130W bulbs.
My Swift has 90/100W Philips Rally bulbs with Lumax wiring kit, and the output is more than sufficient for almost all situations. So in either case, IMHO, its not worth spending on 100/130W bulbs.

Hi aaggoswami,

I used an original (That is to say that it looked like an original in a sealed box) Phillips relay.

The lights are both "slow" to switch on as well as "slow" to switch over from low beam to high beam.

The throw/spread was also not great. The performance was about 75% of the Phillips XV.

I agree with you, "Maxwell Arthur" and "fusionbang" that 90/100W should be more than enough. I have the same setup in my SX4 along with Hella Comets and am happy with it. However, there was a huge difference in brightness, throw and spread between the SX4 and Nano.

I am also not keen on fitting the 100/130W as I am sure it will cause battery issues as well as possible melting of the plastics of the headlights.

I think I will try the Phillips XV+ (I did not know there was a + version) and if no success then maybe the "special" relay which the shop owner claims is far better than Phillips/Hella etc. with 90/100W bulbs and see the results. The problem is that there are no accessory shops near where I live and it means driving around 50Kms to get these jobs done. If it doesn't work out - another 50 Kms the next day!! Also the selection of accessories available in Goa is limited.

Anyway, will have to try various options till I find the one that works best.

Thanks for all the inputs guys. Will keep you updated. Any further advice is welcome.

Regards,
SS

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

The lights are both "slow" to switch on as well as "slow" to switch over from low beam to high beam.

Can you take a video of this phenomenon?! Would be great to see it happen as it'll be easier to understand.

Is the headlight stalk moving freely?

[VinodDevil81]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

The lights are both "slow" to switch on as well as "slow" to switch over from low beam to high beam.

SS

I can relate to what you are saying.

Infact, I had experienced this same issue a few years back, when I tried to use a Philips 100/90 Rally bulb as a replacement for my my Pulsar 150's 35W bulb.
The Rally bulb became spare when I sold my old car, and I thought I would use the bulb on my bike for a few weeks to see how it performs on the bike.

There were 2 major issues that I faced - First one was this delay.

While switching it on and also while switching between high and low beams, there was always a momentary delay.

Second was the heat.

I had to upgrade my bike's alternator coil to that of Avenger 180's bigger coil to solve this delay issue.
Along with that, I also had to upgrade my bikes RR Unit also to that of Avenger180 to ensure additional power output to headlight unit and also for faster re-charging of the battery.
Avenger's coil is bigger with higher output and supports higher wattage bulbs used in cars.
And this was a straight fit to the pulsar (older first gen DTSi series).

The delay issue was taken care of with these modifications, but the heat was still an issue.
I changed the plastic holders to ceramic ones and used higher gauge wires for headlight supply lines, but still heat was too much for a humble 150cc bike's headlight assembly to handle.

Finally I gave up and decided to settle for Philips XV 55/60 W bulb which proved to be an optimal balance in performance, heat and illumination.
To this day, I am using the same XV bulb on my bike without any issues.
100/90W bulbs are best suited for cars.

So coming back to your case, the delay is most probably because your Nano's small battery cannot withstand the higher power draw of the bulb.
That may be again because of the fact that your alternator is not able to rapidly recharge and replenish your battery without delay, to catch up with the high rate of discharge demanded by the extra load you have connected to it.

I am just telling that this may be a possibility because in my case, upgrading the alternator coil and Rectifier unit solved the delay issue and I didn't have to upgrade my battery.

So a mere battery upgrade may not completely solve your switching delay problem.
If you are lucky enough, may be it will work for you, but there are chances that it may not solve too.

Bigger battery means the stock alternator is again going to be more overloaded since it has to do extra work to charge the bigger battery.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by VinodDevil81

I can relate to what you are saying.


So a mere battery upgrade may not completely solve your switching delay problem.
If you are lucky enough, may be it will work for you, but there are chances that it may not solve too.

Bigger battery means the stock alternator is again going to be more overloaded since it has to do extra work to charge the bigger battery.

Hi VinodDevil81,

This was exactly my concern.

Another concern is that the car is still under warranty for another 1.5 years and if I go to a TASS for a service and they spot the bigger battery or if I have issues with the alternator, my warranty will be null and void.

In fact, there is a sticker on the battery which says "Do Not Connect Any Accessories to this Battery" in big bold letters so, in theory, even connecting a relay with 90/100w bulbs is a no-no.

All this hassle just to get some more light on the road!!

This is the main issue with the Nano. One has to make a lot of compromises. No upsizing tyres. No bigger lights. No amp for music etc.

I think my best bet maybe to use the Nano during the day and the SX4 at night.

Regards,
SS

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

All this hassle just to get some more light on the road!!

This is the main issue with the Nano. One has to make a lot of compromises. No upsizing tyres. No bigger lights. No amp for music etc.

I think my best bet maybe to use the Nano during the day and the SX4 at night.

Regards,
SS

I wish Ratan Tata gets to know about this post of yours . As far as I know about the man, he'd seriously take it upon himself and see to it that the company comes up with a solution. They've been very ingenious in creating the Nano and it's a great product for what it stands for considering there's no other car so stylish in that size with great safety, efficiency and value to boot. Ah, and compromises too. Seems to be part of the package.

I wonder when Indian norms for vehicle headlamp power will grow up and match what level the world is at. Amongst other norms and rules to. Makes me think of an ostrich with its head plonked in the sand :banghead: .

So are you writing that letter sir? If I was in your place I'd seriously give it a thought. Also, I think good quality LED bulbs might just solve your issue without giving that battery nightmares.

[VinodDevil81]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

I think my best bet maybe to use the Nano during the day and the SX4 at night.

Regards,
SS

Before giving up like that, as a last shot you can try a pair of LED Light bars and install them as auxiliary lights.

Infact, I think that is the only safe option of Aux lights for your Nano.
It won't require that much wattage as conventional 55 W halogen aux lights and won't put a heavy load on your battery or alternator.

Try a pair of 18W CREE LED bars with spot beam pattern.
But don't buy those ubiquitous chinese light bars which can be found in all accessory shops and all over the shopping sites like ebay, amazon, Aliexpress etc.

If you have someone coming from abroad like US, try to get a pair of good branded LED bars like Auxbeam, Nilight or Rigid.
They give much better light output and also last really longer than these Chinese bars that we get here.

Infact most of the chinese bars that we get here are pure lower output imitations/replicas of these branded products.
The Chinese ones too claim of having CREE LEDs but most of them use cheap variety of over-driven COB LEDs which doesn't last long.
So naturally whoever has used the chinese ones won't give a positive feedback.

I have used/tested both these types and the difference is huge.

You will definitely see an improvement if you get a right pair of LED bars for your car.
But the downside is that it will make the nano look awkward and weird with the crash-bar, extra lights and all.

It's a question of "function or form" that you need to decide upon.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by pixantz

I wish Ratan Tata gets to know about this post of yours . As far as I know about the man, he'd seriously take it upon himself and see to it that the company comes up with a solution. They've been very ingenious in creating the Nano and it's a great product for what it stands for considering there's no other car so stylish in that size with great safety, efficiency and value to boot. Ah, and compromises too. Seems to be part of the package.

I wonder when Indian norms for vehicle headlamp power will grow up and match what level the world is at. Amongst other norms and rules to. Makes me think of an ostrich with its head plonked in the sand :banghead: .

So are you writing that letter sir? If I was in your place I'd seriously give it a thought. Also, I think good quality LED bulbs might just solve your issue without giving that battery nightmares.

Hi Pixantz,
With rumours of the Nano production coming to a halt, I doubt very much if Ratan Tata would be too concerned about my issues with the Nano.

Originally Posted by VinodDevil81

Before giving up like that, as a last shot you can try a pair of LED Light bars and install them as auxiliary lights.

Hi Vinod,

Well, finally went for a bulb upgrade. Fitted the Phillips Extreme Vision Plus 55/60W bulbs at Rs. 800.00 each. The light is definitely an improvement over the normal Extreme Vision bulbs - by about 10% or so I would say. The light also appears to be slightly "whiter" than the normal XV bulbs.

On a dark, wet road however, the increase in effectiveness was not that great. Better than before but still not sufficient.

The next plan is to go for a mini light rack/ guard (made by one of our TBHP members) which sits neatly just above the number plate and is secured with the same two number plate bolts. It is also exactly the same size as the number plate so does not look awkward. I will either fit a CREE bar here (If I can find such an animal in Goa) or just go for Hella Comet fog lights with 55W bulbs and hope that does the trick as that's what is fitted on my SX4. Now the only issue is to find a space on the "curvy" Nano dashboard to fit the switch!!

Regards,
SS

[sid_deb]

Hi Bhpians,

Has anyone replaced the clear headlamps (which come in the base and S variants) with the OEM projector headlamps (which come in the SX trim) in the Hyundai Creta? If yes, does this modification require any changes in the wiring or can the existing couplers be simply connected to the projector lamps?

Thanks in advance.

[fazonater1911]

Originally Posted by sharktale

I plan to replace my Stock Headlights and Fog Lamps of 2014 Grand i10. Overtime the bulbs have become much weaker, and not very effective.

I do know the headlight is H4, but I am unable to confirm the size of the Fog lamps. Would love if anybody could guide me through.

Also, has anyone had a good long term relation with the LED headlights, available on Aliexpress? They are cheaper compared to the Indian prices and seem reliable enough on paper too.

Same here. I wanted to change the stock headlights and fog lamps for my 2014 grand i10. Any suggestions?

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Can you take a video of this phenomenon?! Would be great to see it happen as it'll be easier to understand.

Is the headlight stalk moving freely?

Hi a4Anurag,
Sorry but the time I saw your post I had already returned the 90/100w bulbs to the shop.

Originally Posted by VinodDevil81

As a last shot you can try a pair of LED Light bars and install them as auxiliary lights.

Infact, I think that is the only safe option of Aux lights for your Nano.
It won't require that much wattage as conventional 55 W halogen aux lights and won't put a heavy load on your battery or alternator.

Try a pair of 18W CREE LED bars with spot beam pattern.
But don't buy those ubiquitous chinese light bars which can be found in all accessory shops and all over the shopping sites like ebay, amazon, Aliexpress etc.

Hi Vinod,

Can you suggest at least one LED brand on Amazon or available in the local shops that I could use effectively? I do not have any contacts in the US. I have gone through about 40 pages of Amazon lighting and still have no clue. The name CREE is used a lot but no idea if they are genuine.

Regards,
SS