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-   -   Are you happy with your OEM headlights? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/202542-you-happy-your-oem-headlights-7.html)

My Punto had decent set of headlights, despite that I had installed a set of 100/90 bulbs along with relays. It was an amazing setup, no problems with visibility. After this, it's difficult for me to drive any car with stock headlights.

Yes it is, for India this is standard on all cars to prevent glare.

Regarding night breaker bulbs, they have better reach and more intensity, however the spread of light is usually not as good as stock bulbs resulting in poor kerb side illumination.

Dusters headlights are a bit weak for highways, especially considering it being an amazing highway cruiser.

You may need to go with halogen aux lights and wiring them up to the high beam .

How is this achieved? I mean, let's say you buy a pair of nightbreakers, or individual bulbs. Is there a marking on the bulb to tell you which bulb goes which side? I have tried to figure out but could never find any marking so I just fit them at random. Or is it a reflector thing and not the bulb?

It's in the headlamp assembly itself, so you can swap the bulbs without worry.

The headlamp assembly is designed this way. For left hand traffic, the right headlamp with be slightly dipped. The left headlamp on the other hand let's you see the kerb clearly in the night.


There are some highway warriors who angle the right side AUX lamp slightly up for this purpose, but in reality trucks and bus drivers have ways to deal with it. They told me that they slightly move over towards the center of the road if flashed on with high beams.

Objectively they should light up their way forward better than blinding the opposite side.

This is desirable since we don't want to flash the headlights on to the oncoming driver's eye ... or do we want to? (Asking this because I once overheard a guy telling the accessories walla that he wants a headlight focused so that should aim at oncoming SUVs driver.)

I voted yes, but it is actually a tie.

My Storme and Kwid 1.0 have powerful headlamps while my Celerio is average and Ciaz could do with better throw.

My ex Dicor had the worst throw. Ex Chevrolet Beat and Sumo Gold were powerful.

I missed the poll i think. I am really disappointed with the original halogen projectors in my skoda rapid. I always drive in dipped mode, and use high beams only when it’s absolutely necessary and its not hurting anyone else. I found these low beams are pathetic in highways, especially if it is poorly lit.
I believe the adequacy of the light depends on the speed at which you are driving. Most of the OEM set ups are adequate for a normally lit road when driven around 50-60 kmph. But if you are driving at around 90-100, then you need lights with better throw.

Voted no for the Hexa as well.

As ever, any changes to the lighting set-ups, have already burned through wads of cash trying to figure out the best configurations.

Currently, I run:

1. 55W HIDs for the projectors (RSR kit)
2. Stock Osram halogens for the reflectors
3. Like a veritable idiot, 35W LEDs for the fogs (all these do is push out a lot of glare. Tried to set up the fogs with HID, but that cause canbus errors, even with error cancelling resistor set-ups from Morimoto

The projector design for the Hexa is abysmal. Doesn't reach out more than 6 odd meters even on dark roads, and without the high-beam on, it is impossible to see beyond.

Not sure how to address the reflectors, because without them, night driving on the highway is next to impossible.

Absolutely true.

I have upgraded my OEM bulbs (60/55W) to 100/90W after the warranty period in my Figo. Now it is better.

As far as I have seen, Tata Ace has one of the best OEM headlights (with TVS-Lucas reflector) today.

Voted yes for my Scorpio S10
I just love the OEM setup with fog lamps. The best part is corner lights which really helps in hills.


However, note that almost all incoming traffic (including trucks) ask me to switch to low beam while I am already on low beam. Single dipper makes them realize that I am already on lower beam. Initially I thought that my beams were not aligned but were declared fine during a service.

I've voted "NO". Though I am not fond of driving late at night. I've always felt both my rides have poor throw, specially when they are used without OEM fog lamps.

Laura- Projector set up with halogens provide abysmal throw.
Punto- Slightly better than Laura's spread but not that satisfactory.

Voted no.

I am not happy with the stock OEM set-up on my Grand i10. Not changing the set-up for now as the car is just 6 months old and ASS guys said changing would void warranty. I have driven a friend's VW Polo (900+ kms) on one of the trips a while back and liked the set-up better compared to my car.

Voted NO :Frustrati

Celerio - Had the best OEM headlights among the cars my family has owned
Swift - OEM headlights were terrible to begin with, however got a little better after changing bulbs to Philips Xtreme vision.
Rapid - I felt the halogen projectors are inadequate, high beams are just OK.
Xeta - Just OK

On a side note, I used to drive a friend's Santro 2004 few years back and I can vouch for its headlights. They were the best OEM headlights I've ever experienced :thumbs up

I have voted YES for my Ford Aspire. However the actual feeling is neutral. Neither I have any complain nor I am happy about the OEM setup.

I have done only one modification. I have asked the service center people to raise the beam for better spread of low beam and more travel for the high beam.

Performance is adequate for most of the situation when compare to other cars at similar price or segment. However the OEM setup struggles when there is rain or I am driving opposite of heavy truck/bus traffic in single lane highways. Life becomes hellish when facing the combination of both.

I want a 100/90w setup mod, but the issue of warranty violation is holding me back.

I feel the headlights on my Dzire are quite inadequate. It gets worse when its raining. I drive little in night, yet, would like to upgrade them someday.