This time it is the Philips extreme vision that seems to have taken the first place!
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1uslp/ADINewsDecember2011/resources/32.htm
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1uslp/ADINewsDecember2011/resources/32.htm
Scheinwerfermann said:But where are the Osram bulbs in this oddly Philips-dominated comparison? It's Philips, Philips' 2nd brand Narva, and a smattering of house brands. No Osrams? No GE-Tungsrams? Something doesn't smell right. I miss the older AutoExpress tests which had much more detailed results presented for each and every bulb tested.
Well, also I am a little less than completely comfortable with their testing procedure. They say they aimed the headlamps so the glare was within legal limits. That's not how headlamp aim is specified, and it's not how aim is checked or adjusted in any real-world garage. There's only one correct aim setting and it's determined by the placement of the cutoff. Maybe that's what they meant by what they said, but if so it's a strange and unclear way to describe it.
Then it looks like they adjusted the aim for each bulb. That's defensible, since you're supposed to get the aim checked and adjusted after replacing a bulb, but nobody does. I think it would have been better to adjust the aim with the etalon bulb (which is conceptually the same as what is called in North America the "accurate-rated" bulb) and then left the aim untouched, recording the effect on seeing and glare just by trying out the various different bulbs.
If the legal limit of glare has no actual minimum, that'd be an easy adjustment to make.
One would assume that removal and replacement of the etalon bulb should not result in a meaningful change, as the base of the bulb, and its o-ring, should be within very fine tolerances and fit very precisely in the socket.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! A winner is you!Sure...turn the headlamps off! Voila, minimum glare.
I knew I didn't like them for some reasonNo O-ring on an H7 bulb ;-)
Now that I think about it, the older AutoExpress tests -- the ones with the more believable findings and the much larger variety of tested bulbs -- also included geometry information (pass/fail) and power consumption in watts. I am skeptical enough to think their new tests look like the result of upset hollering by various commercial interests.
Shame they did not toss in a Osram rallye 65 watt H7 into the mix.......my guess it would have stood head and shoulders above all of them,and by a wide margin.
Last time it was the light tunnel at Osram's factory that was used for testing H4 bulbs and Osram had been judged the winner with both Night breaker and silver star winning over Philips. This time it is the Philips testing ground and Philips bulbs take home victory. It does smell fishy!
It looks like they adjusted the aim for each bulb. That's defensible, since you're supposed to get the aim checked and adjusted after replacing a bulb, but nobody does.
Here is a best product award list. Go through the drop down menu on the right of the page. They have even got one where it says "best person" award!
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/product_awards/
have always recommended that drivers use original equipment bulbs. This does restrict the choice to Philips, OSRAM and GE.
I can't completely agree. There are other bulb OEMs. Those are the three European majors, of course, but there are at least three Japanese OEMs, at least one US OEM other than Osram-Sylvania and GE, and there are Korean OEMs as well.
yes, it would be nice to have longevity information, but how do you imagine this could be obtained without a massive, costly, long-term, drawn-out project? Not so long-term if we're looking at bulbs that have a rated life of 150 to 500 hours (7 to 21 days constant operating time) but pretty impossible for bulbs with longer rated lifespans.