VW Golf /H15 upgrades?

I have been "loaned" my father in laws Golf Mk6 (2010) as he cannot drive at the moment (and might not drive again). My work commute is about 50% unlit country lanes. I have upgraded the dip beams to Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs and this has made a huge difference. The main beams use a H15 bulb that provides main beam and DRL, I cannot find a quality upgrade bulbs to improve high beams (I really don't care about the drl's and they are not a legal requirement for a 2010 vehicle). The only "upgrade" I did find were made by a company called Mtec but these were worse the factory originals. I would love to fit some drive lights (and have several pairs laying around) but being a modern car there is too much flimsy plastic, and what ever I fitted would have to be removable without obvious damage.
Any thoughts or ideas gratefully received.
Thanks in advance
John

spexmaniac said:

I have been "loaned" my father in laws [car] as he cannot drive at the moment (and might not drive again).

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I'm sorry to hear that.

The main beams use a H15 bulb that provides main beam and DRL, I cannot find a quality upgrade bulbs to improve high beams (I really don't care about the drl's and they are not a legal requirement for a 2010 vehicle).

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In the United States, they are not a legal requirement for any vehicle. However, that's not germane to the discussion, there are no H15 "upgrades" (the one you mentioned, as you discovered, is anything but), and the only bulb that will satisfy the high beam function is the H15. I'd just get these and call it done.

I would love to fit some drive lights (and have several pairs laying around) but being a modern car there is too much flimsy plastic, and what ever I fitted would have to be removable without obvious damage.

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If that VW has a solid front license plate mount, the Carr Light Wing might do the trick, especially using lighter-weight LED-based auxiliary high beams such as from JW Speaker. You could also try to fabricate brackets that pass through one of the grille areas, so all the mounting points are hidden away behind the grille/under the hood.

Thanks Alaric,
I am in the UK, I beleive the DRL rules apply to cars after 2013, but as there is only a H15 will fit it is a bit redundant anyway. I have not seen Phillips H15's I can only find Osrams in the UK, but will keep looking (and keep hoping for an xtreme vision or night breaker).
The light wing looks really interesting, I will have a look at the number plate mount and maybe see about getting one made locally, or try and find a rally prep place as I am not confident enough to pull the front of the car appart and fabricate something.
Thanks
John

spexmaniac said:

I am in the UK, I beleive the DRL rules apply to cars after 2013

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2011.

but as there is only a H15 will fit it is a bit redundant anyway. I have not seen Phillips H15's I can only find Osrams in the UK, but will keep looking (and keep hoping for an xtreme vision or night breaker).

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There is no advantage of a Philips H15 over an Osram H15 or vice versa. They are functionally quite equivalent. There's no (legitimate) upgrade for H15 from anyone, in any country.

That Carr Light Wing would put the car very completely afoul of European pedestrian-protection regulations and quite possibly UK national regs as well. It's an OK solution for American pickup trucks and such. You may find some novel mount systems for small, lightweight driving lamps from the likes of Hella, but the odds are you will hit nothing but dead ends in your quest for brighter high beams.

spexmaniac said:

I am in the UK

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-Virgil- said:

That Carr Light Wing would put the car very completely afoul of European pedestrian-protection regulations and quite possibly UK national regs as well.

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That's what I get for assuming 'Murrica! I knew something was up when you said "main" and "dip" beams-- but I have a 100% Oklahoman friend that has the annoying affectation of using British spellings (colour/neighbor/programme) when he knows darn good and well he's 'Murrican and ain't nobody teaches that here nohows!

If you rig up a "through-the-grille" mount, making sure the farthest forward of the lamp or the mounting bracket is still "behind" the farthest projection of the bumper it's mounted over would be a good idea, but there may be other aspects to the pedestrian-protection regs in Europe that I'm not familiar with.

I just looked at that MTEC toy again:

MTEC make some of the most affordable Japanese performance upgrade bulbs on the market, these Super white gas charge bulbs are example of just that. Consuming 55w they produce a powerful 100w output of clear bright white light. These bulbs are not to be confused with the cheaper quality bulbs.

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If I had a light bulb (or any other device) I could put 55W in and get 100W out, I'm sure I could resolve the energy crisis in a week!

I'm glad your friend likes to use the Queens English, it has served us well in the past My Land Rover Discovery 3 has 2 Cibie Super Oscars that stick ahead of the bumper, and that has never attracted undue attention.
Being sceptical about the Mtec bulbs I put one in and left the other standard, then shone them at a wall, the OE bulb gave a visible pattern the Mtec did not, I did run to work one day just to be sure but they were aweful. Thankfully we have a distance selling law that says I could send them back for a refund, so no real loss.
Thanks again
John