Headlight upgrade choice...

[Wishmaster]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for the last couple of weeks as I've been doing my research to find a quality H7 headlight bulb upgrade for my 2007 Mazda 5 (non HID). I have narrowed my choices down to the Philips X-treme Vision or the Osram Night Breaker Plus... I'm currently leaning toward the Philips bulb.

Then someone through a cat amongst the pigeons and suggested I check out the Osram 65w H7 bulbs.

Three questions...

1. What is the potential impact of running a bulb that requires 10 more watts than the standard bulb?
2. Is my cars' electrical system even set-up to run that much power to the low beam bulb? (I know very little when it comes to electrical )
3. If the the bulb is that much higher of a wattage, why aren't other H7 bulbs offered in 65 watts? Does it emit an illegal amount of light for Canadian roads?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[-Virgil-]

Welcome to the board.

Of the two you mention, the Philips Xtreme is the better pick. Either of them will have a very short lifespan. The Osram 65w will outperform either of them and have a longer lifespan, and there would not be a heat or power draw problem, but the lifespan of a 65w Osram H7 bulb is shorter than the lifespan of a standard-output 55w bulb. If the headlamps are aimed correctly, they would not produce unsafe or unlawful amounts of glare (on the other hand, if the lamps are aimed too high, they will produce unsafe and unlawful amounts of glare even with a standard bulb).

The whole point of this bulb is that its power (wattage) is not "that much" higher than standard. Just 10w more, which is about the power of a North American parking light or tail light bulb. Other makers have made other decisions on what kind of higher-than-spec-power H7 to offer; Philips offers an 80w H7 that produces 2000 lumens (that is 25w higher than standard, and that is 100 lumens less than the Osram 65w H7).

 

[Wishmaster]

Welcome to the board.

Of the two you mention, the Philips Xtreme is the better pick. Either of them will have a very short lifespan. The Osram 65w will outperform either of them and have a longer lifespan, and there would not be a heat or power draw problem, but the lifespan of a 65w Osram H7 bulb is shorter than the lifespan of a standard-output 55w bulb. If the headlamps are aimed correctly, they would not produce unsafe or unlawful amounts of glare (on the other hand, if the lamps are aimed too high, they will produce unsafe and unlawful amounts of glare even with a standard bulb).

The whole point of this bulb is that its power (wattage) is not "that much" higher than standard. Just 10w more, which is about the power of a North American parking light or tail light bulb. Other makers have made other decisions on what kind of higher-than-spec-power H7 to offer; Philips offers an 80w H7 that produces 2000 lumens (that is 25w higher than standard, and that is 100 lumens less than the Osram 65w H7).

Hmmm, very interesting. Think I'll stick with the Philips Xtreme 55 watt bulbs, I'll already be shortening my lifespan and don't want to shorten it even further when the philips is already a very good bulb. Thanks for the help!!