Blue tinged bulbs for front headlights?

[rival81]

I've seen these "Ultra White/Optic Blue" bulbs around that are supposed to add a blue tinge to your headlights like newer cars. Has anyone tried these, and what are they like? There's a pic of one in it's box at: http://www.carmate.com.au/ under the lighting section about half way down the page.

[TRX2NV]

hey rival81 iv seen a few 180's and sil's with really bright blue lights but a friend of mine got a set from auto1 or somewhere and there crap basically no blue. so check out whats on the market first good blue ones might be more $$$,may mates were about 30-40$

[noss]

they will look blue or even red from certain angles if you are looking straight on at them and they light up the road a nice "purer"white rather than the dull yellowish white of most standard bulbs. i much prefer them to standard bulbs, however, they are illegal and if a cop is feeling like beinga complete prick you will be defected.

[Jtas]

noss, most of these globes are completely LEGAL,  havent you ever noticed that alot of new cars particularly bmws, audis, etc. have headlights with a blue tinge.. these globes dont put out blue light, they just look blue at the headlight, if you put your hand in front of the lights at night there wont be a blue glow on it, or if you put a piece of paper in front of it, there wont be a blue glow on it, this is the test that police use to check for legality, and from what they have told me they have not come across any that are illegal, one of my mates has headlight globes that have a purple tinge to them but they dont put out purple light. 

please correct me if im wrong, but that would mean that alot of the hobart police force dont know sh*t, and that i am blind .

although there may be some bulbs that u can get that put out a blue light on the road, and im sure if these are available they are illegal , but i have never come across them.

i have checked with the transport department on the legalities of the globes and they are legal

[Jtas]

also.. i plan on getting these globes soon

[trxmad]

i had some of these globes n i thought they were crap.. probly coz they were cheap

anyway they were good at first.. looking straight on the light was much more white than regular globes but over a few months they just got really dim n i could hardly see anything at night... put my old ones back in n they were fine

[I'm what Willis was talkin' 'bout]

noss is right, you will get a defect if you're unlucky, not with all types of blue headlight bulbs though, mainly the wanky rice blue bulbs.

The only reason the German and prestige cars have the blue tinged lights has nothing to do with a blue globe but the type of headlight that they have. 

Your car runs a basic headlight design that is on 99% of cars on the road, things like a Magna VRX run a projecter set up which gives you better coverage, then your German cars run Xenon gas discharge lights and all sorts of high tech shit like that.  Basically the light is more of a pure white, so pure that it can appear blue.  These lights also run at higher temps, have a longer life span, provide better road coverage, etc.

Why don't all cars have them?  They're too fucking expensive, that's why.

If you're also talking about coloured lights for your parkers, well they're illegal too...

If want better lighting buy better bulbs, if you want wank factor buy cheapo blue ones.

[imaspy]

go wank factor! go banana!!

[noss]

these globes dont put out blue light, they just look blue at the headlight, if you put your hand in front of the lights at night there wont be a blue glow on it, or if you put a piece of paper in front of it, there wont be a blue glow on it, this is the test that police use to check for legality

i never said that they emit a blue light, i said when looking straight on or at certain angles they appear blue..or even red. they still emit a white light, which is also what i said.

they light up the road a nice "purer"white rather than the dull yellowish white of most standard bulbs

the reason the bulbs appear whiter with, as shaun put it, the "wank factor" bulbs that you can buy is because they are a higher wattage bulb than standard bulbs, the reason the appear blue or red at certain angles is because they are glazed with either a red or blue coating to emulate the much more expensive xenon kits you find in current model cars, hence the wank factor.

it also might not be a case of tasmanian police not knowing shit, but maybe they're not pricks or they just dont care cause there is such a small population in tassie it really doesnt matter, much like out in country mainland australia, most of the time in regards to seemingly trivial things like bulbs police are more relaxed.

the fact that the bulbs appear blue or even red at certain angles is the reason why most police in major cities will defect you for them, they dont give a rats about the fact that they shine white on the road, its the fact that they are deemed to be lights that "startle or confuse other road users" there is a big legal write up in the faq section on the use of neons & non standard lighting equipment.

[Jtas]

ok just a bit of a misunderstanding, sorry.

i was just writing what i have been told by the police and the department of transport in tasmania,
so yes the rules may be different in other states, or the rules may be the same but the police are more leniant down here which is usually the case.

sorry if i misled anyone

[noss]

just got off the phone to the road safety office. their response is that, if the bulbs emit a light which is 90% white, then they are ok. however the police still have the right to deem something illegal or legal at their own discretion which is where the rule about dazzling lights & what not comes into play.

[Jtas]

however the police still have the right to deem something illegal or legal at their own discretion

thats such a bullshit rule!!... i know its true that they can deem something legal or illegal... but its still crap!

[trxmad]

what about if something is clearly distracting / dangerous but isnt covered by any laws?

[Jtas]

true, but most of the time the police take advantage of the rule that they can deem something to be illegal at there own discretion, there should be uniformed laws so that it doesnt matter what mood the cops are in they have to either say something is legal or illegal regardless of there opinion

[trxmad]

if only the world was perfect

[Cle]

There's nothing wrong with most of them. Infact most have been tested and aproved for use in all states it's just the major "rice boy" type that will get you into trouble. Most that ive seen just improve the light quality with out much if any blue (or other colour) in them.

Simple enough.. just look on the back and that should tell you if there street legal (not always but most that are tested do state the fact). As far as cops go well there will always be the "I don't like you" factor & if there in that kind of mood then im sure they'll find something wrong with you car.

[Jtas]

if only the world was perfect

yeah well its not right that one cop can just defect/fine or impound your car just because their opinion is that somethings illegal , and another cop can let you off or not even bother pulling you over because he or she thinks thinks theres nothing wrong with the lights or anything else.
also its annoying when you ask a cop if somethings legal or illegal and they say there legal if this and that are only at the back of the car and cant be seen from the front or vice versa. etc. etc.  and then you get fined by another cop because he thinks its dazzling or distracting or whatever.

end rant.
james

[chr1S]

the h1's are the good ones but with our cars i think u will need a relay and watch the wires dont overheat.. also why would it be illegal if they sell it at repco or similiar.. ive seen people pulled up for it but its just lame stupid if they sell them at autobahn etc

[Jtas]

also why would it be illegal if they sell it at repco or similiar.. ive seen people pulled up for it but its just lame stupid if they sell them at autobahn etc

what your saying should be true, they shouldnt really be able to sell illegal things(at least not without giving you a decent warning about them) but think of all of the things that they do sell that are illegal on the road ie. neons, windscreen washer lights, and other stuff i cant think of.

[noss]

yeah thats right, pedal pads, 90% of steering wheels on the market, pod filters, tail light tint spray/adhesive film, the list is endless and its all illegal.

and why do they sell it? cause people buy it. they make money. they dont care as long as they're making a profit.

[Jtas]

yeah and when i asked a guy at one of these car shops he said they can sell it because they have a legitimate reason>>selling to people that use the stuff on show cars and not on the street....

and is it true that if a sports steering wheel has bare unpadded metal it is illegal. is that the only reason that they are illegal or are there others?

[noss]

that is one of the reasons. other reasons could be that its too small (cant be smaller than 13" i think)

[Pinsair]

just dont be a prick to cops when they pull you over and dont draw attention to yourself in the first place.

imo if a cop wants to defect you, he/she can, i dont agree with it at all but its just the way it is. my mate was driving his dad's hsv senator (96 i think) got pulled up by cops and thinking he couldnt get defected, was a real prick to the cops. "you wont find anything, the intake and exhaust are all stock" etc etc. he ended up getting defected for his passenger side seatbelt retracting too slowly!

[Pinsair]

another thread gone way of topic... 

[chr1S]

haha retracting too slowly .. rofl thats just stupid..as long as it locks i think its legal

[RichTRX]

I took a picture of my car when I first got my Autotechnica "opti-blue" headlight bulbs. They're size H4 and I think they only cost about $25. Anyway here's what it looked like (about a year ago). They look quite yellow (except for around the edges) but as soon as it goes night time you'll notice that the light itself is very white instead of yellow. In twilight this is hard to drive with.

[Krosbow]

I got a set of 8000k H4s off ebay for a ridiculous $14 including postage from JAP. They are real nice to drive with, as there is less shadows due to a whiter light i think. I am a P plater in Victoria and the cops are dynamite here, ive been pulled up about 6 times whlist they have been installed and not a word has been said... I say they are ok, but it only takes one [language filter smackdown] coppa dosent it.

[RichTRX]

My autotechnica white bulbs (shown in pic above) were pr!cks to drive with on low beam - the white light seemed to mesh a lot with street lights so half the time you couldn't even tell if the lights were on. I now have Philips 4300K Bluevision bulbs and they are not quite as white, as the autotechnica ones, but they do work a whole lot better on low and high beams.

[DAN]

you will find that if the lights you are useing are legal than it will have an aproval number on them and if they are not legal than they will say only for off road use.  almost all of the pure white light globes are legal as long as they dont exceed the maximum watage for brightness.  and if you keep the packageing with the aproval number on it and a cop defects you than you can challange the discsion easily.

[Jecks]

most of the blue/white globes you are talking about that are fitted factory on the newer cars are not just blue/white globes, they are in fact HID, if your after HID you'll need to buy a converter box and modify your headlights etc... then again a cheaper option for the look is the blue/white globes... and some of the blue/white globes are legal as long as they are WHITE, but if they show any colour at all (ie. blue) then its illegal...