Headlights - Discussion and Questions

[Brendan_A]

So glad I've got xenons and I love my red stripes[emoji1]

[Dutch77]

I knew I'd get a bite.

Audi do a premium front light; VW xenon or halogen is no match.. but I don't think it cheapens the car, it's still the most premium in its class.

[Jimi]

So glad I've got xenons and I love my red stripes[emoji1]

Yep, even more so reading the debacle that is the win power lamps thread

I was 50/50 when I added bixenons, which were my only option. I haven't regretted it for a second. The red line has grown on me too - it's only a single line and looks clean, not naff at all I reckon. No worse than some non oem wheels anyway!

[Dutch77]

Touche.

[Mountainman]

I am happy with the focus of the headlights on my Mk7 both low and high beam, it's just their poor output. They simply are not bright enough, though strangely they seem better now after a year than when new. Maybe the low beam bulb upgrade has been more effective than I thought. I regularly (every day) swap between my Forester XT with its standard low beam xenons and do heaps of night time driving and strangely it is not the difference between the two cars low beams that I notice - it's the incredibly much better effect the Forester's halogen high beams have when they come on compared with the Golf. Like others have said, there are some very effective halogen set ups out there. Not on the Mk7 golf though.

[kamold]

I knew I'd get a bite.

Audi do a premium front light; VW xenon or halogen is no match.. but I don't think it cheapens the car, it's still the most premium in its class.

But that's my point: everything else about the car is designed to place it at the premium end of its segment. Its like putting steel wheels and hubcaps on it. Sure the wheels work exactly the same but sure brings down the tone of the package...

[Mountainman]

The Halogens are an after thought and very little thought went into them, they look cheap, nasty and out of place on the mk7. They are the most disappointing part of the Golf Mk7 and make the car look dated in the current hatch market.

And to boot the performance of the halogens is crap. Even the Polo halogens look better.

I don't go along with this view at all. I like the genuine look of the Golf's halogens. They are no worse or better looking than a mk5/6, polo or Jetta. They look what they are. What you see is what you get. It doesn't have the weird wanna be HID's of say a Corolla or i30. And experience with hire cars has shown me that those projectors have never measured up to the reflectors. I first noticed this when going from a '98 Camry with reflectors to the pathetic dark ages projectors of a '09 Camry with projectors. The headlights of a new Corolla and i30 I've experienced are not even as good as my Golf's. Now that is scary.

[Wezza]

Anyone know if there's a replacement bulb option available to make the standard DRL a whiter light. I have changed my low beams and fogs to nightbreakers and they give off a pretty decent white light be great if i could get rid of the 'yellow' light the DRL's produce.

[AJD]

Guaranteed to generate a bit of a reaction but I'm truly amazed at all the attention the headlights are getting. I'm not sure which light absorbing black hole some people are driving into but I do a reasonable amount of night driving on both city and country roads and think the standard halogens are pretty good. As for the aesthetics, yes there are better looking headlights on the market but let's not get ahead of ourselves, it is only a Golf.

[BFPO40]

Guaranteed to generate a bit of a reaction but I'm truly amazed at all the attention the headlights are getting. I'm not sure which light absorbing black hole some people are driving into but I do a reasonable amount of night driving on both city and country roads and think the standard halogens are pretty good. As for the aesthetics, yes there are better looking headlights on the market but let's not get ahead of ourselves, it is only a Golf.

You should try a Golf fitted with Xenons then reappraise your position.

The factory standard halogens with factory bulbs were not good, something I noticed straight away after using a mk7 with Xenons for 3 months prior.

[AJD]

You should try a Golf fitted with Xenons then reappraise your position.

The factory standard halogens with factory bulbs were not good, something I noticed straight away after using a mk7 with Xenons for 3 months prior.

I have driven cars with Xenons but that's not my point, I didn't say they halogens were the best lights available, what I am saying is they are not that bad. For those of us old enough to remember sealed beam headlights they are absolutely fantastic. To have people suggest the halogens on a current Golf render the vehicle unroadworthy and dangerous is ludicrous.

When it comes down to it, there are far worse headlights out there and far bigger issues with the car than the headlights.

[Dutch77]

Correct, they're not so bad when compared to say my first car a 1982 Sigma or perhaps driving with a torch held out the window (actually make that an old torch, the new LED torches would have the Mk7 covered).

I am sure they pass roadworthy checks, no one here has claimed otherwise. What they don't do is provide a safe beam of light at highway speed on dark unlit roads. If you do this sort of driving I'd strongly recommend looking at veew's bulb upgrade at a minimum.

The fact that they even managed to go backwards over Mk6 is perhaps the saddest point, given the other leaps forward the car has made.

A reminder for anyone who missed my in depth analysis previously:

[Guest001]

Correct, they're not so bad when compared to say my first car a 1982 Sigma or perhaps driving with a torch held out the window (actually make that an old torch, the new LED torches would have the Mk7 covered).

I am sure they pass roadworthy checks, no one here has claimed otherwise. What they don't do is provide a safe beam of light at highway speed on dark unlit roads. If you do this sort of driving I'd strongly recommend looking at veew's bulb upgrade at a minimum.

The fact that they even managed to go backwards over Mk6 is perhaps the saddest point, given the other leaps forward the car has made.

A reminder for anyone who missed my in depth analysis previously:

Why do it on the wrong side of the road. Would look more realistic if done on correct side so we could see true spread when driving.

[Mountainman]

Actually my Mk7 halogens are somewhere between the Mk7 xenons and the Mk6 halogens photo.
The stock xenon low beam / halogen high beam on my Forester are better than that Mk7 xenon photo. Surly the Golf's xenons are brighter with a longer throw than that?

[Kesh]

Ugh, these xenons look absolutely amazing haha. Not only that, but the projectors themselves...