DavidLewis

Has anyone swapped their headlight bulbs for the high intensity Electra Blue halogen bulbs by Ring. The ad I've just read says that they are suitable for plastic headlamp and are street legal. No idea how much though.

Stevebyng

I have just fitted the "electra blue" bulbs in my WRX and can highly recommend them.
I already had Xenon bulbs fitted and was able to replace one of the Xenon bulbs for the blue bulb and then compare them. the blue bulb seemed brighter with a much better colour of light - that is supposed to be better at picking out road signs, cats eyes etc.
I plan to try them out properly tonight on our Mid Wales roads!!!!
Incidentily I have also used the "All Weather" bulbs in the past on a previous car and found their slightly yellow light to be very good in fog but not as bright overall as normal halogen bulbs.

Therefore based on my personal experience I rate bulbs as follows:-
1st - New "Electra Blue" bulbs
2nd - Xenon bulbs
3rd - Standard halogen bulbs
4th - All weather bulbs - except they are excellent in fog.

I actually bought the new bulbs from Halfords at 9.99 each

Robw

steve
are these bulbs available as H1 & H4

Stevebyng

robw
I cant remember what H1 looks like exactly - but Halfords cerainly had two bulb types.
The twin filament used for main/dipped is of course the H4, which I bought. They also had a single filament smaller bulb - which I assume would fit fog or driving lights but I dont know whether they are H1 or H3.
The latest Demon Tweaks catalogue shows that the Electra Blue are in fact available from them in H1,H3 and H4. They also sell some much more expensive bulbs called H.I.D. (High Intensity Discharge) that produce more light from a given wattage. The catalogue mentions that some versions are suitable for plastic lenses and that the light level is close to that available from gas discharge systems (as fitted on latest Omegas and Audis)
Having just driven around some fine Mid Wales roads to test the new bulbs I can confirm that they now give me the best light output of any bulb I have used on my WRX. Of great benefit seems to be the dipped beam performance - this has greatly improved.
The only down side I can see is the packaging for the bulbs mention that they are not suited for high mileage drivers! This is because the filament starts to evaporate a metal coating onto the inside of the glass - reducing the light output. All bulbs do this eventually but it seems these will do it sooner. Providing they last for at least a few months I am not really bothered as the performance from them is so good.
I can only imagine what they would be like in the Scoobysport driving light kit!

DavidLewis

I've fitted the Halford's version of these bulbs and while it seems better, my nearside light is turning yellow. I wont get a chance to check out why until the weekend, when I will post the outcome. Has anyone had a similar experience or is it that my lights are melting!!!

Stevebyng

I have had the Electra blues fitted since the middle of December and have covered more than 3000 miles since then. (You should see my fuel bill as this was mainly early morning long runs!)
To date the bulbs have been fantastic and are showing no signs of deterioration.
David - are you sure that the bulbs are electrically plugged in OK and therefore receiving full voltage?

karl

I'm picking up my new 99 Turbo next Monday or Tuesday.....does anyone know any details of the bulbs in the headlights. Are they the same as in my 98 model? I notice that the glass in all headlight and driving lamps is now clear glass, but have the bulbs changed? I havent got the car yet so i cant check.

Karl

Stevebyng

From the reports i have read the bulbs on the 99MY car are the same as before but the headlamp reflectors have been redesigned using the latest reflector technology (remember a lot of things have changed since the Impreza was launched in Japan in 92/93!)

DavidLewis

Well, finally got around to looking closer into this today.

Tried swaping bulbs between lamps (thanks Steve) but the yellowing followed. Now found that the other was turning yelow also. Also found that the bulbs were EXTREMELY hard to unplug. Anyway, after messing around with all the different bulbs (standard, Xenon, Blues) I would rate them in the following order (for brightness)

1st. Blues
2nd. Xenon
3rd. Standard

But since my blues are now more "yellow", I've reverted back to the Xenon's and have put a Cibie upgrade on my wish list. Now....wheres that number for ScoobySport!