I find that the headlights in our car do not iluminate the road very well. I've asked the dealer and was told that any of these so called "brighter" replacement headlights I can buy at Canadian Tire are actuall illegal in Canada. Yet another dealer told me to go ahead and replace them just make sure I use a H7 replacement compatible bulb.
Who is right? What about HID headlights, I've heard they are real bright?
If the bulbs are the same Wattage then they are probably legal. Unless the Canadian legislators specified the gas envelope to be used in vehicle lighting then you should be fine. High wattage bulbs however are available and are probably illegal, they can also cause all sorts of problems with your wiring. Here in the UK some manufacturers clearly mark bulb packets that are for 'off road' use only !
"Tony" wrote
I assume you're not driving around with the only the half-brightness Daytime Running Lights on, right? Many people think all their lights are "automatic", but the light switch still has to be turned "on" at night, otherwise they only have those yellowy sorta-blinding-but-not-really things that aren't aimed at the road.
HID is not an incandescent bulb. It's a whole different technology, inolving special lights and electronics. If a legal HID replacement was even available, it would probably cost well over $1000.
In the US, the government has been cracking down on companies offering
3rd party HID lights, as they do not meet DOT standards.Be wary of higher-wattage bulbs. The wiring in most cars is barely adequate to handle the stock bulbs. Using a higher wattage could blow fuses, circuit breakers, or even cause a fire! The claims of standard wattage bulbs being brighter are mostly false. The 'blue' coating put on bulbs actually REDUCES output, although it may look a bit brighter to the human eye.
Also, as somebody else posted, make certain you have the headlights actually on, and not the default daytime-running-light mode. DRL mode runs at reduced brightness.
Go to the newsgroup rec.autos.makers.Chrysler and post this question under the title "question for Daniel Stern". He's very good at this stuff. Don't worry about being off-topic, that group is pretty easy-going.
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