Honda Odyssey Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

2015 EX Headlights - Osram Night Breakers?

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 49 Posts
M

meOdy2015

· Registered
Joined
·
54 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
Read good things about the Osram Night Breakers light bulbs and I would be interested to buy a pair for my new EX.

Has anyone installed H11s for the Low Beam lights? ANyone used the Night Breakers before? Good source for them in Canada/ US?

User manual states:

Headlights (Low Beam)
35W (D2S)*
55W (H11)


Headlights (High Beam)
60W (HB3)
Fog Lights* 55W (H11)
 
#3 ·
#6 ·
meOdy2015 said:
Read good things about the Osram Night Breakers light bulbs and I would be interested to buy a pair for my new EX.

Has anyone installed H11s for the Low Beam lights? ANyone used the Night Breakers before? Good source for them in Canada/ US?

User manual states:

Headlights (Low Beam)
35W (D2S)*
55W (H11)


Headlights (High Beam)
60W (HB3)
Fog Lights* 55W (H11)
Click to expand...
You can get them here H11 - Osram Night Breaker Unlimited 64211NBP-01B Bulbs. As with many other sellers, note the description indicates these are street legal in Europe only. I'm not exactly sure why that's the case.

Anyhow, I've also been disappointed in the stock halogen projector output. Have tried both Philips Crystal Vision H11 and Sylvania Silverstar Ultra H11 to try to get better lighting and visibility. The Crystal Vision had a whiter temperature definitely, but the output was compromised because of that. The Silverstar Ultra bulbs appear to give slightly better output but only slightly. The CV was used for about 6 months before I swapped it out for the SU (bulb is still working though). The SU has been in the Odyssey for about 2 years and still operational (fingers crossed).

Just in case, I keep the OEM bulb in the glove compartment.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#7 ·
manfrotto said:
You can get them here H11 - Osram Night Breaker Unlimited 64211NBP-01B Bulbs. As with many other sellers, note the description indicates these are street legal in Europe only. I'm not exactly sure why that's the case.

Anyhow, I've also been disappointed in the stock halogen projector output. Have tried both Philips Crystal Vision H11 and Sylvania Silverstar Ultra H11 to try to get better lighting and visibility. The Crystal Vision had a whiter temperature definitely, but the output was compromised because of that. The Silverstar Ultra bulbs appear to give slightly better output but only slightly. The CV was used for about 6 months before I swapped it out for the SU (bulb is still working though). The SU has been in the Odyssey for about 2 years and still operational (fingers crossed).

Just in case, I keep the OEM bulb in the glove compartment.
Click to expand...
Exactly where I got mine. Lasted almost three years. Loved the output. Highly recommended.
 
#8 · (Edited)
manfrotto said:
You can get them here H11 - Osram Night Breaker Unlimited 64211NBP-01B Bulbs. As with many other sellers, note the description indicates these are street legal in Europe only. I'm not exactly sure why that's the case.

Anyhow, I've also been disappointed in the stock halogen projector output. Have tried both Philips Crystal Vision H11 and Sylvania Silverstar Ultra H11 to try to get better lighting and visibility. The Crystal Vision had a whiter temperature definitely, but the output was compromised because of that. The Silverstar Ultra bulbs appear to give slightly better output but only slightly. The CV was used for about 6 months before I swapped it out for the SU (bulb is still working though). The SU has been in the Odyssey for about 2 years and still operational (fingers crossed).

Just in case, I keep the OEM bulb in the glove compartment.
Click to expand...
When I was looking for H11 bulbs to match my 5K VLED Triton Switchbacks, I was doing some research. On my Camry, I had retrofitted my headlights with TSX HIDs but had MTEC Super White in my fogs. I couldn't really see the output since the retrofit was brighter and had a wider beam. But when I turned off fog lights, you could tell when they're on and when they're not.

Anyways, I was thinking of getting the MTEC again but started looking at the Philips Crystal Vision and the Diamond Vision. I heard pros and cons between from each of them and couldn't really get a definitive answer as to which is best. I ended up getting the Philips Diamond Vision off eBay (caution: there are fakes that come from China with Chinese writing on the package). So far, the Diamond Vision is 5k, matches my Tritons and has good output. I'm looking to do a retro once it gets warmer and I'll move the DV's to my fogs. So far, it's been on for 1 month. I can see at night with them.

Osram Night Breakers were also a candidate but I've heard of the short lifespan on them and that's why I balked at them. I have my OEM H11's in the DV box and from my Camry in the garage for when I need to replace the fogs. I don't think you'll need to have them in the glovebox. If you need to replace, you'll just go home and change.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#10 ·
BTW, fog light doesn't illuminate the road better for driving without fog. It illuminate closer the front of the van, when your eyes adapts to the brightness of that, it actually makes seeing further down the road harder with the existing low beam.

And fog light produces a lot of glare for on-coming traffic.

I don't know why people want to drive with fog light on without fog, front and back! (yes, plenty of them here in socal, even put HID in the fog light housing.)
 
#11 ·
stockae92 said:
BTW, fog light doesn't illuminate the road better for driving without fog. It illuminate closer the front of the van, when your eyes adapts to the brightness of that, it actually makes seeing further down the road harder with the existing low beam.

And fog light produces a lot of glare for on-coming traffic.

I don't know why people want to drive with fog light on without fog, front and back! (yes, plenty of them here in socal, even put HID in the fog light housing.)
Click to expand...
Actually for me, the fogs light up more of the floor and closer to the car. As for glare, I have no problem with it in both looking and from other cars who have fogs on. Low beams cause more of an eye strain than fogs do.

But I agree about people putting HID in fogs. It's useless and thats where you'll get the glare from because HID's isn't meant to be put into fogs.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#12 ·
stockae92 said:
life span of the high output bulbs concerns me, I just don't want to have a bulb out when in the middle of nowhere when and I need it the most
Click to expand...
It does not concern me one bit anymore. I quit worrying about that kind of stuff. Do a lot of driving on un-light, snowcovered, deer infested, highways and have no problem spending money on good, aftermarket, headlights. And keeping a spare on hand. I am currently running Osram NightBreaker "Unlimited" Ultra High Output +110% . You can find them at Osram Night Breakers<font color ="red"><BR><b>NEW</b> <u>Night Breaker Unlimited</u></font color>
 
#14 ·
stockae92 said:
life span of the high output bulbs concerns me, I just don't want to have a bulb out when in the middle of nowhere when and I need it the most
Click to expand...
That doesn't bother me one bit. What concerns me is being able to see that four legged deer that is standing in the middle of the icy snow covered road in front of me!!! I started running the best headlights bulbs that I could get my hands on several years back when I switched out the whole headlight unit on a 2002 VW Jetta. Was tired of not being able to see where I was going. US spec'ed cars with DOT headlights are lousy when compared to EURO spec'ed headlights. The Osram Night Breakers are the next best thing to high priced HID headlights. If your worried about them burning out after a year, then pick up a extra set of bulbs. Your life is well worth the price of the extra set, isn't it?
 
#16 ·
parmm said:
The Osram Night Breakers are the next best thing to high priced HID headlights. If your worried about them burning out after a year, then pick up a extra set of bulbs. Your life is well worth the price of the extra set, isn't it?
Click to expand...
parmm nails this one. All correct, +1. That's why we use uprated halogen bulbs as well in one of our Odys and our Accord. Historically, we've gotten just over 2 years on them, but we use them day and night. Night-only operation would probably net us over 3 years of use, too. The Osram bulbs allow you to maintain a legal beam pattern (FMVSS108 SAE N. America, left-hand driver, right-hand lane), and white light with the right color temperature to see animals from a distance, which allows you to do something about it (slow down, steer, or safe combination of the two).

The idea of carrying a spare bulb set is an excellent one; we are currently doing that.

I teach employment of night vision systems for the DoD, and I can tell you without a doubt that pure white light for unaided vision operation (no night vision device assistance) is orders of magnitude safer than anything with a color temperature leaning towards blue light. Unfiltered resistive filament lighting (like the Osram products) or 4300k arc discharge lighting (HID) in a proper projector is the goal. Anything else leaning towards "blue" robs the longer visible wavelengths needed to see animals (deer!) and things that have fallen off a truck (like a load of lumber). There is NO way to get more lumens out of a "blue" bulb or arc discharge capsule of any type if you suppress the remaining wavelengths (75% or more of the visible spectra) to get that type of color output.

Do NOT go with "blue" lighting if your goal is to actually see things in front of you at a safe distance. I will say the "cool factor" for show vehicles can be an attraction, but it does less than nothing for you if you operate on dark roads.


OF
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#17 ·
Thanks odyfamily and parmm. After using first the Philips Crystal Vision (much whiter light, but diminished distance and IMO brightness) and then the Silverstar Ultra (2+ years and still going strong, but would like something whiter and even brighter but still within the non-blue range), I've finally ordered a pair of Osram Nightbreakers. Here's hoping this will get the closest to HID without doing the conversion. I have an extended warranty on the 2011 so I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize coverage.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#18 ·
manfrotto, there is also the Philips Xtreme Vision lineup of bulbs; Philips just came out with H11 Xtreme Vision bulbs ths month. Amazon has a pretty good price on them.

In short, between the excellent Osram Nightbreakers and these, you now have a set of very good comparable choices. It's about time that these good companies started making higher output bulbs for the H11 architecture. I really cannot recommend one over the other, as there are a lot of positive reviews for Osram and Philips products. I did use the Osram Hyper bulbs for a while; I think they lasted a year, but I expected that. Man, they were incredible.

We have a set of H4 Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs in our 2002 EX, and like them very much. They do about 2/3 (or more) of what a bargain HID projector retrofit will do (like my TRS Mini D2S projectors), but without the hassle of disassembling the headlights and dealing with the wiring and relays. While they are not at the level of the Osram Hyper bulbs, we've had these Philips Xtreme Vision H4 bulbs for almost 2-1/2 years and they are still producing good light.

OF
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#19 ·
0dyfamily said:
manfrotto, there is also the Philips Xtreme Vision lineup of bulbs; Philips just came out with H11 Xtreme Vision bulbs ths month. Amazon has a pretty good price on them.

In short, between the excellent Osram Nightbreakers and these, you now have a set of very good comparable choices. It's about time that these good companies started making higher output bulbs for the H11 architecture. I really cannot recommend one over the other, as there are a lot of positive reviews for Osram and Philips products. I did use the Osram Hyper bulbs for a while; I think they lasted a year, but I expected that. Man, they were incredible.

We have a set of H4 Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs in our 2002 EX, and like them very much. They do about 2/3 (or more) of what a bargain HID projector retrofit will do (like my TRS Mini D2S projectors), but without the hassle of disassembling the headlights and dealing with the wiring and relays. While they are not at the level of the Osram Hyper bulbs, we've had these Philips Xtreme Vision H4 bulbs for almost 2-1/2 years and they are still producing good light.

OF
Click to expand...
Thanks Odyfamily, you read my mind. I had just come across the Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs as well. Good to know they're also another option.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
1 - 20 of 49 Posts
About this Discussion
48 Replies
13 Participants
Last post:
pg62
Honda Odyssey Forum
posts
1.1M
members
432K
Since
2000
Odyclub community is the #1 forum to discuss all things Honda Odyssey: minivans, safety, service maintenance, mods, and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
2005 - 2010 Odyssey 2011 - 2017 Odyssey 1999 - 2004 Odyssey 2018+ Odyssey Problems and Concerns