Does your car headlight use a 168W bulb? Then this guide will help you make the right choice among the many bulbs that are on the market.
If you need help choosing a bulb for your car, read our guide to choosing a car lamp, or use the lamp selection for each car model on our website.
168W Bulbs Guide
Types of bulbs
Bulbs Review
Buying Guide
What is a 168W bulb?
168W bulbs are installed in fog lights.
168W lamps are currently one of the most popular bulbs on the market due to their design and good sealing.
Variety of 168W car bulbs
168W bulbs are most commonly installed in dipped beams and fog lights. Depending on the light source, 168W dipped-beam bulbs are available in different versions:
- Halogen bulbs
- LED bulbs
- HID Xenon lamps
Best 168W Bulb Editor’s Choice
Philips 168WLED Ultinon LED
Product information:
- 6000 Kelvin
- Up to 8 year lifetime
168W Bulbs Review
A review of 168W bulbs can boil down to a few parameters
It is the type of 168W bulb: halogen bulbs, LED bulbs, or xenon lamps. The next factors are the brightness of the bulbs and the color of the lamps.
Lamps with a 168W base are used for cars with high mileage, which means that the optics will not be in the best condition: faded reflector, cloudy diffuser. In this case, the most interesting option for purchase is lamps with increased luminous efficacy. Careful when buying bulbs with increased brightness and need to be to their light distribution – if they will start to blow on the oncoming lane, the drivers there will be much more noticeable.
The normal practice among well-known manufacturers to indicate on the packaging that the lamps are designed exclusively for off-road use only (for off-road use): For example, such lamps can be put in the headlight-seeker or headlamp chandelier raid car, but on the road, they really have nothing to do.
As for the color temperature, of course, you can choose any, except that white, going into a bright blue. However, the saturated yellow glow is still better left for the fog lights with transparent diffusers, the main light to make whiter: each color has its own advantages, and here in this combination they are best revealed.
168W Lamp socket
Make sure you buy the right type of bulb for your car. 168W bulbs are bulbs for a car headlight or for fog light. You can determine what type of bulb you need for your car by checking this information in your owner’s manual. You can also find out what type of bulb you need by using the bulb selection by make and model of your car using our website. On the car bulb finder page, you will find information on what type of bulbs you need to use.
168W Bulbs Buying Guide
Once you’ve determined that 168W bulbs are what you need, you can start searching for the brightest 168W bulbs. When choosing a 168W bulb, you need to consider the following factors:
- Light distribution on the road
- Power consumption
- Luminous flux
- Compliance with light distribution with established standards
Power of 168W bulbs diode
The power of the LED depends on the brightness of the light it emits, and the higher the quality of the diode, the higher its efficiency will be. We do not recommend that you choose the most powerful and brightest models for your vehicle.
Dependence of power from the cooling system 168W bulbs
An LED generates a lot of heat when it emits light, and the higher the wattage of the lamp, the more heat the lamp produces. Poor cooling or poor quality results in the LED not being able to operate at full power.
The noisiness of the 168W bulbs cooler
If your choice fell on a powerful 168W lamp with active cooling, then note that the cooler’s poor quality lamps are not only more likely to fail but also create a certain noise and vibration, which can be heard in the cabin. Constant monotonous barely audible hum sooner or later will drive even the most sedate driver crazy.
The brightness of 168W bulbs
It is customary to measure the brightness of a lamp in lumens, this value indicates how much light you get from the lamp. Lumens indicate the amount of light distributed by any light source. The more lumens, the brighter the light from the lamp. At the same time, fewer lumens give less light.
Color temperature 168W bulbs
The most popular 168W LED bulbs have a color temperature of 5000-6000K, such a bulb is suitable for most cars. If you prefer the yellow color of the headlights, it is better to choose a 168W lamp with a temperature of 4000K, such a lamp will be less bright, but more natural for the eyes. Brighter light sources with a temperature of 5000-6000K provide better visibility in rainy weather when the lamp is properly focused than similar light sources with a yellow spectrum. Do not raise the color temperature of the lamp too much and choose 168W bulbs with 7000-8000 K, regardless of optics and focus, they will not provide the same quality illumination. Modern 168W LED lamps are capable of producing light with different color temperatures:
- Warm white (up to 3500 K)
- Neutral white (4200 to 5000 K)
- Cold white (temperature 6000 to 10000 K)
How do I install a 168W bulb?
To facilitate installation in cramped conditions, the ring of the base on all the bulbs is made removable. First, the ring of the base is installed, clamped by a locking device, then the 168W diode bulb itself is placed. Sometimes there are problems when installing the light bulb in the headlight, the headlight cover does not close when the cooling system is placed.
Always remember that the choice of automobile lamps 168W for dipped beam – a responsible thing because they determine the safety of the road.
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