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2015 subaru outback light upgrade.

24K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  Itchy Pits 
#1 ·
Is it possible to upgrade the lights on a 2015 outback as we recently went down through NSW to Vic for a bit of a holiday and on our first day out we drove on our first day into the night which in my opinion was a disaster as it was the first time using the lights on it.Anyway i thought high beam was terrible until we drove past another vehicle and went to low beam,well you could hardly see a thing so no more night driving while we were away and today have had it into Llewellyn Subaru who tell us lights are normal and there are no up grades available so looking for any answers please how to improve it.
 
#2 · (Edited)
I believe you have the 2.5 Premium model ? If so I was under the impression that it comes with LED headlights ? If this is the case and you're still finding them unsatisfactory for night driving I would suggest maybe fitting an LED lightbar or driving lights. I have a 2005 Outback 3.0 Premium and the lights in that were fair but still not as good as I wanted them especially living on the coast in a bushland setting. I upgraded both low and high beam bulbs with Osram Cool Blue Intense (Xenon look) 4200 K's. these alone were a great upgrade and really helped with visibilty for night driving. I recently added a compact LED Lightbar as well and it is quite simply - brilliant !! Here's a couple of pics below to show the beam low, high and high with LED lightbar :)

Low



High



High with LED lightbar



Lightbar as fitted

 
#5 ·
I have used one of the mounting brackets which fits in behind the number plate (mine is the Great White brand) a fair bit stronger than the other polished alloy one's and it doesn't have the curved bar pieces on the end (my preference) I purchased mine here - Number Plate Mounting Bracket TO Suit Great Whites LOW Mount 9 LED Driving Light | eBay

Be aware though that I removed my front bumper and attached it with nuts and bolts, I also fitted small plates at the rear inside the bumper for extra strength and to make the mount solid so the lightbar has very little shaking when going over bumps. It was a bit of a pain to remove but I don't have all the weird technology and sensors etc ... fitted to the front of the car so it was a relatively easy DIY project :) I honestly couldn't tell you if you have LED headlights or not without actually seeing the car but if it only has HID / Halogen bulbs they should be able to be upgraded without too much effort :) Maybe try looking in your handbook and seeing what globes it takes, if you can find out what they are (eg H11, H7 or whatever) I would be happy to help you out with locating them for you online :)
 
#8 ·
the low beam headlights are LED, but the high beam only halogen and take bulb #HB3. these should be easily upgradable. I intend to look into as well. i do fine the low beam to be very good however.
 
#10 ·
My high beam also takes the HB3 globe, for comparison of the high beam the 2nd photo I posted should give you something to go off. My globes are Osram Cool Blue Intense (Xenon look 4200 k) for both high and low beam, I also had these fitted in my previous ride a 2011 Ford Focus Hatch and the difference over stock is like chalk and cheese, I highly recommend them. I have also tried Osram Night Breakers previously and find the CBI's throw a wider crisper beam :)

Osram HB3 Cool Blue Intense 4200K CBI Headlight Australia Stock | eBay
 
#17 ·
I've just measured the distance to the LED low beam cutoff line on a flat street and it's just 25metres. Worse than I thought.
How does the "self levelling" system work? - is it possible mine are stuck on a down tilt setting? Bill P
 

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#19 ·
Tried some phillips diamond vision 100 plus bulbs in the high beam and still no better.Surely there must be something decent to use in the high beams that will give a decent amount of light out in front of vehicle other than directly in front as this is getting very frustating.Itruly don't know how Subaru are allowed to sell vehicles with sub standard lights as it is dangerous at night.
 
#23 ·
Last post was Dec 2015: My 2016 OB has a similar problem with lousy high beam for country driving. I did complain to a dealer [while travelling]. He fixed low beam. The low beam is LED type. I fitted LED bulbs into high beam position in place of halogen type which improved HB lighting marginally. The LB/HB assembly is on one internal frame and LB and HB cannot be adjusted individually from what I have found.
THe auto light adjuster module is located under the back of the car and an arm is connected to the left rear suspension arm. So rear ride height determines lowbeam angle.
I fitted a ECB nudge bar with 2 x 4" 100W HID lights and single 9 LED bar between HIDs for improved rural night-time driving. The LED bar provides instant light while the HID lamps warm up and come up to full brilliance. Forget using the number bracket system as the nose plastic panel is not stiffly secured to the front internal metal work. [other car, I30 has same nose panel looseness.]
 
#24 ·
Upgrading the halogen headlights (with any of the fancy bulbs) is pretty well a waste of time. Install a high end 20" light bar and you will be blown away by how much of an improvement you get. Unfortunately high end is expensive but you get what you pay for. Take a look at Corsair Vehicle Solutions website. They sell Baja Designs lights. The Onx6+ 20" combo bar will fix your problems. I have HID lights fitted to my low beam and an Onx6 and a pair of XL80 combo led lights for high beam and the light output is prodigious! Regarding the expense, consider that one roo strike will easily cost more than a whole lot of lights....The only thing you need to remember with lights like that is if a car is ANYWHERE in sight (either going away or coming towards you) you MUST be dipped. It doesn't matter if it's a couple of kilometres away, dip.
 

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#25 ·
I found that my MY17 headlights were badly aligned from new. The pre-delivery checklist stated that they had been checked. Obviously they had not. That being said, all of the Outbacks that I have owned have had poor high beams. The beam is too spread out and doesn't focus enough light down the road. You get a slight improvement with the brighter halogen bulbs.

I fitted LED bulbs to the high beam and that made a noticeable improvement. If you do fit LED bulbs, get some quality bulbs from a known brand as there is a lot of poor quality and ineffective bulbs being sold.

I also fitted an ECB nudge bar and a pair of Lightforce Venom driving lights. The combination of LED high beams (my co-driver though they were quite effective) and the driving lights was very effective on a recent road trip Adelaide-Bordertown-Millicent-Adelaide. The only down side was after driving for an extended period at night with all the lights on, when you dip the beams for oncoming traffic, the low beams seem dim in comparison as your eyes take time to adjust to the lower light.

As per Geoff's comment above, the LED driving lights need to be dipped much earlier than you think.
 

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