Lights!

[GT]

Being as it's now our turn in the northern hemisphere to have another shot at summer, here's to the last 6 months motoring!

 

This thread could run & run I guess.

Having once had a crash thanks to being blinded at speed in France from the LH cresting the brow of a hill with a bend,-

Here's to decent lighting & being able to see at night!!

 

The chances are the next 12-20 years will see much more severe winters than we are used to thanks to a general fall in sun's output.

 

There are many things that really sux, driving in winter, in the freezing north.

 

1/ Driving a RHD car on continental roads. (Get blinded from the LH)

 

2/ Driving a LHD car on UK roads.(Get blinded from the RH)

 

3/ FOG wherever it is, but especially in northern FRANCE or central Germany in a thaw.

 

4/ Idiots retro fitting HID lights in cars whatever they claim.

 

5/ People failing to dip headlights in the evening in summer time nights, because they lost the habit.

 

6/ Freezing rain, and a daytime thaw swopping to a -10C 70 mile solid ice experience going home, but on snow tyres. (it's IIlegal to use summer tyres in our part of the world Nov>March).

 

7/ People driving (illegally) with fog lights in heavy rain, but never getting sanctioned for it.

 

I'm curious to know what most people's reactions are to some of the above.

 

When blinded in a corner at night, by some guy wizzing the other way what do you instinctively do?:-

 

A/ Put your own lights on full beam never mind the consequences?

 

B/ Slam on the brakes?

 

C/ Turn around & give chase?

 

D/ Fall off the road, because you hit a band of snow and ice on the roadside.

 

I confess, I'm one of the badboyz, who fits 100/80W lights on the front of the above car

(but for unknown reasons the EU won't allow anything more than the antiquated 55/60 standard dating from 1950).

But then reviews often say "Better than standard bulbs, but not as good as expected".

 

Our's is one of the countries mandatory to use headlights when driving in full summer daylight.

I'm a convinced fanatic of seeing where you are going even against full out road dirt & a full moon!

 

Luckily the Jag is one of those fantastic cars with superb lights & proper relay circuits to drive them, so you could fit 160W bulbs if you really want, and the chances of getting stopped for using them is less than zero.

Not many cars are so lucky.

I did notice the drop in voltage on the gauge on full 400W of main beam...that's 33AMPS+ chaps!

 

I can think of plenty of examples of absolute crap lights on 150mph cars.

The Jaguar XJS springs to mind, as well as the Sierra, and of course all those old Triumphs like the GT6, TR6 and Spitfire.

What would you do?

 

I had a look at this, and was suprised how little I knew about it all, never mind the prospect of forking out 30£+ for a pair, or £60+ for 4 bulbs.

 

What to get?

 

Philips who appear to be TOP....

Narva?

Ring?

Halfords?

Osram?

 

Links?

There's a bewildering number out there, and as much choice as a Tesco bread counter.

Like Tesco bread, lots of it is awful.

 

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk

 

http://www.smplighting.co.uk

 

http://www.piaa.co.uk

 

http://www.1stautobulbs.com

 

+

 

a useful review dating back to 2007!

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/36022/make-light-winter

[spitNL]

-7 seems to afflict most Belgiums, -No offence Gerard. -A for me, Doesn't every one put his lights on full beam in such a situation. Philips does seem to be the best, they also do 130/100 but they are hard to get.

[Nick B.]

 

I can think of plenty of examples of absolute crap lights on 150mph cars.

The Jaguar XJS springs to mind, as well as the Sierra, and of course all those old Triumphs like the GT6, TR6 and Spitfire.

 

 

Another car that springs to mind is the Alfa romeo 159. Lovely drive, but absolutely utter lack of light unless you put full beam on.

 

Cheers

Nick

[spitfire6]

Greetings,

Afraid its HID’s and LED’s for me. Once I have installed the MES LED’s, the car will be tungsten free!

 

House is all LED’s as well, apart from the bathroom twin fluorescent tubes that are getting changed to 100 Watt SAD CFL's.

 

LOL

Iain.

[pomwah]

Getting dazzled, mmmm, first thing I do look down and left at the edge of the road, give the other driver a chance to dip, then flash, and flash and flash until they do.

 

H.I.D. : had its day.

 

Used to run 150w sealed beam landing lights in the old Mazda 1500SS. Best high beam ever, well they were until these LED driving lights came out.

 

Height is the biggest problem with the Spitfire vis-a-vis being dazzled, particularly in Oz where every other vehicle is a 4x4 or SUV. I had enough trouble getting used to the RAV4 driving position vs oncoming high beams after changing from a lifted Prado (Land Cruiser)

 

Cheers, James.

 

PS. Will be upgrading the Spit to Halogen in Polycarbonate lens (Narva), 100/80w may be the go but I'm a little concerned about the heat effecting the polycarbonate adversely. 130/100w decidedly OTT. Half-seriously considering hiding a LED bar driving light behind the grill.

Edited April 8, 2013 by pomwah

[James]

Can you get LED to replace H4 style bulbs?

[pomwah]

H4 LEDs are about don't know that they would replace a standard halogen bulb just yet. A google search will bring up many variations.

[spitfire6]

Hi,

I have bought some H4 LED lamps.. the connection was H4.. The 16 or so SMD LED’s suggested too low an output to even bother trying on the car. Lost 2 quid I guess.

 

I have some 5 Watt 6000Kelvin LED’s I bought for making tail/stop lights; now they are extreamly bright. If a few of them could be mounted at the correct focal point in the headlamp AND decent cooling incorporated, I think you could have H4 LED lights/bulbs.

 

Don’t like HID’s? They can be purchased much cheaper than a few years ago and available in all temperatures. I like the 6000 Kelvin temperature

[GT]

Don’t like HID’s? They can be purchased much cheaper than a few years ago and available in all temperatures. I like the 6000 Kelvin temperature

 

I don't like HID lights because they are not suitable for non HID reflectors.

HID style lights nowadays are specially designed & usually made of plastic so they did that to stop them melting & cut prod costs.

 

Even reflectors designed for halogen lights are fairly imprecise and if you check the results of the survey in the Philips "tunnel" some of them are nothing short of disastrous.

As Leon once pointed out, there are masters in lighting & there are also-rans.

 

The French seem to have it sorted, I guess because they love rallying?

 

One of the good ones is Cibie.

(I can't afford them).

 

The moment people start putting HID lights in halogen type reflectors, all you get is that horrific bright glare, and no focus or beam.

 

They should be banned.

Anyone found using them should be heavily fined.

They are much more dangerous to other road users, especially on wet or snowy roads than any rally/off road type of halogen bulbs.

 

What I can't get, is how so many people think they are so kool!

They're not, they simply don't work, & I keep seeing them in Lada sputniks and other nasty stuff.

[zetecspit]

Interesting stuff.

 

I have a pair of h3 HID's to put in spotlamps for my car, used for 12 car rallies and so on out in the middle of nowhere. I avoided getting them for the main ligh umits because I know they wont give the correct pattern, but hopfully will be useful on the spots. We shall see, I may even get them fitted soon, now the night rallies are finished for the season.

[pomwah]

Got a couple of pairs of Cibies, Oscars & Super Oscars, given to me by a brother-in-law. They're in fairly ordinary condition but a blast and powder coat, a couple of reflectors re-chromed and Robert's your father's brother. Do like them and they'll take any size bulb.

 

One problem, too big for a spitfire.

 

Any recommendations for a good 5" unit?

 

Cheers, James.

[spitNL]

Was the 5"a typo?

Spitfire headlights are 7"

 

And Cibie has those:

http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproducts.asp?sg=1&pgCode=010&sgName=Electrical&pgName=Lighting&agCode=0002&agName=Light+Units+-+7%22

[pomwah]

No, I think 7" driving lights look too big on a Spitfire and I'd like to keep as much air as possible flowing through the radiator. I still haven't dismissed the idea of putting a LED bar behind the grille.

 

 

Cheers, James

[Nick Jones]

Interesting thread.

 

I've found that the 4 headlight, 5 3/4" system used on Vitesse/PI respond well to a Halogen conversion. I also twitched at the price of Cibies and bought the cheaper Osram (?) versions. They've been fine so far and the Vitesse ones have been on 6+ years now. Even with standard bulbs, albeit with relay conversions, both Triumphs have far superior lights to both moderns (Mk1 Focus and C4 A6). IIRC the Vitesse inner main-beam units are Hella items from a Mk2 Golf GTI (£10 from scrappy - minor mods needed) and are particularly excellent.

 

HID conversions are the devils work as so many seem to mainly dazzle the oncoming driver (me!) leaving him to try and blink away purple spots for a mile or so after......

 

I've had a look at using the more modern 5 3/4" units from BMW/Jag but looks like a fair bit of work and as I find the halogens acceptable, motivation is low.

 

Nick

[James]

I have HID in my mains — never use them when other traffic is around.

[bestquality03]

I fitted HID's into my standard glass GT6 headlamps and then took it straight to my local garage to have the beam height set. The beam pattern was awful! Dangerous even. I then purchased a pair of modern "crystal" replacement bowls and the results are fantastic! I had them checked and the beams aligned. The beam pattern is fantastic and I am confidant that they don't dazzle other road users when on dipped beam. The HID's I have are 4600K

[spitfire6]

Hi, I also have the crystal headlamps.

With the angel eyes.

I never noticed any strange/stray light patterns.

[pomwah]

Do the crystal bowls have polycarbonate lenses?

[spitfire6]

Do the crystal bowls have polycarbonate lenses?

I thought they were glass. But. Will kiss them when I get to my car and let you know.

Iain

[pomwah]

Executed a search on crystal reflectors, seems there are glass lens/plastic body units out there. My replacements are all plastic, will photograph and post image shortly.

 

Cheers, James.

[pomwah]

This is what I'll be replacing the standard lights with, Clear polycarbonate lens with a "fluted" reflector. "E" marked.

 

 

Cheers, James

Edited April 12, 2013 by pomwah

[Gerard]

-7 seems to afflict most Belgiums, -No offence Gerard.

Fred, I'm not Belgian, criticise away

They tend to put fog lights on front and back when there's a very light mist, the Bastards. I'm glad I'm leaving this country!

The Cibié CSR's I stuck on the Vitesse are fantastic wish boring 55w bulbs. Shame they don't make 'em any more.

[spitfire6]

Hi,

Just bought some LED fog lights of EBay. search for:

 

27W 9-LED Round Work Light Fog Lamp Flood Beam Offroad Light For Jeep ATV Truck

 

I would guess they are as bright as 55Watt halogens? Not sure about the optics, will let you know.

 

Iain.

 

Found another. 48 Watts!!

 

6000K LED 48W Flood Spot Beam 16x3w Work Light ATV Off-road Truck Car Boat Jeep

Edited April 17, 2013 by spitfire6