teaser pics... (updated Jan. 9) Driving Lights
jhota
familEE
well, i got one of the new lights for the car today. i'm re-using my old fog light, but here's my new Hella Rallye 4000 Compact driving light:
it's a slick little unit, all-metal housing with a glass lens. mounting base is die-cast, adjustment is available through the two knobs on the back.
only problem is, the folks i ordered it from didn't send a bulb, and sent the wrong second light (i ordered a Rallye 4000 pencil beam to go with, and they sent a fog lamp. d'oh!).
so it's going to be a while before i can install them and post installed pics...
it's a slick little unit, all-metal housing with a glass lens. mounting base is die-cast, adjustment is available through the two knobs on the back.
only problem is, the folks i ordered it from didn't send a bulb, and sent the wrong second light (i ordered a Rallye 4000 pencil beam to go with, and they sent a fog lamp. d'oh!).
so it's going to be a while before i can install them and post installed pics...
Comments
my fog light was a pro-level light 30 years ago, and the Rallye 4000 is one now - even though a lot of teams/drivers are using the Xenon models. i wanted to go with the xenons, but couldn't justify near $1400 worth of lamps. $400 worth is enough for me.
no, i just like to see at night.
let's face it, the headlights on our cars (and most cars of the 80's and early 90's) kind of suck.
aerodynamic concerns made headlights smaller and smaller, reducing available reflector and lens area. this (generally) meant less beam refinement and less actual useable light.
modern lights use much more efficient reflector and lens desings, plus they are getting larger again. and (in many cases) even they are marginal, in my opinion. some of them suck even worse than our stockers (most Ford designs from the mid-90's on).
i don't spend as much time driving as i used to, but when i'm driving through a Gerogia swamp or over the Smoky Mountains at 2 AM, i like to be able to see where i'm going...
http://fourthgenhatch.net/9005.html
no offense dude, but that's one of the dumbest things i've ever seen. changing bulbs won't do shit to correct the craptastic lens and reflector design we've got, but it will cause excess glare and backscatter to blind oncoming drivers.
"Low Beam bulbs are rated at 1000 Lumens and High Beams are 1700 Lumens. That means that the High Beams are 70% brighter than the Low Beams."
there are two reasons the bulbs are rated differently: the design, and the wattage.
the stock 9006 low beam bulb is a 51w bulb. the 9005 high beam is a 60w bulb. added to that, 9006 bulbs have a coated tip, cutting down on the amount of light that can leave the bulb. this tip is there so oncoming cars don't have to deal with super-intense light coming directly at them.
in addition, the low beam lamp is not designed to take advantage of the "extra" light emitted from a 9005 bulb - again, all that happens when you replace the correct bulb with the incorrect one is an increase in uncontrolled light.
sure, you may have "better" light directly in front of the car, but this is due primarily to the excess scatter allowing more "fill."
the author of that article could have probably got just as good results by replacing his old bulbs with new correct bulbs, without some of the additional "flare" i see in his after pic.
on top of all of those considerations, replacing a 9006 with a 9005 is illegal. my light setup, on the other hand, is 100% legal. and throws a better, more controlled pattern than pretty much any stock headlight system on the road.
here's another secret:
if you're buying fog lamps and they cost less than $100/pair, they're junk. if they cost less than $150/pair, they're probably junk, but you're getting closer.
i've got no patience for beauty lights, in case y'all hadn't guessed.
but anywho you really made alot of good points, you must be our "light guru"
good luck with the project!
Toshiba makes a bulb($30 each approx) that's as bright as the 9005 (or brighter)w/about the same bulb life as the lows(9006 I think).THat's what I'm getting next.There's a posting on this subject on this site somewhere.
jhota
They might be junk ,but If you like them & they light you a safe path home.I'm all for it. :shock:
Nice reasoning, but I hate to break it to you...the 9005 conversion does work and does not blind oncoming traffic. If you wanted to blast the idea with any credibility, you'd have to try it first.
I do agree on the need to focus on the quality of light. I initially tried some Toucan fog lights and then ditched them for some PIAA...night and day difference.
couple of crap photos:
that's a quarter sitting on the rim of the lamp (for scale).