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Topic: H.I.D. Headlights

Bill Enos
Film God

Posts: 2081
From: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 09-02-2003 12:13 AM

Car headlights for the most part are grossly inadequate for much more than cruising around the neighborhood. Enter the new HID lights. Driving a car with them is great, having them coming from behind or coming at you in the other lane is another story. It seems that with only a few exceptions car manufacturers are not even close to managing the amount of light produced by these sources. DOT needs to call a moratorium on original equipment installation of these lights until they can be properly controlled. Brightness isn't the issue, it's just that they are putting way too much light where it doesn't belong. Also in is unlawful to retrofit HID lamps into headlights originally equipped with other bulbsfor the same reason. This being the case, why is it legal to sell retrofit kits?

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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-02-2003 01:21 AM

Many silly things for automobiles are sold with a note "May not be legal for street use in your area". They can sell it, but you can get busted if you put it on.

I wish that the police would enforce those laws, & ticket cars with improper equipment like HID retrofits, additional lighting, improper mufflers, etc. which are installed only because the owner feels that his personal attributes are insufficiently socially attractive. "Hey, I've got a loud muffler! Please, look at my penis!" I mean, just tattoo "INADEQUATE" on your forehead & paint it on your hood to cut out a step of reminding yourself.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 09-02-2003 11:42 AM

In my yute....

I long ago felt that the OEM headlights in cars were stupidly inadequate. They put out two yellow pools of light about 30-feet in front of your car. To add insult to injury, they point the driver's light down and to the right...this was to keep the light out of the ongoing traffic...a noble idea.

In the '70s/'80s I used H4 headlamps by Marshal and other...Hella is one of the more popular but Marshal had the best lensing of them all...Cibe was my 2nd choice with Hella coming in at #3.

With H4 style head lamps, you have full control to AIM the headlamps. The lenses actually focus the light where you want it without annoying on coming traffic. The typical lens on the front of these will have a hard cutoff of the bright section of the pattern such that it won't come above the rear window of the person in front of you. At the far right hand side, it does kick up to catch road signs and improve visibility around corners.

Above the hard cut off there are lens flutting to really interact well with Scotchlite road sights...it is like they are powered and lit road signs.

Next comes the lamps themselves...they are changable and various wattages are available. All are halogen. The standard is the 55/65 (55 watts on the low or 65 watts on the high). I normally used 55/100s so you have 100 watts on the high for the night is day feel. The lens again comes into play here...on high beams you get a beam that punches way down the road so you don't overdrive your headlamps (increases reaction time). For motorcycles, they have 90/100 lamps since they only have one headlamp mostly.

They were only street legal for motorcycles but legal for sale or off-road use to all. Their big legal issue was they were not sealed. When you took the bulb out, the reflector was exposed to the elements and could oxidize or possibly take in water if you didn't properly mount them (there is a rubber boot to seal up the lamp area). Since the lamps MAY corrode, they were banned from street use. That law dates back to the time when all auto headlamps were non-sealed (think Model-As and such) and some reflectors were made or plated with nickel (look and see how a nickel appears over time).

Now we have those 9000 series lamps...certainly better than the older sealed beams, lens permitting but I have yet to find a modern lamp that compares to the H4 system (I personally preferred 4-ways with an H4 on the High/Low and the H1 on the high). It isn't just the brightness that counts it is the patter control that really makes a headlamp a help or a problem.

Steve

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 09-03-2003 12:10 AM

If it were up to me I would make it against the law to fit headlights with ND filter-like dark plastic or cover taillights with a cover that leaves only small slits etc. My law would ban any alteration from the OEM version that reduces the intensity of a headlight beam or the visible illuminated area of a tail or brakelight even if the result still meets other applicable laws. They need to stop people from doing these stupid things just because they think it looks cool.

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