Discussion
I have run Nightbreakers or similar for the last decade plus; they do make a difference.
In my 911 I also have an upgraded fuse board (lovely bit of kit made by Classic Retrofit) which has relays for the headlights built onto it. The standard wiring is to the switches but the relays increase the current to what it should be (and thus the rated output of 60/55W). Makes a great difference with proper cutoff and no scatter, etc.
In my 911 I also have an upgraded fuse board (lovely bit of kit made by Classic Retrofit) which has relays for the headlights built onto it. The standard wiring is to the switches but the relays increase the current to what it should be (and thus the rated output of 60/55W). Makes a great difference with proper cutoff and no scatter, etc.
liner33 said:
KevinCamaroSS said:
Don't forget HID (Xenon) is only fitted to the dip beam, not the main beam because of the slow start up time, no possibility to use for main beam 'flash'.
Might be true on some cars but I only have the one bulb on my 370z lamp unit Edited by KevinCamaroSS on Wednesday 21st September 09:58
KevinCamaroSS said:
On single bulb cars there is a moving plate or similar to provide the main beam. How does a main beam flash work if no lights are on?
As above:modern cars have fast start HIDs which are used for flash - D3S bulbs in our S5 are fast start and there's no H bulb fitted for flash
Adrian E said:
KevinCamaroSS said:
On single bulb cars there is a moving plate or similar to provide the main beam. How does a main beam flash work if no lights are on?
As above:modern cars have fast start HIDs which are used for flash - D3S bulbs in our S5 are fast start and there's no H bulb fitted for flash
KevinCamaroSS said:
There are plenty of aftermarket Halogen bulbs that give around 90-120% extra light and are still road legal. Cost about £30-40 a pair. The cheapest and legal solution.
Edited to add: I used these on my Octavia Scout in dip and main beam and could light up a reflective surface (road sign) at more than one kilometre away. Absolutely acceptable. Don't forget HID (Xenon) is only fitted to the dip beam, not the main beam because of the slow start up time, no possibility to use for main beam 'flash'.
Well they are but most xenons are bi-xenon, for dipped the beam is limited.Edited to add: I used these on my Octavia Scout in dip and main beam and could light up a reflective surface (road sign) at more than one kilometre away. Absolutely acceptable. Don't forget HID (Xenon) is only fitted to the dip beam, not the main beam because of the slow start up time, no possibility to use for main beam 'flash'.
Edited by KevinCamaroSS on Wednesday 21st September 09:58
Can you give me some examples? Tried osram nightbreakers in a different, reflector halogen car and no difference.
twoblacklines said:
Well they are but most xenons are bi-xenon, for dipped the beam is limited.
Can you give me some examples? Tried osram nightbreakers in a different, reflector halogen car and no difference.
Osram and Philips are the two makes I have used. I think it was the Osram in my Skoda. My current car is a 2016 Jeep Renegade with Xenon/Halogen mix. The standard Halogen units are rubbish. Some older Jeep/Dodge cars used a single Halogen bulb to do both dip and main by moving it in the unit. Absolute rubbish again.Can you give me some examples? Tried osram nightbreakers in a different, reflector halogen car and no difference.
I have used aftermarket HIDS in cars - several kits and over several cars. At the time, been younger, thought that they were the dogs..... but at the time didn't really care about oncoming traffic, didn't care about the beam pattern - just thought that the brighter light equalled safer/better.
As the daniel stern link above shows, its more than just the beam cut off point, its the actual pattern that is reflected or projected onto the road - with a light source different to what the headlamp was designed for that pattern will be different and can cause eyestrain as your eyes naturally focus to the brighter light. Even moving the light source a mm in the headlamp can cause the projected light to be several feet out. One night, switch on your headlamps and go to the rear of the headlamp and move the connector about so it moves the bulb within.... even slight movements change the beam pattern. The light source on a HID bulb is several mm away from where the headlamp is expecting it to be and so the beam pattern will be way out.
Anyway, now have two VAG group cars that have factory Xenons and to be honest, the difference between aftermarket and OEM is literally night and day.
As the daniel stern link above shows, its more than just the beam cut off point, its the actual pattern that is reflected or projected onto the road - with a light source different to what the headlamp was designed for that pattern will be different and can cause eyestrain as your eyes naturally focus to the brighter light. Even moving the light source a mm in the headlamp can cause the projected light to be several feet out. One night, switch on your headlamps and go to the rear of the headlamp and move the connector about so it moves the bulb within.... even slight movements change the beam pattern. The light source on a HID bulb is several mm away from where the headlamp is expecting it to be and so the beam pattern will be way out.
Anyway, now have two VAG group cars that have factory Xenons and to be honest, the difference between aftermarket and OEM is literally night and day.
Tomo1971 said:
I have used aftermarket HIDS in cars - several kits and over several cars. At the time, been younger, thought that they were the dogs..... but at the time didn't really care about oncoming traffic, didn't care about the beam pattern - just thought that the brighter light equalled safer/better.
As the daniel stern link above shows, its more than just the beam cut off point, its the actual pattern that is reflected or projected onto the road - with a light source different to what the headlamp was designed for that pattern will be different and can cause eyestrain as your eyes naturally focus to the brighter light. Even moving the light source a mm in the headlamp can cause the projected light to be several feet out. One night, switch on your headlamps and go to the rear of the headlamp and move the connector about so it moves the bulb within.... even slight movements change the beam pattern. The light source on a HID bulb is several mm away from where the headlamp is expecting it to be and so the beam pattern will be way out.
Anyway, now have two VAG group cars that have factory Xenons and to be honest, the difference between aftermarket and OEM is literally night and day.
That used to be the case, but for about the last 5 years the discharge bulb has been precisely where the old filament used to to be, really no difference other than the brightness. That article was written about a decade ago when the discharge bulb used to be 90 degrees to the normal filament location. As the daniel stern link above shows, its more than just the beam cut off point, its the actual pattern that is reflected or projected onto the road - with a light source different to what the headlamp was designed for that pattern will be different and can cause eyestrain as your eyes naturally focus to the brighter light. Even moving the light source a mm in the headlamp can cause the projected light to be several feet out. One night, switch on your headlamps and go to the rear of the headlamp and move the connector about so it moves the bulb within.... even slight movements change the beam pattern. The light source on a HID bulb is several mm away from where the headlamp is expecting it to be and so the beam pattern will be way out.
Anyway, now have two VAG group cars that have factory Xenons and to be honest, the difference between aftermarket and OEM is literally night and day.
Retrofit projectors are the best solution and dirt cheap these days.
TooMany2cvs said:
Magic919 said:
Due to EU we have to accept and register cars that are sold in EU with them.
Type approval is UNECE - the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Nothing to do with the EU.WVTA has some specific European requirements, but the majority of vehicle construction standards for specific components are now done at a Geneva level through UN-ECE and then written into WVTA to align them - over time these have replaced specific European standards for components.
If one technical service in the EU approves a vehicle to a specific UN-ECE regulation or as part of WVTA then unless it can be proven that the approval should not have been granted it does indeed apply across all member states. Proving it shouldn't have been approved is 'problematic' and there are numerous instances of approvals where one member state has approved something and others are less certain that they should have done.....
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