xenons

[kev north]

Has anybody put xenons on there motor yet how good are they?

[jon h]

I had a Griff with a light conversion: Xenon mains, halogen dips. Very bright, in fact so bright that you could almost blind yourself with the reflection off large white reflective road signs!

Jon H

[nsparey]

Like driving in day light

[cerby4.5]

Any idea of price for the Xenon conversion? I have seen the "HID" conversion advertised (not sure if this is the same thing or not) but that was rather expensive at around £600.00!!

[sportie]

The price quoted is close to the figure I paid for (dipped beam)HID's on the Sagaris. The lighting can now match the speed of the car if kept under the speed limits.

[woody-oTT]

I want some of them on my Tusan, any idea where to get them done somewhere near Hants?

[kev north]

i have had a ring round today and i have managed to get a set fitted for £350. i cant wait to be able to see more than 4 meters infront

[nsparey]

I noticed Track Car are doing kits for Cerbs, both my Cerb & my Tuscan S had them from the factory.

http://trackcarsolutions.net/shop/index.php?act=view

[Parrot of Doom]

kev north said:

i have had a ring round today and i have managed to get a set fitted for £350. i cant wait to be able to see more than 4 meters infront

You should consider the modwise lighting upgrade, much cheaper and massively effective.

[engelborghs]

You should consider the modwise lighting upgrade, much cheaper and massively effective.[/quote]



What do you mean by :" modwise lighting upgrade" and how much more effective is it?

[jon h]

The modwise kit, for Griff & Chim, IIRC, takes a new power feed from the battery, activated by a relay powered from the original wiring. This overcomes a voltage drop within the original wiring loom, so the bulbs actually get the full 12 volts, not someting like 10.5v. The Cerb suffers from this too, especially as the power comes all the way from the boot. I am getting round to doing this mod on my Cerb. The problem is also common on early VW Golfs, I discovered, whilst researching on the web.

The bits to do the job, a couple of relays, some fuse links and some decent cable can all be bought for about £20.

Jon H

[BLUETHUNDER]

My Cerbera has them,£340.And all you do is plug them in to your existing loom.Makes a mile of differance to the P**s poor ones fitted as standard.

[david beer]

You can not fit "HID" gas discharge and be legal.... FUL STOP. you can declare it to your insurance company, but that does not say the "other" insurance company will accept the "off road use only". As Trackcar has said before, not sure how TVR get around the "legalities" on the production cars.

[nsparey]

david beer said:

You can not fit "HID" gas discharge and be legal.... FUL STOP. you can declare it to your insurance company, but that does not say the "other" insurance company will accept the "off road use only". As Trackcar has said before, not sure how TVR get around the "legalities" on the production cars.

I have them on my xtrail and on a fiat stilo we had a couple of years back, why are the illegal? or am I missing something?

[BLUETHUNDER]

Most new cars built today have H.I.D offered as an option so i really dont get the idea that they are illegal unless stated by the manufacturer.or as stated for off road use only.

[bogie]

david beer said:

You can not fit "HID" gas discharge and be legal.... FUL STOP. you can declare it to your insurance company, but that does not say the "other" insurance company will accept the "off road use only". As Trackcar has said before, not sure how TVR get around the "legalities" on the production cars.

whys that then?

my car (Elise) has been through 2 MOTs with aftermarket HIDs (dips/mains/driving lamps) and declared to insurer - no problems.

Why are they not 'legal'?

For OEM fitment you must have wash/wipe and self-levelling mechanism (which is why they are quite an expensive factory option) but for aftermarket fitment you are exempt from this....that is the law as far as information that is available in the public domain

[trackcar]

I'm not sure what the ruling is, hence the disclaimer on my site .. but if they *are* illegal then then there's a lot of law-breakers out there .. the distributor that i buy through sells 15 sets a week!! lol.

I often wonder .. people seem to think it's ok to travel at above the speed limit if it's safe to do so and there's a whole community that backs it up on here, but fit brighter lights to your car and all hell breaks loose

[targarama]

trackcar said:

I'm not sure what the ruling is, hence the disclaimer on my site .. but if they *are* illegal then then there's a lot of law-breakers out there .. the distributor that i buy through sells 15 sets a week!! lol. I often wonder .. people seem to think it's ok to travel at above the speed limit if it's safe to do so and there's a whole community that backs it up on here, but fit brighter lights to your car and all hell breaks loose

Joolz, do the ones you offer also fit a T350 dipped beam? I guess the light units used in converted Cerbera/Chimaera pods are very similar if not the same as those used a standard T350???

Thanks.

[trackcar]

The ones on th site at teh mo are for the cerbera/chim single headlamp .. but I can get kits for the tuscan / cerbera lightweight etc also, i think they might even be slightly cheaper per pair, though of course you have 2 pairs on those cars if you wanted to do both dip and main beams .. if you see what i mean

[Plotloss]

I believe the legal aspect is to do with the lack of a self levelling unit on the aftermarket kits.

DOT said:

The situation for Gas Discharge (HID High Intensity Discharge) (commonly known as Xenon) headlamps is complex. I attach links to the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 which regulate the situation in the UK. Under these Regulations Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law. However you will be well aware that new vehicles have Xenon headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the Xenon headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle). For the aftermarket, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "Xenon is banned in the aftermarket" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require Xenon in the aftermarket to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply. Therefore a Xenon headlamp sold in the aftermarket should: 1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component. 2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place). 3, Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned. In practice this means: 1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory. 2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam. 3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

>> Edited by Plotloss on Monday 13th February 00:24