Eurolights, slush and blizzards

[Doyt W. Echelberger]

Huw's comment about headlights clicked my relays, and now I have a 
question: First, let's set the scene......... We have a snow storm going 
here in Ohio, and it is about 6 PM and pitch black, and about 20 degrees F. 
I am driving the 87 5ktq in heavy traffic in a suburban area with malls and 
stores and service stations. The wind is blowing fine snow and sleet in 
great horizontal sheets, and the slush is spraying up all over and the 
traffic turns it into a fine mist that is like a cloud on the highway. I 
have on my stock headlights but I can't see my beams or really see that 
they are lighting anything up ahead of me. The thought crosses my mind that 
they have burned out, because I can't tell if they are on.

The street lights and other cars are providing all the illumination 
available for my navigation. I seriously consider stopping and seeing if my 
lights have gone out, but the dash is illuminated, and if I switch off my 
headlights maybe I'll see a difference. No, that's the same.....They must 
have gone out.......I stop at a service station and wash the headlights 
with the stations's brush and fluid. They are on.   Anyhow, I finally get 
out onto a freeway, and can just barely see that the headlights are dimly 
making the wet slush and blowing sleet look a little different. I wonder if 
other cars can see me.

I had gotten accustomed to driving in good weather with my stock lights. 
But tonight I very pointedly became aware that they are almost useless 
under these conditions.

So, to my question: Do people with the $600 Eurolights have any better 
results under these conditions? Or, do those expensive lights just get 
coated over and dimmed down by icy slush and calcium chloride/salt like my 
stock lights?  I suspect that they get dumbed down also. I have read a 
hundred great stories about the way Eurolights have made night driving 
something less than a nightmare, but, how do they work under the conditions 
I just described? Seems like a reasonable question, and appropriate for the 
season.

Doyt Echelberger


 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
At 12:33 AM 12/30/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Wait! Wait!  I gotta finish installing my headlights :-)
>
>Lee Levitt wrote:
> >
> > 12 inches of snow forecast for northeast Saturday...
> >
> > Gentlemen, start your engines!
> >
> > :)
> >
> > Lee
>
>--
>Huw Powell