It *IS* worth it!!!

[Mike Arman]

> Ameer Antar <ameer at snet.net>
>Subject: RE: Xenon headlights ($470 for a pair..make your own)
>or.com>
>
>I don't think there's any light upgrade worth  $900 or whatever. The 
>difference is very notable, but it's not like you can't see w/o them. 
>People have been driving for years w/o them. HID's are very different from 
>xenon or halogen bulbs.

snip

. I decided to give it a try since I had old 4x6 
>lenses in the garage. The white bulbs are great. The road signs really 
>brightened up compared to the halogens and the side view increased. I need 
>to get new lenses though since mine aren't very reflective, and the bulbs 
>are reflective types since they are painted at the tip. I think I will 
>check out susquehanna motorsport since they have good prices and I've heard 
>good things about the Hella Xenon lamps. They're no HID's but who cares, 
>there like 2% the cost of HID's. just my opinion.
>
>


Ameer, the better lights ARE worth the money!!!

I have an 86 5KS, and with the DOT standard lights, there was almost no
light. Driving at night was downright hazardous. If you went faster than 40
MPH, you were seriously overdriving the headlights. Remember that at 60
MPH, it takes probably 200 feet or so to get stopped, and if you can only
see 150 feet ahead of you, that means you will stop 50 feet past (i.e.
through) the truck parked in your lane . . . and that assumes zero reaction
time.

My first attempt to improve the lights was to put in a set of Wagner
"Brite-Lights", which were 9004 bulbs, and cost about $10 each. They worked
quite well, and I can definitely say they were worth the money. But the
lights still sucked. The beam pattern was wrong, the lights were dim and
muddy, and the lenses had started to haze, as all plastic does eventually
(look at early 90s Ford products - they are often almost opaque.).

Finally, I bit the bullet and got a set of gen-you-wine Eurolights with the
correct corner lights, etc., and wired them up with relays. Now consider
carefully that I paid only $400 for the whole damn car (but yes, I've put a
bunch of time and money into it since then, and now, this is a GOOD one!),
and here I am paying almost that just for ****ing headlights . . . what am
I, nuts?

No, I'm not nuts at all. This is how great the difference is: I would
refuse to drive a type 44 with DOT headlights faster than about 40 MPH at
night. Period. The stock lights are just terrible. With the Eurolights, I
estimate that I can see almost half a mile (that's 30 seconds ahead of me)
on low beams, and more than a mile (!) on high beams. That isn't just
lighting up the reflectors, either. The difference is astonishing, and in
my (never) very humble opinion, the stock lights constitute a safety hazard
- they are THAT inadequate.

If I had a 91 200TQ, which would be worth quite a bit more than my 86 5KS,
the VERY first thing I'd do is spend $900 on making the car safe to drive
at night. Consider this - what does it cost to wreck your car because you
couldn't see an obstacle? Hopefully, no one will get hurt, but do you
really feel like taking this chance? ONE accident will cost you far, far
more than the $900, I guarantee it!

This is how bad the stock lights are: When you are buying a type 44,
consider that you are buying the car without headlights. Eurolights will
cost between $350 and $600 depending where you buy them (can be more for
turbo models), but you essentially have a DAYTIME ONLY car until you
install decent lights. While you can almost make do in a brightly lit city
at low speeds, if you get out into the country or onto the interstate and
it is DARK out there, you better slow WAY down!!!!

Best Regards,

Mike Arman