[s-cars] Interesting read on HID conversions

[Mark Strangways]

After 4x4ing in the early spring in my S4, and thus ripping off the front 
bumper I decided maybe a truck (SUV) was in order.
A few weeks later I find myself driving a 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD (common rail 
diesel), while I love the fuel economy the lighting left me wanting more. 
Not that it was all that bad, but I do many KM's late at night so every bit 
helps. So I decided on some new driving lights.

While I really liked the 600,000 CP of each 6" HID long range driving light, 
the $1000 + price tag kinda suggested otherwise.
I ended up with the 6" Log Range Halogen's at 385,000 CP each. Kinda 
Happersized lighting I guess.
These are long range focused beams that will point up the road several KM's 
lighting everything in it's path.

So, I guess the point of all this is this, having the beams focused at such 
long range greatly improves ones confidence in the pitch black night. Not 
just by having such intense light, but the fact that your driving attention 
(so to speak) is so much farther ahead it becomes much easier to drive. You 
can really notice in the corners, when the beams no longer train on the 
road, how much farther ahead you are concentrating.
I can attest to D.Sterns comments about the near field flood of such white 
light.

Having said that, you would have to pry MY HIDS from my cold dead hands. :-)

Mark
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <djdawson2 at aol.com>
To: <trgreen at comcast.net>; <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 11:02 PM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Interesting read on HID conversions


> Well... it seems you read the whole thing.  I didn't post it to make the 
> statement that going the HID route was necessarily "wrong" (I've bought 2 
> sets myself), but to post what I thought was an interesting take on the 
> subject.
>
> To me, the interesting point was the additional light provided by HIDs 
> directly in front of the car can give the *impression* of dramatically 
> improved lighting, while in actuality creating a potentially less safe 
> scenario... eyes adapting to that near-light intensity, and thus loosing 
> some level of visibility further down the road.
>
> I'm probably more "headlight critical"  than most, as I spend a lot of 
> time driving in the middle of nowhere... nothing but me, my car, my 
> headlights, and a bazillion animals just itching to total my car.
>
> Mr Stern's comments about an optimal halogen setup providing the best 
> solution kind of rang true for me.  Best headlights I've ever had (and 
> still have) are the euro spec lights for the old type 44.  Those lights, 
> relayed and using an 80/100 H4 with a 100 H1... wow, I've personally never 
> seen anything better, HID or otherwise.
>
> Honestly, I just read his info and it made sense.  Of course, his input is 
> based on science not myth.  And we all know facts aren't always popular.
>
> Dave
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trgreen at comcast.net
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Sent: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 8:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Interesting read on HID conversions
>
>
> I agree with most everything Daniel Stern writes about HID.  The near
> road "bloom" from lighting up the road too close to the vehicle can be
> distracting at first, but many of us older folks need the light to
> see things even that close.  And, who said illegal?  I understand
> they are not
> DOT approved for highway use, but that is different from illegal (a
> little bit ).  DOT approved 200/20v lights are a whole lot more
> dangerous,
> and the euro replacement  lacks DOT endorsement as well.  So do the
> euro replacement lens for the s-car lights that fixes that sand-
> blasted OEM glass problem.  Just about anything you change on the OEM
> lighting will only meet DOT approval with a $3-500K demonstration
> program, so welcome to the outlaw world.
>
> Daniel Stern glosses over the fact that projector lights control the
> HID output pretty well, and put the light on the road where is is
> supposed to
> be about as well as any system if the owner adjusts the lights to the
> vehicle manufacturers or Hella specifications.  The only short-coming
> I see is not having bi-zenon projectors for the high-beam.
>
> Tom
>
>
>> Dave Dawson wrote:
>
>> Good info if you read the whole thing... not to mention these kits
>> are illegal.  Question is, why are sales of such illegal kits
>> allowed to continue?
>>
>> http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/
>> conversions.html
>>
>> Dave
>
>
>
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