Lighting for Simpletons

[Mark Badger <mark@steinberg.net>]

ok. i've read all the posts in the lighting thread. i'm baffled. r u
folks talking about rallying *only* ? or is this regular road use as
well ?

the real question in this message:

*
(how) can the illumination provided by an a4qt's headlights be improved?
*

background: we have an audi a4qt and a volvo 850t, both bought in the
usa. both cars have "dual bulb" headlights.

opinion: the volvo has headlights that illuminate the road at night in a
superior fashion at both high and low beam settings (imho, ioe, etc,
usual disclaimers). 

fact: the volvo's headlights are made by hella.

observation: there seems to be an implicit argument in the headlights
discussion that runs along the lines of "due to legal requirements the
beam patterns produced by headlights in the USA are inferior to those in
europe". i would counter-argue that it is indeed possible to produce
effective headlights within the constraints of the USA requirements
given the evidence offered to our eyes (!!) by the volvo. 

please see simple question above (!!), any answers ? (no flames)

thanks,

m

ps: (only here because with the recent flaming it seems necessary to
pre-empt potential flames: i lived in europe for 25 years, 18 of them as
a driver, & i have driven over 100K miles here in the USA)