Lights

[Powells@ezlink.com]

Ron Wood appropriately comments that it's not the wattage that 
makes all the difference with lights, it's the LENS.

Bravo!  I am pleased to run a set of cibie 7" round headlights in my 
280ZX which I bought in the late 70's.  These are frankly as good or 
better than the euro-lights in my Audi 200, and the Z-car uses only 
standard 60 lo/80 hi watt halogen lamps.  Reflective range on high 
approaches one mile, and the lenses are so good that I can literally 
see the pattern of the lens "flutes" (or lines) projected on the road 
in front of me.  VERY impressive.

In contrast, the Audi's euro-lights are a bit shorter on hi-beam 
reflective performance, using 60 lo/100 hi lamps!  They are certainly 
better lights than any US-spec lamps, but not as good as the 
cibies, which I believe cost me $75 for the pair in the late 70's.

The difference?  The LENSES.  Cibie did one helluva job on those 
lights.

I might also suspect that the reflectors are an issue - but I'm not 
sure.  It is worth noting that the ZX uses round lights which should 
be easier to design for a perfect focus of light.  The Audi euro-lights 
are slightly rectangular, which might affect focus a bit.  however, 
they are freshly re-plated, so they're as good as they get.

When I look at driving or auxiliary lights, I spend more as much 
time looking at the lenses as any other aspect of the light.
++++++++++++++++++++WSU-CSU+++++++++++++++++
Al Powell
Powells@EZlink.com
1958 Fiat 1200 Spyder "Transformabile"
1983 Datsun 280ZXT
1990 Audi 200
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++