HID Headlights

["Peter K. Wong" <pkw@planet.eon.net>]

I remember that about a month or so ago there was a lot of discussion with
respect to HID headlights and whether they were dangerous or not.  As
someone that recently purchased an A4 instead of an A6 I missed out on the
HID myself.

But recently a friend borrowed my car and left his E430 with me.  It was
equipped with HID lights.

My experience with them at night was not as bad as some people reported.  I
found them quite bright and certainly I found more than sufficient
"leakage" to the sides and above to illuminate reflective road signs and
bridge barriers.

Although the lights did appear to "bounce" a bit on rough roads it wasn't a
real big issue.  I think that the sharp cutoff that some people experience
with the HID lights may be a bit of an illusion.  That is, the light is so
very bright right up to the edges of its illumination that it appears to
drop off sharply into darkness.  But what I've noticed is that the "width"
or distance of its illumination is better than a regular headlight to begin
with.  Hence, I don't think you'd see any further when driving with non-HID
lights.

Now, although this wasn't an A6, I can't imagine that there's that much
performance difference between the Mercedes application of the technology
and Audi's.  And for those that have never owned an HID equipped vehicle,
they flick on light a flash bulb, sorta a "snap" of light.  It's kinda neat.

And for those performance minded people on the list, I didn't get a chance
to actual sample the performance as it is winter up here already and the
roads are cold enough to effect grip.  But, I must say that the car moves
with tremendous authority (the only fitting word I can think of).  It
accelerates far far better than my 2.8 at all speed ranges within the city.
 And, it was very quiet inside the cabin, a feature I've come to appreciate
in rush hour traffic.

Peter