Arnt the best, now that it’s getting darker,earlier. Anyone ever used these? It’s even got it own cooling fan. Just put one in the Honda headlamp. It’s like a light house, now! Got it from Amazon.
Light wars, it needs to stop IMO. There's FA wrong with my boggo headlights other than twots with lighthouses attached coming t'other way blinding me and brighter lights can't defeat that so why try?
Im with you on this! Bstard things should be banned. At least until they have perfected them anyway. And don’t get me started on the practice of putting lorry / bus front indicators in led headlights so they can’t be seen at all. Ffs
I get you, I really do. I saw an article that some kind of European review of headlight standards was started in 2018 or something (a decade or more too late) but have never seen an outcome. Meanwhile new models come out with increasingly bright lights that, because the current standards are all about power consumption and not lumens, meaning those of us driving older cars limited to a fraction of the light output based on wattage of old halogen bulbs while more efficient light sources are permitted to produce massive amounts of light. I can’t do much to prevent being dazzled but I can do something to increase my vision on unlit country roads (that’s 90% of my driving) to help spot deer etc. whether that’s on dipped beam or full. And it does help. Having more light means that as my eyes recover from temporary ‘blinding’ from oncoming lights I can see more of the road from my own lights as it’s brighter. It’s not about competing, it’s about giving myself more ability to see where I’m going, especially in the face of being constantly ‘blinded’ and eyes readjusting having diminished ability to see myself.
^ this. I live in the middle of nowhere and am constantly trying to avoid deer or ending up in a ditch, particularly as its always foggy in the Vale of York. I get annoyed by other peoples bright headlights, but I have also upgraded mine in all our cars so I can actually see where I'm going.
I remember you could buy a Relay Kit for T25 headlights to help make them brighter without changing the bulbs or making them illegal. I'm pretty sure you can use the same setup for any old vehicle. You just need some suitable wire and a couple of Relays - can't remember if they are 4 or 5 post Relays https://m.roadkillcustoms.com/how-to-brighten-classic-car-headlights-with-relays/
I find the headlights on Tilly are fine they are standard fit with standard bulbs, I would suggest getting them adjusted rather than upgraded to searchlight dazzling alternatives
Rarely if ever use main beam on a vehicle, generally speaking I've exceeded my driving ability before I run out of vision.
Ok I'm talking about what passes for dipped beam these days. I have no objection to full beam the frazzles the leaves on the trees as you pass by. the problem if I understand it is that the same lights are used for both and some thick computer is supposed to adjust them. As Dubs will attest to living in the fens where the roads are particularly... undulating... these things don't work and instead of getting a face full of low power dipped beam you get the full force. I know my full beam lights are terrific but the other day I drove 3 miles to the supermarket on full beam and not one flash so people must generally just accept it these days?
^this. If they’re in good shape, there’s nothing wrong with Bay headlights. They’re exactly the same as early Golfs, and nobody complains about them.
Trying the classic LEDs on the dokka to compare with the tintop.. at least they have a good pattern.. just like 'proper' bulbs. A lot of the aftermarket LEDs just throw it out all over. I'm just trying to reduce the load on the wiring more than anything as hoping to use that more soon....The stock ones are mostly poor due to only getting about 8v at the bulb so I guess I'll try the relays on Lola next to see if they perk up Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
The (possibly fatal) flaw with that is that both low beam headlights (and high beam) are on the same relay. If the relay packs up (unlikely) or a fuse blows, both headlights will go out. No so good if you're driving across the pitch-black countryside. VW put left and right headlights on different fuses for a reason...
I rarely drive the van at night , why miss all that gorgeous scenery ?? Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
The LEDs I have fitted to mine bring the standard up to somewhere around the standard of last generation halogen equipped car lights or a little better. They’re nowhere near as bright as most modern car headlights are these days that many of us may be driving as our daily drivers. But they’re still probably twice as bright as when fitted with halogens. These LEDs are designed to position the light source in the same place and orientation as the standard H4 they replace, so the focal point of the light unit is unchanged and therefore the beam pattern is the same, so I’d dispute any assumptions that they dazzle as much as, let alone more than, any car you can buy new today with LEDs as standard, or HIDs for that matter. Far from it in my opinion. I’ve even kept the beam cap in the light unit which isn’t strictly necessary since they were pre-halogen designed headlight units (the caps were to prevent oncoming drivers looking directly at the bulb filament because tungsten bulbs didn’t have the tip obscured like halogens do) for 45watt tungstens. My bike lights produce more than that. This is quite unlike the aftermarket HID bulb kits that came out in the mid-2000s where the light source didn’t match the halogen filament position at all, they were unfit for purpose as I discovered when I tried some and sent them back, and the supplier didn’t even understand what I was trying to tell them about the focal point being different because the hid light source wasn’t in the same place as a halogen bulb filament. Before I went the LED route I’d already replaced my reflectors and fitted the highest spec H4s I could find. It was an improvement with new reflectors but still not enough for me. I’d checked my wiring out and tried bypassing the wiring from the relay to the bulb with new stuff, which made no difference. Perhaps the Golf headlight units are better but I have old pre-74 units so can’t fit those to my bus. Maybe standard is fine for some/many but they’re not for me. The closest street lighting is miles away, further still to any dual carriageways. All around here it’s twisty bumpy back roads, even most of the A roads are just the same. They’re often busy with other cars making your eyes adjust to bright lights then pitch black when cars pass, and as said lots of wildlife on them after dark too, from Badgers to Muntjac deer to herds of fallow deer. And chuffing great potholes. Maybe my age is a factor too, it seems well known that night vision degenerates with age and I’m in my 50s although I don’t need glasses except for reading occasionally. I certainly have the same issues when driving both my Halogen-equipped car and my HID-OE specced car, but less so as they were brighter than the bus, which now is a lot better than it was. Although I’m higher up in the bus so being dazzled by 4x4 type vehicles with high headlights can be worse in my lower saloon cars. So what’s ok for some isn’t automatically ok for everyone, other opinions are allowed and even valid if I can voice that opinion!
And I concur with your opinion. I’ve had LED headlights on the bus for several years. With good quality reflectors and LED’s that are correctly focused there is less beam scatter compared to Halogens and the light colour can be closer to daylight if the above 6000K LED’s are avoided.
My work van is guilty of blinding drivers auto main beam is useless and far to slow to react to cars traveling in the opposite direction. It also turns off when it shines on a reflective road sign leaving you in the dark.
The ones I have are 3000K. I find the colour contrast of the road ahead is also better for me when lit from less ‘white’ lights. I’m also very sensitive to bright light in general, and even fluorescent direct light and reflected glare off light surfaces indoors gives me issues to the point where if reading a lot in the office I lay a yellow transparent sleeve over the top of paper.
