Driving automobiles





Re: fog/driving/head lights (I just got some Hellas…)

 s…@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird) writes:

> e…@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes:
>>if you have driving lights, leave them off
>>unless the nearest car is x000 feet away at least!  

>Why is this?  Isn’t the idea of a driving light to light up the area close
>to the car?  This shouldn’t affect other drivers much at all.

but it does.  more light is more bother.

>I’d like advice on where to aim these sunbursts.  The cutoff of the headlights
>is fantastic – at 50 yards I can make out the pattern clearly.  Right now, the
>left is aimed very low and the right is off to the side so as to lessen
>driver annoyance.

*lessen* is the keyword.  you admit that there is still annoyance and
impairment of the oncoming driver’s vision, right?

>Also, any comments on the legality of all this.  From what I’ve seen, none of
>this approaces being legal on the highways.  My thinking is that if I can
>increase my visibility without increasing annoyance of other drivers, I
>should go ahead.

we’re annoyed.  please stop!


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posted by admin in Uncategorized and have Comments (2)






2 Responses to “Re: fog/driving/head lights (I just got some Hellas…)”

  1. admin says:

    In article <5…@ur-cc.UUCP> Mark Sirota <msir_…@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> writes:
    >This is different from fog lights or cornering lights, which have a short
    >range (about 500 feet is normal), are aimed a little bit downwards, have a
    >very wide field of illumination, and are most effective when they’re mounted
    >as close to the ground as possible.

    For whatever its worth, I recently replaced a set of Bosch Pilot fog lights
    with a set of Hella 162 fog lights. The Hella’s are approx. 7" round
    mounted above the bumper and are fitted with 100w bulbs.

    I have yet to have anybody mistake these for high beams, so I don’t
    hesitate to run them on a regular basis. i
    They are BRIGHT, very similar to the effect of a proper H4/H1 system
    high beam only concentrated very close to the car.

    I also run Hella H4 (55/100w) low beams and H1 (100w) high beams,
    apart from the fact that they can light up street signs in broad
    daylight, they do not seem to bother oncoming traffic either.

    The problem with most non-eurooptic headlights is that they do not
    focus light well. From experience, those mini-sealed beams so popular
    on Gm cars are many times more annoying to oncoming traffic than, say,
    Cibie Z-beams with 90/100w filaments.

    tim

  2. admin says:

    In article <1…@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM> e…@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes:

    > s…@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird) writes:
    >>Isn’t the idea of a driving light to light up the area close
    >>to the car?  This shouldn’t affect other drivers much at all.

    (It was pointed out to me that NO, this is not the idea of a driving light.)

    >but it does.  more light is more bother.

    So if I have a 200,000 candle power spotlight aimed into a distant
    field (not across your path) it’s going to annoy you simply because there
    is more light radiating from my car.

    No, I don’t buy it.  I think bother is a result of intensity.  (That is,
    unless you are bothered simply ’cause I’ve got more lights than you.)  If I can
    keep the intensity of the light hitting your eyes down to an _acceptable_
    level, I don’t have any qualms about illuminating everything else that I
    can as much as I can.  (…within reasonable levels – don’t want to ignite
    anything…)

    It was, however, pointed out to me that aiming is not always final; with
    dips, etc. in the road, oncoming traffic may be hit in an area out of the
    scope of the aim.

    So what ever happened to the polarized windshields & headlights………

    –kyler







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