Tim Suddard's Articles = uncool

MrJoshua wrote: Im not sure what car the "OMFG EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE BLINDED AND DIE IN A FIERY EXPLOSION IF YOU DARE CHANGE THE FACTORY LIGHTING" guy is referring to

Don't put words in my mouth. I never said that I was against modifications to factory automotive lighting. In fact, most lighting from the factory is woefully underpowered or simply poorly designed thanks to the piss-poor regulations set in place by the NHTSA. Most automakers do the bare minimum to meet lighting requirements in order to cut costs and it shows. Modifications such as upgrading the wiring harness to the headlamp to eliminate voltage drop can make a big difference in lighting performance. However, with other modifications, the caveat is that you have to have an idea of what you are doing or you end up creating something that can directly impact the safety of everyone else driving.

You know the old quote, "the right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins" ? The same principle applies here. You can muck around with your car all you like but when it begins to affect me is where the problem starts.

but every factory headlight reflector I have ever seen doesn't amount to much more than a semi parobolically bent piece of plastic with a shiny coating. The reflector shape seems to be more dictated by shape of the car nose than about anything else

All late model cars since the past 15 years or so have used a complex surface based reflector. The design of these reflectors are much more than "a bent piece of plastic with a shiny coating." It requires a precise computer aided design in order to produce a reflector that can meet the headlamp requirements set forth by the NHTSA in the US and the ECE in Europe.

Here is a one paper that details this design process. Notice that all the calculations in the design are dependent on the position of the bulb within the reflector. Change the bulb to something else and everything is thrown off.

Previous to complex surface reflectors, you had headlamps with fluted lenses. The flutes are what gave the headlamp its specific cutoff and beam pattern. Again, the flutes were designed around one specific point source of light. If that point is changed, such as what happens when one changes from a bulb that uses a traverse filament to one that uses an axial filament, the optics become all amiss.

I'm sure if you properly adjust the aim after a bulb swap you are probably better than 90% of the cars on the road.

The crux of the matter is that you can not properly aim the headlamps after a different bulb is installed. Take a look at these stellar examples of HID burners in halogen headlamps:

No matter how you aim those headlamps, they are still going to cause glare for other drivers.

As for being better than 90% of the other cars on the road, you have to take into account just how much more lumens an HID burner produces over a standard halogen bulb. Consider for example the common 9003/H4 bulb. Stock low beam produces 1000 lumens. On the other hand, a D2S HID burner produces 3200 lumens. If I were to pick the lesser of two evils, a misaligned stock halogen headlight would be easier on the eyes than a glaring headlamp that produces more than three times the light.

You're getting your panties in a bunch over something that I posted as an update to a non-project car three years ago that never made print.

Now, you should see how I've aimed my Saab's fog lights so they can be cheap cornering lights. Oooh..and the driving beams that are aimed one up, one down so that I can fill in a couple of holes in the patterns made by the other six lights. Glare, shmare.

Yes, beautiful eight pound, six ounce newborn baby Jesus hates me because my lights will catch angel wings on fire.

Damn you, uniseriate, for bringing actual tech to a GRM message board discussion. Well done!

Per, my Kristy-Kreme devouring buddy, there is of course a huge difference between lighting on a power challenged Swedish car used mostly on rallies and the average dweeb with a Civic who probably doesn't even know his lights can be aimed. The lighting on my cars in the sub-compact thread is proof I believe in as many watts as the alternator can take, but I think the bulk of these so-called HID conversions are nothing more than an annoyance to every other motorist in the oncoming lane. If you want better lighting, buy better lamps, not bulbs.

Per Schroeder wrote: You're getting your panties in a bunch over something that I posted as an update to a non-project car three years ago that never made print. Now, you should see how I've aimed my Saab's fog lights so they can be cheap cornering lights. Oooh..and the driving beams that are aimed one up, one down so that I can fill in a couple of holes in the patterns made by the other six lights. Glare, shmare. Yes, beautiful eight pound, six ounce newborn baby Jesus hates me because my lights will catch angel wings on fire.

Hah! Why settle for glare when you can shine the fire of the Sun itself right into everyone elses eyeballs!

Per Schroeder wrote: Yes, beautiful eight pound, six ounce newborn baby Jesus hates me because my lights will catch angel wings on fire.

So you watched Talladega Lights last night too, huh?

"You made that grace your bitch, daddy!"

Actually, that second Vette should be able to aim the lights to avoid glare. Of course, he won't see anything all that useful on the side of the road as he's missing the kick on the side, but at least the car has a good cutoff.

Nothing wrong with changing the bulb to a brighter one if you have a good pattern, either. If you keep the same size bulb, it should be positioned correctly in the reflector.

Around here, you have to run all the lights on your vehicles at all times. I think it must be a law. And of course, pickups have extra lights from the factory that are just about eyeball level for cars. You'll see me on the news someday getting arrested while holding a crowbar I used to smash all of the "fog" lights on every car in the mall parking lot.

But the best was when I saw a Prius driving around with the fog/jewelery lights on. Not foggy, of course, it gets foggy one day a year here and it wasn't that day. So, you bought a pseudo-electric car for the efficiency, then you turn on two big energy hogs that do nothing...

i heart keith. in the most manly non-miata-specific way possible. fog lights on a clear night make me wanna punch babies.

I managed to buy a vehicle designed to drive in areas WHERE FRICKEN TIGERS MAY EAT YOU yet it has the worst headlights of any car ive owned. They do give off a nice pretty white light, but I think I could strap a couple of fireflies to the grill and double the output!

Any suggestions from the Lighting buffs here? (99 Land Rover Disco)

oh yeah, Tim/GRM/life rocks, etc...

That's the joy of the internet. I'm never sure if Dwight is being nice, condescending or insulting. Or all three.

ddavidv wrote: Damn you, uniseriate, for bringing actual tech to a GRM message board discussion. Well done! Per, my Kristy-Kreme devouring buddy, there is of course a huge difference between lighting on a power challenged Swedish car used mostly on rallies and the average dweeb with a Civic who probably doesn't even know his lights can be aimed. The lighting on my cars in the sub-compact thread is proof I believe in as many watts as the alternator can take, but I think the bulk of these so-called HID conversions are nothing more than an annoyance to every other motorist in the oncoming lane. If you want better lighting, buy better lamps, not bulbs.

Well since we've sidetracked into lights, I'll just put a +1 on the importance of aiming your lights. The stock Wagners on Wranglers are terrible. A lightning bug in a glass jar would be brighter. I replaced the bulbs and lamps with IPF. Not HID, but much brighter than most other non-HID lights. The old Wagners were sealed beam, the IPFs aren't. The streets in Wilmington are crap, so every so often I need to re-aim the lights to keep from blinding people.

MrJoshua, check IPF for some H4 Fatboys and lamps for your Disco. A little pricey, but plenty bright.

Per Schroeder wrote: That's the joy of the internet. I'm never sure if Dwight is being nice, condescending or insulting. Or all three.

Yes. The key to any of my posts is this: Sarcasm is one of the many services I offer at no additional cost. When in doubt, assume a serious level of tongue-in-cheekness. Toying with your love of Swedish cars like a kitten with a ball of yarn is simply another one of life's joys I can revel in.

Speaking of lights, those of you who live in cold weather states (as I do) may want to make sure your headlight lenses are clean. It never fails that every winter I see cars rolling down the road with so much salt and cinders caked on the lenses that all the light being emitted doesn't add up to a small Yankee candle, without the Christmas scent.

God help any of you who have a domestic car (and some foreign makes) from the mid to late 90's. Chances are your headlight lenses are so yellowed that light can barely escape. I know that's the case with my turd escort, and they aren't even that yellow by comparison of what I've seen driving around.

I clean my headlights every time I gas up. It's the cheapest lighting upgrade available :) To clean the dulled lenses on my Tundra, I used Novus plastic polish. Took about 2 minutes total, made a huge difference. Don't know if it'll help against the yellowing though.

Moparman wrote: Speaking of lights, those of you who live in cold weather states (as I do) may want to make sure your headlight lenses are clean. It never fails that every winter I see cars rolling down the road with so much salt and cinders caked on the lenses that all the light being emitted doesn't add up to a small Yankee candle, without the Christmas scent.

I like the Balsam and Cedar. There is a small one that fits in the cup holder and works much better than those little trees. They can be a little dangerous if you have hairy arms though.

talk about off topic!! How did this thread go from Tims articles to headlights. I thought i was in the wrong place,, oh well! Thx Ron