Spot lights for cars, not 4X4

[mick taylor]

I was thinking what is the best way to vastly improve your lights for fast driving nowadays.

I remember driving back from a night out on the town in a XA GT Hardtop back in the 80's and she had big 9 inch or more spotlights on it and she turned them on and it lit up the road like day time, broad beam I am sure they were.

But I had 6in Hella one broad beam on the passenger side and a pencil on the right and she had better long range.

Now talking to a mate and he started on about the new stuff as if it was x mass, now I was working on his house and he gave me this LED crap and just ranted on and on about how great it was and I thought it was total crap because I could not see the bubble on my level well at all and I have to be absolutely spot on, not just crap like builders.
The light was sitting coming in from the doorway as I had nothing above and no windows, I said it was total crap and he just would not listen.

Now I don't think to much of the new crap on cars really, yes they are good but
I put Narva 50 Xenon globes on my VY back in 2004 and sure better brighter light but the signs on the side of the road were lit up like a bastard as well and that becomes a pain with 500km of putting up with it.

Now I am told that pencil beam spot lights are illegal now ?

I don't give a rats about 4x4 as such are that slow that pencil beam lights are not really there game.

Now I have a Porsche 928 and I am thinking what to do to make night driving the best that can be, so as to comfortable and relax at just plodding along at 200KM/H at night as you can only drive as fast as you can see.

I think I will just go back to the old school stuff and it's cheaper and I had problems blowing bulbs ever to be a worry at all.

I ask what would be best on a road bike for high speeds.

[Interceptor]

Pencil beam lights are still legal

[Rallye Sport]

plodding along at 200kph but worried about the legalities of pencil beams
Good quality light bar, compact, efficient and powerful.

[whitelion65]

The real worry is “falling off the cliff” when you go back to low beam for on-coming traffic.
Make sure you have a good low-beam setup before worrying about melting tar with the worlds most powerful spotties.
Ps, don’t think a light bar would suit the 928 :-/

[simon varley]

if you bother. seems most people don't these days.

[whitelion65]

Originally Posted by simon varley

if you bother. seems most people don't these days.

Yep, was thinking that as I typed!

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

plodding along at 200kph but worried about the legalities of pencil beams
Good quality light bar, compact, efficient and powerful.

Just when searching I came across such a law, it must of been in the USA.

I just remembered back in the 80's when I would go into town 100km away, that them old spotlights were just so good, 180KM/H was the normal cruse speed taking it easy in the old 308 p van, a comfortable speed and still good on fuel, go over that and fuel dropped off, all my mates did the same cruse speed coming home late at night in 308's or 351's.
No where near the cars on the roads back in them days.

I have always thought to have the broad beam on the pass side so you can see Roo's so the big 9inch one broad and one pencil may be still the best lighting you can get.
I think most people are half asleep at the wheel and the low speeds we have here creates really dopey people who's reactions are very slow and they do not know how to control a car at all and most do not realise a good car can drop speed from 200km/h to 100km/h basically in a blink of an eye, it is nothing to such nowadays, it's no big deal if you really know how to drive.
I don't think that the 928 can be fitted with 9in spotlights but my VZ SS may.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by whitelion65

The real worry is “falling off the cliff” when you go back to low beam for on-coming traffic.
Make sure you have a good low-beam setup before worrying about melting tar with the worlds most powerful spotties.
Ps, don’t think a light bar would suit the 928 :-/

Yes trouble with an updating high beam, when you switch back to low beam you cant adjust..

To the OP doing 200KPH in your 25 year old Porsche and not being able to see maybe the headlights need a clean it is old..

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by mick taylor

I just remembered back in the 80's when I would go into town 100km away, that them old spotlights were just so good, 180KM/H was the normal cruse speed taking it easy in the old 308 p van, a comfortable speed and still good on fuel, go over that and fuel dropped off, all my mates did the same cruse speed coming home late at night in 308's or 351's.
No where near the cars on the roads back in them days

Were you ever employed by Ansett Freight Express or maybe Monfort in the U.S.

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

Yes trouble with an updating high beam, when you switch back to low beam you cant adjust..

To the OP doing 200KPH in your 25 year old Porsche and not being able to see maybe the headlights need a clean it is old..

I never thought that such was a problem dropping back from esp with pencil beam.
Maybe it would be with the big 9in broad beam, that you eyes take time to adjust.

You know them lights do pop down on the 928 maybe they are dirty

It was about to make it more comfortable to drive hours on end and new tec, can one make it better, I am talking about reality here.
Just like old tec and new is it truly that much better to see with high speeds now.

Look at the last Commodores or Falcons original lights there crap to spotlights that I had back in 1983.
yes the VF has better lights from factory than a HZ, but that's not the point, it's what can you do, for distance.
The best I have seen new type is 9in to 500m at one point of standard to 1000m in another way max.

So if we have a set standard from one point what truly is the next, so as in regards to a test vs another type, I don't think we have anyone on the forum that would know such things ? it's a car forum and all such things could be openly debated, not just some dumb pricks who wave the speed limit is x. if we were all like that we would still be driving about in tec like FJ Holden's with 123.5ci Grey motors and drum brakes and 6Volts

Maybe in the future one could wear some sort of goggles with a type of light to assist in seeing better in the distance, maybe the 500m mark to 1000 can be assisted in a way that improves this again, not to mention body heat detection, for roo's, I now a cop that has to drive 200km/h and over near everyday and at night, and says about the amount of roo's their beat has hit.
Or even with fighter jets when landing on ships at night, even tho you only look at the landing lights tree, better perception at speed I think would be of help.

Or riding dirt bikes at night cutting through tracks flat out what would be best, new tec on your helmet and your bike, one has to think outside of what only boring people think and come up with great new tec, if you could see real well and ride enduro in the night that would be magic.

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Were you ever employed by Ansett Freight Express or maybe Monfort in the U.S.

No I only flew F111's.

[prydey]

One downside of leds is colour temperature. Not many, if any, are below 5000. The good stuff will be around 5000-5500. The cheap stuff is around 6000-6500. The higher the number the further toward the blue end of the spectrum, which is why there is so much reflection from roadside signs.

A good set of halogen spot lights will still cost you.
https://www.fyrlyt.com/product-page/...-12v-250w-pair

For most though, led technology has improved enough that they can perform well enough for the job required, and some are now starting to really challenge halogen and HID for distance.

It all depends on your budget, where you drive and how often you need the extra light and what your mounting options are.

[naddis01]

Maybe something more like the Narva Ultima 175 L.E.D Combination Driving Lights might be up your alley...

https://www.narva.com.au/products/71665

[Bushbasher]

After trying various spotlights on the front of my Fairlane culminating in a set of Lightforce Blitzs' I decided they looked ugly, were a hindrance in town, especially carparks, plus I really didn't need 900m of penetration and the associated fall off when dropping back to low beam, so I scrapped the lot and went quality HIDs' for high and low. Now I have good daylight flood to about 200-250m and penetration to about 600m, more than enough for night driving.


....And before somebody jumps in and says they are illegal, yes you are right, they are illegal in your low beam without self leveling and headlight washers. Having said that, they are well adjusted with a clean, sharp cut off line with no flare. It works because they are quality globes that sit in the right spot and the H7 globe in the Fairlane has a north south filament the same as the blister of the HID globe, so the lens shape works perfectly. After 3 years I've never been so much as flashed by oncoming traffic for my low beams let alone chatted about them.


If you want good light without sticking spotties on the front, go HID for your high beam and go get some quality 100w halogen globes for the low beam, (in the same colour temp), Phillips Chrystal or Diamond Vision come to mind. That way you won't suffer the drop off when switching high to low.



Mind you, that only works if you don't run at 200kph at night on the open road. To me and most of us, that's a recipe for disaster. If some wildlife steps out on you, hit anything bigger than a rabbit or feral cat and you'd be toast at 200kph.


Cheers
Bushbasher