<VV> Headlight Replacement Upgrade

[Ron]

"What works for you" may not work at all for all of the other drivers on the 
road.  We are not living alone, you know.
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <bowtieguy at cox.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 8:57 AM
Subject: <VV> Headlight Replacement Upgrade


> Here is the latest Consumer Reports article on headlights. I have Lectric 
> Limited headlights in my '57 Chevy and my '64 Corvair. They are expensive 
> but bright and correct. Do what works for you as it is your car.
>
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> January 2006
> Replacement headlight bulbs: A bright idea?
>
>
> GREAT WHITE HYPE Premium
> replacement bulbs may be cosmetically pleasing, but when they're compared 
> with less-expensive standard halogen bulbs, there's often no performance 
> advantage.
> Premium replacement headlight bulbs are marketed as a functional and 
> cosmetic improvement over the conventional bulbs found in most cars. The 
> bulbs try to mimic the whiter, brighter light of the 
> high-intensity-discharge (HID) lights found on some pricey vehicles. 
> However, while these bulbs emit whiter-looking light, they don't provide a 
> consistent performance improvement in our tests.
>
> Changes in lighting regulations in the mid-1980s allowed automobile 
> designers to create aerodynamic headlight assemblies. These assemblies use 
> a replaceable halogen bulb rather than an entire replaceable assembly. 
> Headlight performance varies considerably depending on the assembly's 
> design, including reflector design and lens shape.
>
> Expensive HID lights are a more recent innovation. CR's tests have shown 
> that HID lights can be brighter, but illuminated distances are often 
> comparable to those of halogen bulbs. Premium halogen replacement bulbs 
> attempt to offer some of the benefits of HID lights while retaining the 
> vehicle's original headlight assembly.
>
> Bulb replacement is usually a simple task for most backyard mechanics.
>
>
> MEASURing The LIGHTs
>
> CR tested five premium replacement bulbs, one from each of the top-selling 
> brands: the APC Plasma Ultra White, GE Nighthawk, Philips CrystalVision, 
> Sylvania SilverStar, and Wagner TruView. The bulbs are priced between $26 
> and $40 a pair (two to three times more than standard bulbs) and are sold 
> in discount or auto-parts stores. All tested bulbs claim Department of 
> Transportation-standard compliance; noncompliant bulbs may be marked as 
> "for off-road use only."
>
> Tests were both subjective, to determine how well distant objects could be 
> seen by the human eye, and objective, measuring bulb illuminance, or 
> brightness.
>
> Three test vehicles, a Chrysler Sebring, a Toyota Camry, and a Honda 
> Ridgeline, were used to provide a variety of bulb sizes and original 
> equipment (OE) performance.
>
> Headlight distance is vital because the sooner an object is illuminated, 
> the better the chance of avoiding it. Distance is measured outdoors on a 
> moonless night, from a stationary vehicle. Black, unlighted signs were set 
> up at various distances, and engineers recorded which were visible from 
> each vehicle with each set of bulbs. Only one set of bulbs, the Nighthawk, 
> improved low-beam sight distance for one tested vehicle, the Ridgeline. 
> However, they reduced distance on the Camry. Generally, low- and high-beam 
> distance either remained the same or decreased with replacement bulbs.
>
> To test claims of increased brightness, CR measured illuminance, the 
> quantity of light that reaches a particular area. Inside a dark building, 
> a light sensor was placed at a distance 50 feet in front of each vehicle 
> at different heights both on center and 8 feet to the right to simulate a 
> roadway shoulder. Results showed some localized improvements, but no one 
> bulb scored consistently better than OE. The Nighthawk and Plasma Ultra 
> White improved illuminance in more tests than the other bulbs, some of 
> which did not perform as well as stock bulbs.
>
> Subjectively, all five bulbs emitted a whiter light than OE bulbs, which 
> could appeal to buyers seeking the look of HID lights. Studies show that 
> some drivers prefer driving behind whiter light than the more yellow light 
> of most OE halogen bulbs, but that doesn't mean you can see farther.
>
> Some manufacturers claim that their premium halogen bulbs improve 
> brightness without causing oncoming glare, a common complaint about HID 
> lights. Oncoming glare is caused by a combination of bright lights and an 
> inherent sharp light cutoff. This combination can exist in HID or halogen 
> lights. Most of the tested bulb-vehicle combinations did not cause high 
> levels of oncoming glare. But using whiter premium bulbs in the Honda 
> Ridgeline increased glare to where it could be a discomfort for oncoming 
> drivers.
>
>
> Bottom Line
>
> Our tests showed that while they do yield whiter-looking light, premium 
> aftermarket halogen bulbs don't offer a consistent performance advantage 
> over original equipment bulbs, and they can perform worse. Much of a 
> headlight's distribution of light is dictated by its reflector and lens, 
> factors that remain unaffected by changing the bulb. And the combination 
> of higher cost and some manufacturer specifications of a shorter life span 
> than standard replacement bulbs add up to increased costs.
>
> Premium bulbs show no distance advantage
>
> Only one replacement bulb, the GE Nighthawk, improved low-beam distance, 
> and only on one tested vehicle, the Honda Ridgeline.
>
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