Better Lighting

[DaveT]

I'm looking to improve the lighting on our 01 Forrester. I don't want to use the higher wattage bulbs in the existing lenses, since the lenses are part of the poor light distribution.

 

Has anyone seen good add on lights - fog or "low beam" like? I also looked at HID adapter kits, but don't like the idea of putting more light through so so lenses.

[Snowman]

http://www.lightforce.net.au/driving.html

 

Best lights I've found so far. There's probably a reason I see them on EVERY line-haul truck in AK and Canada.

 

Here's my car. I've got a pair of 170's, and I run the blue covers on them during the winter, which improves visibility in whiteout conditions. They're also adjustable from a flood light to a pencil beam. The second set of lights under the bumper is some cheap foglights.

 

[jamal]

You can put slightly better bulbs like a Sylvania Xtravision or Narva Rangepower+50, but if you really want to see better in the dark get some aux driving lights. If you decided to do that, check out Hellas. I'm really happy with my FF1000 driving beam lights (which were about $100 shipped). Susquehanna Motorsports (rallylights.com) is a good place to buy from.

 

Foglights will increase the light right in front of your car but will actually detract from your ability to see farther down the road. It's why they should only be used when it's actually foggy.

 

I've got a pair of 170's, and I run the blue covers on them during the winter, which improves visibility in whiteout conditions. They're also adjustable from a flood light to a pencil beam. The second set of lights under the bumper is some cheap foglights.

 

I don't think blue tint is actually going to improve visibility. Ever. What it does is increase glare by a lot:

The reason why the scam fools people into thinking their headlamps really work better has to do with the interaction of light that is tinted blue (to any degree) with the human eye. This kind of light has been shown in rigidly-controlled scientific studies to create almost 50% more glare than untinted light from a bulb with clear glass. But there's no 50% increase in seeing to go along with the extra glare; there's no increase in seeing at all, and in most cases there is a moderate reduction in actual seeing light. More glare, less seeing: Everybody loses.

[Snowman]

I've tried running both the clear covers and the blue covers in heavy snow. With the white covers, the lights lit up the snow flakes in the air like crazy, but not a lot of usable light made it to the road surface more than a few hundred feet in front of the car, much like driving with your high beams on. With the blue covers on, the lights weren't as "bright", but a lot more usable light actually made it to the road surface, so I could effectively see a lot farther down the road.

 

Last year was the first time I really had a chance to test these lights in bad weather. Previously, I had been running some $30 driving lights, and on one stretch of road, I was limited to about 20 mph by visibility. Last year, (using the new lights with the blue covers) on the same stretch of road with similar conditions, I could go around 65 mph and see far enough ahead to be safe. That was enough proof for me.

 

Lightforce also sells amber covers that are designed for fog and dust. I've been meaning to experiment with those as well, as I see a lot of them on trucks.

[Hodaka Rider]

Under what conditions do you find the lights to be less than ideal?

FWIW, I've driven quite a few different cars with different lighting setups over the years, and I find my '02 Forester to be VERY good. The only better setup I've had was an H1/H4 setup on my E30 BMW, which was unfortunately not DOT legal.

[DaveT]

The only better setup I've had was an H1/H4 setup on my E30 BMW, which was unfortunately not DOT legal.

 

I just drove the car again tonight. Not as bad as I thought. But my wife needs a little more light. We aren't as young as we were...One light seems a little dimmer / yellower than the other. I have to check the aiming. They might be just a touch low.

 

I had the H4 systems on all my older Subarus, until the loyales went to the non standard lights. Never got in trouble with the H4 systems. My favorite was my 78 with 4 round headlights. I put 4 hi / low H4 lenses & 55/60W bulbs in them. Also had fog lights. A switch panel & relays selected different combinations for the stock Hi & lo beam switch. Nothing looked unusual - unless I put on all 8 filaments:grin: 460W.

[Wayne Boncyk]

I've tried running both the clear covers and the blue covers in heavy snow. With the white covers, the lights lit up the snow flakes in the air like crazy, but not a lot of usable light made it to the road surface more than a few hundred feet in front of the car, much like driving with your high beams on. With the blue covers on, the lights weren't as "bright", but a lot more usable light actually made it to the road surface, so I could effectively see a lot farther down the road.

 

Last year was the first time I really had a chance to test these lights in bad weather. Previously, I had been running some $30 driving lights, and on one stretch of road, I was limited to about 20 mph by visibility. Last year, (using the new lights with the blue covers) on the same stretch of road with similar conditions, I could go around 65 mph and see far enough ahead to be safe. That was enough proof for me.

 

Lightforce also sells amber covers that are designed for fog and dust. I've been meaning to experiment with those as well, as I see a lot of them on trucks.

 

Important thing to note about filters on lights -- blue light is scattered by water vapor and small water droplets, far more than red or yellow. That's why reddish-yellow (amber) filters are often used on fog lights - more light will penetrate thru the haze and actually find its way to objects on the raod surface. Snowflakes, on the other hand, scatter all colors pretty much equally, so color filters don't really aid light "penetration" of snow falling in otherwise dry air very much, if at all. However, your eyes will track the motion of objects better when illuminated by monochromatic (one color) light better than when lit by broad-spectrum white light. That's why you see "better" with blue tint lenses on lights in a snowstorm -- you can resolve the difference between the moving snowflakes and items on the road surface better. Your eyes are actually most sensitive to light in the greenish-yellow portion of the spectrum and the way your eyes focus, light from that portion of the spectrum will be in sharpest focus, but who wants to drive around with chartreuse headlights?

[nixon]

Under what conditions do you find the lights to be less than ideal?

FWIW, I've driven quite a few different cars with different lighting setups over the years, and I find my '02 Forester to be VERY good. The only better setup I've had was an H1/H4 setup on my E30 BMW, which was unfortunately not DOT legal.

You've never driven a citroen, or peugeot, or for that matter, a renault, have you?

Until recently, French cars were restricted to 45 watts, with yellow lenses, so the design of the beam/reflecter was thought about a bit. Whatever happened to Cibie ? Haven't heard of them for a while.