13 replies to this topic

[minisilverbullet]

I live out in the sticks, and the nights are creeping in. I drive down lots of country lanes and single lane roads on my way too and from work.

I am thinking about two extra spots would help. The car an Audi A4 already has bi xenon headlights and on full beam are really bright.

Is there any point in buying halogen spots? ( I assume they will be less bright than the existing xenons)

I have had a look at 60w led spots, any experiences of these. And similarly for hid/ xenon spots?

All opinions gladly received.

[Gadgets]

Thing is you will be driving in "daylight" on main beam with decent spot lights on, but when you come down to earth on dip beam you wont see anything.

[firstforward]

Thing is you will be driving in "daylight" on main beam with decent spot lights on, but when you come down to earth on dip beam you wont see anything.

 

Another point is, if they are so bright on main beam, you will stand very little chance of noticing an oncoming cars lights to give you time to lower your lights. I have to do a lot of night time driving and as the years have gone by I have noticed drivers used to lower their lights at first sign of an oncoming car, nowadays it seems more drivers only bother after a direct line of sight, and with these "modern" lights on new cars that can be a real blast in the eyes. Rant over!

[minisilverbullet]

I get what you are saying.....I think.....

The main reason for the extra lights, is that we live in an area where it is pretty common to have a wild boar or a deer stray across the road.

[Cooperman]

Try a pair of PIAA 80 Driving Lights (not the plain lens Spot Lights) with 100 w halogen bulbs. They are simply fantastic and it's like 'who turned the darkness off'.

Lots on ebay.

[The Matt]

I don't think the spots being too bright is a good argument against fitting, personally.

In the countryside it's definitely beneficial to light up as much of the lanes as possible. Yeah, there's a chance you may glare oncoming cars, just the same as there is driving any car. But the spots won't flood the whole road with light, you want them aimed at verges and hedges where the critters jump out from.

[minisilverbullet]

For those who wonder….

 

I finally got round to fitting these! In the end I decided I didn't want huge driving lamps hanging of the front of the car, i don't really like the look. 

 

 

I found a nice small set of 55w 6000k xenon spots on ebay. They were a bit deeper than i hoped due to the built in ballast so i had to trim some of the grill away. I used a mounting plate which actually mounts behind the number plate. I drilled and tapped around 8, 6mm holes, a really nice solution. 

 

Here they are in all their glory, really bright and just what i needed, without destroying the look of the car. the 6000k light color is also the same as the bi-xenosn fitted to the car. All ready for the Swedish winter!!!!

 

Have also spent some time renovating my winter wheels. If anyone has a set of wheels in need of refurbishment, i suggest giving it a try yourself, mine turned out great and wasn't so much effort.  

 

 

[nicklouse]

Don't forget to angle them of to the side of the road so you can see the second Elk.

What I have on my van, fitted then when I was living in Sweden.

 image.jpg   123.37K   4 downloads

Edited by nicklouse, 10 December 2014 - 08:17 PM.

[minisilverbullet]

No Elks Down here mate, though I have seen deers on the road almost every day this week. 

 

They seem to have nice wide spread of light so I don't need to angle them too much. Though when i first fitted them I was sure they were point straight ahead, went for a drive and it was like i was hunting for squirrels. they were pointing so high, just a couple of mm adjustment and they are fine. 

 

Where did you live in Sweden? I am not actually Swedish (Scottish), I just ended up here. 11 years ago I spent a term as an exchange student, met a swedish girl and never went home.   , 

[nicklouse]

Ah you must be Danish then.

I was "up" in Trollhattan from 2001 to 2011 and on my year out placement from Uni 1999-2000

Still have Uni friends in Gothenberg and Ystad.

[Cooperman]

Ah you must be Danish then.

I was "up" in Trollhattan from 2001 to 2011 and on my year out placement from Uni 1999-2000

Still have Uni friends in Gothenberg and Ystad.

 

Were you working with SAAB?

 

The first time I went to Sweden in mid-Winter I went on the ferry from Immingham. When we were approaching Gothenberg these Swedes said to come and watch the ship act as an icebreaker. I didn't believe them until the ship slowed and then hit the ice about 10 miles offshore. My goodness it was cold! I was on the way to do the Swedish Rally in an Escort Twin-Cam at the time. 

Later I used to go to Linkoping as my company did a lot of work with SAAB on their aircraft. It's nicer in Summer.

[nicklouse]

Yep did design and development work for SAAB and GM.

Not employed by them though.

[Cooperman]

I'll tell you a funny story about SAAB.

In the 80'3 when the design work was being carried out on the SAAB 900, a friend of mine was working at Trollhattan on interior design for a UK company.

They did a crash test which he was involved in and they strapped 4 CTD's in the car and ran it down the track into the concrete block head on. The rear parcel shelf came adrift and chopped off the heads of the two dummies in the rear seats.

Apparently the Swedish guys were not impressed, but the other Brits there fell about when my friend announced loudly "I think heads will roll over this".

[nicklouse]

In the pre GM times.

Those parcel shelves had to hold quite a weight as well.