Quote:
Originally Posted by Kurt in NJ
I know from driving that the amount of light 20 feet in front of the car isn't useful, that I prefer "spotlight" over "flood light", I looked at the video several times, to me it looks like a lot of light everywhere for short distances, but total darkness in the distance
one of the first things I noticed when I put in the direct fit halogen bulbs ( this term is considered to mean replacement aftermarket bulbs, but original Mazda ribbed bulbs are filled with halogen gases too) is that the road and signs were lit up for a long distance, one night I took a count of poles with reflectors, counted 8 poles, then a stop sign on high beam, the next day I measured the distance, over 3000 feet, on high beam the light started hitting the road over 2 car lengths ahead
I have been collecting HID light pieces from wreck cars ,the light from that bulb is focus able with original reflector , but hi-low would have to be by moving the bulb (factory use many times have a solenoid control shutter to make low beam, and some also have motors to aim the beam ---a good focused hid beam should near melt the tailights out of the car ahead but not blind the driver
there is no led conversion that can work properly with original reflector, new car led are off to the side, the reflector is a "rams horn" shape, perhaps a segmented one with each segment having it's own led. ---
if the lights are bright to look at them standing off to the side they have scatter from bad focus ---a good lighting system won't look bright except in the beam
I have been asking the proud LED headlight owners to show a picture of their bulbs focus without lens, still waiting
I have been trying to figure a test method that everyone can use to compare that is reproduce able and not needing special equipment, and I will try to make a video of my car to compare to the LED video going down the road (when the snowsalt is washed away )
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I installed a set of LED bulbs in my 1934 Ford. It appeared that lots more light was being thrown out and they were certainly brighter to look at!
However in this country we do test light alignment -as part of a mandatory 6 monthly safety inspection. Placed on the correct calibrated machine it revealed that although lots of light was coming out it was not focused -Much of it was shooting skywards (or into the eyes of the oncoming drivers) and some was falling onto the road right in front of the car. Very little was ending up on the road where it should.
So unfortunately in support of the above and contrary to the anecdotal evidence often quoted -proper testing with the correct machine reveals that at least in a 1934 that LEDs don't focus as they should . Given the fact that I use the same halogen bulbs in my Model A as I do in my 1934 ( both passing on the same machine ) I am sure that LEDs aren't up to speed in the Model A either.
Karl